Even stainless ones seem to clog up with gunk after a season here (lots of trees).
That’s been my experience too—screens just don’t hold up with all the debris we get from maples and oaks. I did try the plastic vent baffles last fall, mostly to help keep insulation from blocking the soffit vents, but I noticed they also seemed to keep out squirrels and birds better than the metal screens did. Airflow was noticeably improved, at least in my case, but I’m not sure how they’ll hold up long-term. They’re definitely easier to clean if you can get up there, though.
Interesting, I hadn’t thought about plastic baffles being easier to clean, but that makes sense. I’ve mostly seen the metal screens get packed with pollen and seed pods, especially in spring—sometimes it feels like I’m up there every month just clearing them out. Do you think the plastic will get brittle over time with sun exposure? I’m a bit skeptical about how they’ll last through a few freeze-thaw cycles, especially up north where temps swing a lot.
I’ve wondered about the plastic baffles too, especially after seeing how brittle some of the old vent covers on my place got after a few years. I’m in upstate NY, and our winters are no joke—one year, I found a chunk of plastic from a vent in the snowdrift by my garage. Not sure if it was the freeze-thaw or just age, but it made me a little wary.
That said, I did swap out a couple of metal screens for plastic ones last summer because they were so clogged up with maple seeds and gunk. The plastic ones were way easier to rinse off, but I noticed they felt thinner than I expected. I guess it’s a trade-off: easier to clean, but maybe not as tough long-term? For now, I’m keeping an eye on them to see how they hold up through another winter. If they crack or warp, I might go back to metal, even if it means more ladder time in the spring... Sometimes it feels like there’s no perfect answer with this stuff.
