What's falling on your roof?
Broad, flat leaves from deciduous trees tend to sit on top of almost any mesh and blow off once they dry. Standard aluminium mesh handles them well.
Gum leaves are narrow and stiff, and pine needles are worse. Both poke through coarse mesh and lodge there, so a finer hole or micro-mesh is the better match.
Seed pods, blossom and grit from flowering trees get through most mesh eventually. A finer mesh slows them down, but you'll still need the odd flush.
Aluminium, stainless or plastic?
| Aluminium mesh | Stainless or micro-mesh | Plastic | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keeps out | Most leaves | Leaves, needles and finer debris | Larger leaves |
| Strength | Light, can dent | Holds its shape | Can go brittle in strong sun |
| Colours | Usually sold to match roof colours | Fewer choices | Limited |
| Near bush | Non-combustible, as the NSW RFS asks | Non-combustible, as the NSW RFS asks | No, it burns |
| Suits | Most homes under leafy trees | Gums, pines and seed-heavy trees | Sheds and light leaf fall |
Full cover or in-gutter?
Full-cover mesh is fixed to the outer lip of the gutter and runs up onto the roof, so there's no gap for leaves to slip under. It's what most installers fit, and it's the style to choose under heavy leaf fall.
In-gutter strips sit inside the gutter and clip to its edges without touching the roof. They're quicker and cheaper, and they're the usual DIY kit. The catch is that leaves can collect along the back where the strip meets the roof edge, so they suit lighter leaf fall better.
Looking after mesh once it's on
Mesh cuts the cleaning down but doesn't end it. On a low-pitch roof, leaves can sit on flat mesh and mat together, and dust still settles in the gutter beneath.
Plan a check once a year, more often under gums or pines. From a single-storey ladder, a soft brush clears the top. Lifting the mesh to flush the gutter underneath is usually a job for whoever fitted it.
What's realistic to do yourself
You can
- Work out which trees drop on the roof, and what they drop
- Fit in-gutter strips on a single-storey house from a ladder, if you're comfortable
- Brush the top of the mesh clear once a year
Leave to a roofer
- Full-cover mesh fixed to the roof, especially on tiles
- Anything above a single storey or on a steep pitch
- Valleys and box gutters
- Mesh for bushfire-prone areas, covered on our ember guard page
If it were our roof
We'd look up before choosing. Under gums or pines, we'd pay the extra for stainless or micro-mesh, fixed as full cover rather than clipped inside the gutter. Under broad-leaf trees, colour-matched aluminium does the job. We'd keep plastic for the shed.
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.