What we found

How we assessed the gutter guards

Three homeowners trialled these for us. Two of the homes were located in leafy parts of the Hutt Valley near Wellington and the other was in rural Wairarapa.

First, the homeowners assessed how easy it was to install each of the five models. Then, after eight months use, they assessed how well the guards had kept large broad leaves, medium-sized leaves, small leaves, pine needles, and twigs out of the gutters. The results were combined into our scores.

Installing the guards

The easiest to install was the Hedgehog. Its half-metre-long brushes could be slid in under the gutter brackets quickly and easily. Next easiest were the Hills Eliminator plastic panels.

The Hill's Eliminator and the Hedgehog were supplied in half-metre lengths, which proved easy to handle. The lightweight Gutterstuff foam came in easy-to-manage 1.2-metre lengths.

Two triallists thought the Gutterstuff foam would be easy - but they had difficulty pulling the foam under the brackets. Cutting the foam into smaller lengths might have helped here. The other triallist (whose gutters were more open) found the foam easy to place.

Both the Nylex and the Greenscape were supplied in 8-metre rolls and the instructions recommend cutting the strips into 2-metre lengths. All our triallists had some difficulty getting them to fit. We think 1-metre lengths would be easier.

The Greenscape fitted moderately well. It formed an inverted U shape in the gutter, with the vertical parts of the U against the front and rear walls of the gutter. The guard was trimmed to fit over the gutter brackets.

The Nylex was fitted up under the edge of the roof, across the gutter opening and under the outer top lip of the gutter. One triallist commented you needed 10 pairs of hands to get the stuff to fit. Given the similarity between the two products, we think the Nylex could be fitted in a similar way to the Greenscape - which may work out better in some situations.

How well did they work?

Top performer was the Gutterstuff foam (picture right). "Catches everything" was one comment - but we did find that dirt and pollen built up under the foam.

To keep the system flowing freely, it would pay to remove the foam each year to flush out the residue build-up. We also noticed some colour fading and slight crumbling of the foam on the top surface, possibly caused by UV damage.

Nearly as highly scored, and much cheaper to buy, were the Hills Eliminator panels (pictured right).

These panels caught most large- and medium-sized leaves and twigs. They even caught most of the pine needles. Water flow was unobstructed

The Nylex and the Greenscape Diamond scored similarly (pictured left and right).

They both worked well enough on large and medium leaves - but not on the small leaves and pine needles that could get through the mesh.

Water flow was unobstructed.

Lowest scoring was the Hedgehog "bottlebrush" (right).

Leaves of all sizes and twigs got caught and couldn't be blown away by the wind. The trapped debris would start to attract dirt and pollen; it then began to decompose, leaving sludge in the gutters.

The Hedgehog instructions stated the brushes should be removed regularly for cleaning. We think this is the case with all the guards we trialled - none were a "fit and forget" proposition.