Do you actually need gutter guards?
Trees decide this. If you're cleaning gutters more than once a year, or they overflow with leaves between cleans, guards will save you time and probably a leak or two. Monier, the roof tile maker, names blocked gutters, downpipes and valleys as common leak sources, and suggests leaf guards and trimmed branches to cut the debris.
They also make sense near bush, where dry leaves in a gutter can catch embers, and on houses with rainwater tanks, where leaves rot in the water and clog the inlet.
If there isn't a tree within reach of your roof, you may not need them at all. Dust and the odd stray leaf are easier dealt with by a yearly clean.
The main types of gutter guard
Aluminium mesh is the most common. It's light, comes in colours to suit Colorbond roofs, and handles most suburban leaf fall.
Stainless steel and micro-mesh have finer holes and tougher metal, so they stop smaller debris such as needles and seeds. They cost a little more.
Ember guard is metal mesh chosen and fitted for bushfire-prone areas. It has its own page: ember guard for bushfire areas.
Plastic guards, foam and brush inserts are cheaper and sold for DIY. They cope with light leaf fall, but plastic can go brittle in strong sun. Near bush they're out, because the NSW Rural Fire Service says gutter and valley leaf guards in bushfire areas should be non-combustible.
For help choosing between metal meshes, see leaf guard and gutter mesh.
How they're fitted
A good installer cleans and checks the gutters first. Fitting mesh over rusty or sagging gutters just hides a problem until it leaks.
On a metal roof, the mesh is fixed along the outer edge of the gutter and up onto the roof sheets, with trims shaped to the roof profile. On a tiled roof, the bottom row of tiles has to be lifted so the mesh can tuck under, then the tiles are set back down. That's why tiled roofs take longer, and why a careless job there can leave tiles sitting high enough to let rain in.
What a gutter guard quote should spell out
- The mesh material, brand and hole size
- Whether it's suitable for bushfire-prone areas, if that matters where you live
- Total metres, and whether valleys and box gutters are covered
- Whether the gutters are cleaned before the mesh goes on
- How it's fixed on your roof type, and how lifted tiles will be set back
- Warranty on the mesh and on the workmanship
DIY kit or installer?
You can
- Fit clip-in guards to a single-storey metal roof from a ladder, if you're comfortable up there
- Clean the gutters before guards go on, whoever fits them
- Brush leaves off the top of the mesh from a ladder now and then
Leave to a roofer
- Tiled roofs, where the edge tiles have to be lifted and set back
- Double-storey homes, steep roofs and valleys
- Ember guard in bushfire-prone areas, which only works if it's fitted with no gaps
- Any roof that might be asbestos cement
Our take
Under big trees, we'd choose metal mesh over plastic, and pay the extra for stainless or ember-rated mesh if there's bush nearby. Get the gutters checked before anything goes on, because guards on rusty gutters only hide the rust. And plan a yearly look anyway. No guard is maintenance free, whatever the brochure says.
Want a roofer to take a look?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match it with a Find My Roofer certified roofer who specialises in that kind of work, and they call you to quote. Your number goes to them alone.