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Gutter guards

Updated: 03 Sep 2007

Introduction

If your gutters are blocked with leaves and debris, help could be at hand with our gutter guard trial.

There are lots of different gutter guards on the market, at widely ranging prices. All are designed to keep leaves and other debris away - and some work better than others.

We tried 5 removable types suitable for DIY user installation. None used screws or any other form of permanent fixing.

Products we trialled

Pictured right are the 5 products we trialled - details of each are below.

Three of the five products we tried were similar, with a plastic mesh installed over the top of the gutters. The mesh stops leaves and twigs from entering the gutters, leaving them sitting on the mesh to be blown away by the wind.

The Nylex and Greenscape Diamond (pictured, rolled, at top right of image) were quite flexible plastic mesh with holes of 11mm and 10mm respectively. They were both supplied in a roll.
The Hills Eliminator (pictured at left of image) had 6mm square holes, was of rather stiffer and thicker construction, and came in half-metre-long panels.

The two other products we trialled were quite different:

The Hedgehog (pictured centre right of image) was constructed like a bottlebrush, with stiff plastic bristles trapped by a twisted wire core. The brushes were supplied in half-metre lengths - these had to be put into the gutters underneath the gutter brackets.

The Hedgehog works by trapping the leaves and twigs, stopping them from reaching the bottom of the gutters.
The Gutterstuff foam strips (pictured bottom right of image) were made up of fairly open foam. The 1.2 metre long strips are placed in the gutter, leaving a clear channel under the foam for the water to drain.

Water can filter straight through the foam into the base of the gutter. Leaves, twigs and other debris are caught at the top of the foam to be blown away with the wind.

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.

Products compared

Guide to the table

Our trial was carried out in the greater Wellington region.

Retail price

Based on the price paid in Wellington during November 2006.

Scores out of 10

Performance (60% of overall score) calculated from the ability of the guard to keep out broad leaves, medium sized leaves, small leaves and pine needles.

Installation (40%) based on ease of installation into various gutter types.

We recommend

Hill's "The Eliminator" panels

Price: $5.97 per metre
Good points
Best combination of ease-of-installation, performance and modest price.
But
No product we trialled completely eliminates gutter maintenance.

For more details on the performance of this and the other products trialled, see Products compared.

Gutter cleaning wands

Cleaning the gutters with a "Guttercleaner" telescopic wand

Anything that keeps you off a ladder has to be useful. Gutter cleaning hose extensions (a long pole with a hooked-over end) allow you to hose out your gutters without ladder climbing.

We tried a "GutterCleaner" telescopic wand, $38.77 from Mitre10.

We attached a hose and tried to clean out some gutters that were fully clogged with mainly pine needles. The wand flicked out a few needles but would not dislodge the main tangled mass - that had to be removed manually.

Once the main clumps of decaying twigs, leaves and needles were removed, the wand was tried again on the loose debris remaining in the gutters. This time the wand had no trouble sluicing the debris away.

If you were disciplined enough to regularly flush your gutters, we think one of these wands could reduce the need for hand-cleaning.

The model we bought was only long enough to reach the gutters of a single-story building. You need to wear full wet-weather gear - and to keep the aluminium pole well away from overhead power wires.

Our advice

Cleaning out gutters is an unpleasant and potentially dangerous task. The less often you have to work off ladders, or climb on the roof, the better.
Gutter guards are not a matter of "fit and forget". Depending on the fall of the gutters, some maintenance may still be required to remove sludge build-up.
None of the products we tried were perfect. But they all worked to some extent - some better than others (see Products compared for details).

Sagging gutters

A sagging gutter will pond water and collect sludge, leading to blockages. Re-hanging gutters with an even fall of at least 5mm for every 10 metres of run can reduce gutter-cleaning maintenance.

Beware of fixed gutter guards

Some gutter guards are fixed to the roof by screws. Metal roofing manufacturers have stated that such devices will invalidate their warranty. Similarly, plastic-guttering manufacturers have stated that screwing anything to their gutter systems may interfere with the required expansion/contraction of the plastic and will invalidate the warranty.