Are leaf guards worth it? An honest answer for London homes

Why would an eavestrough company tell you not to buy guards?

Because we see what happens after they go on. We’re not fans of leaf guards in general. We install them when a homeowner still wants one after hearing us out, or in the less common cases where they genuinely make sense, and we tell a lot of homeowners they don’t need them. A guard is easy to sell: it sounds like a one-time fix for a problem every house with trees seems to have. On plenty of houses the problem it’s sold to fix isn’t the real one, and the guard adds a layer between you and the part that actually matters.

Customers notice when you say that out loud. Kristi and Chris S. wrote in a Google review that we “explained that gutter covers cause more problems than they solve,” and added: “I appreciated the honesty.” The job they hired us for was the board behind a sagging run, a new front eavestrough and a downspout moved under their deck. No cover.

So this guide is the same conversation we have on a driveway. Some homes are better off with a guard. More are better off with eavestrough that’s the right shape, slope and size, and nothing on top.

What problems can leaf guards cause?

The problems come from what a guard is: a cover over the opening that’s meant to catch the water. Anything that changes how water gets into the eavestrough can go wrong in a few predictable ways.

Water running over the top. Where a roof sheds water fast and heavy, it can wash straight across a guard and over the front edge instead of dropping through. The usual spots are a valley, where two roof slopes meet and funnel water into one short stretch, and a steep roof in a downpour. If you already see water sheeting off one corner of the house in heavy rain, a guard there can make it worse, not better.

They clog anyway. Debris still builds up on and in a guard. In time it clogs and has to be cleared, which is the very job most people bought the guard to get away from.

Ice builds up in them. In a London winter, ice can definitely build up in a guard, right at the edge of the roof.

A guard on a failing run. A guard does nothing for eavestrough that’s leaking, sagging or near the end of its life. It sits on top of the problem and makes it harder to see, and when the run does need fixing, the guard has to come off first. If a guard is being offered as the answer to a leak, fix the leak first.

A fix for the wrong problem. This is the most common one, and it gets its own section below: people buy guards to stop overflow that leaves aren’t causing.

Is it leaves, or is it the eavestrough?

Check this before you spend anything on a guard. When eavestrough overflows, the cause is usually the eavestrough, not what’s in it. A run that has sagged holds water in a low spot instead of draining it. Too few downspouts, or eavestrough that’s too small for the roof above it, can’t carry the water away in a heavy rain. A guard changes none of those things.

Here’s a quick way to tell the difference from the ground. Watch the eavestrough in a steady rain. If it spills over in the same one or two places every time, especially mid-run or at a corner, that points to slope or a sag. If it spills along the whole length, the run may be too small or short on downspouts for the roof it serves. If there’s standing water in a section a day after the rain stops, the run isn’t draining at all.

Winter shows the same faults. Icicles build where water sits in a sagging run or spills over the front, so a row of icicles along one stretch is often a slope problem, not a leaf problem.

If any of that sounds like your house, a guard is the wrong spend. Our guide on whether to repair or replace your eavestrough covers what to check next, and our eavestrough repair page covers how we fix a sag, a leaking joint or a run that’s too small.

When are leaf guards worth it?

London isn’t called the Forest City for nothing, and plenty of homes here sit under mature trees. Even so, the cases where a guard earns its place are the less common ones. In our experience it’s usually worth it when:

• Tall trees over the roof drop leaves or needles every season, not just a few in October.
• Pine needles or oak tassels land in the eavestrough. These are small enough to settle in and pack down, which is what a fine mesh is built to stop.
• The roof is hard or unsafe to get onto, such as a steep pitch or a second storey over a deck or a slope.

And it’s often not needed when:

• There are few or no trees near the roof.
• The eavestrough is leaking or sagging. Fix or replace it first; a guard won’t help.
• The roof shape sends water off fast and heavy in one spot, where it can wash over a guard.

One condition sits under all of it: the eavestrough has to be sound. A guard goes on eavestrough in good shape, new or existing. If you’re planning a replacement in the next few years anyway, do the eavestrough first and decide on guards after, so the guard isn’t coming off again in two seasons.

What kind of guard should you look at?

Guards come in a few broad designs: screens and perforated covers with larger openings, micro-mesh over a frame, reverse-curve “hoods” that rely on water following a curved lip into the trough, and foam or brush inserts that sit inside the eavestrough. The finer the opening, the smaller the debris it stops, which matters most under pines and oaks.

When a home needs one, we fit a single product: Xtreme, a stainless steel micro-mesh guard made by Leaf Solution. We use one guard we trust rather than a range, so we know exactly how it performs on homes around London. Per the maker, it’s a surgical-grade stainless steel mesh hemmed into an aluminum frame, in 5-foot panels, and it handles up to 60 gallons of water a minute (Leaf Solution’s Xtreme page). That figure is Leaf Solution’s, not one we’ve measured.

The mesh is fine enough to stop leaves, twigs, pine needles, oak tassels, shingle grit and roof granules while the rain runs through it. You can see the panel and how it’s built on our leaf guards and gutter guards page.

What should you ask before you buy guards from anyone?

Four questions sort a good guard job from a bad one, whoever you call.

1. Is my eavestrough sound enough for a guard? If the answer is a quick yes without anyone looking at the slope, joints and fasteners, keep looking.
2. What happens where my roof valleys drop water? A good installer looks at where the water actually lands, not just the length of the run.
3. How does the guard attach, and does it go under my shingles? Ask to see how it’s fastened on a house like yours, and check with your roofer if anything slides under the shingles.
4. Do you think I need this at all? An installer who has never told anyone “you don’t need one” is selling a product, not giving advice.

Common questions

Do leaf guards work on seamless eavestrough?

Yes. Seamless eavestrough is what we make, formed on site in one piece per run, and the guard we install fits on top of it. The guard doesn’t change how the eavestrough drains, so slope and downspouts still have to be right underneath. If you’re choosing new eavestrough first, here’s how seamless compares with sectional.

Can you put leaf guards on my existing eavestrough?

Yes, if it’s in good shape. If it’s leaking, sagging or near the end of its life, we’ll tell you, because a guard on a failing run doesn’t fix the problem underneath.

Will leaf guards stop the icicles on my house?

No, and they can add to the ice. Ice can build up in the guard itself, and icicles usually build where water sits in a sagging run or spills over the front, which a guard doesn’t change. Fix where the water is going first.

Do you serve my area?

We work across London and the surrounding area, including Ingersoll, St. Thomas, Strathroy-Caradoc, Stratford and Aylmer. If you’re nearby but not on that list, call and ask. If you can’t tell which side of the line your house falls on, we’ll look at the roof, the trees and the eavestrough and tell you honestly whether a guard makes sense. The quote is free: get in touch here.