DIY Gutter Guard or a Professional Install: Is a Kit Worth It?

Yes, you can. The hard part is the work around the mesh. The gutters need a clean first, someone has to check the fall, the mesh has to suit your roof, and it has to sit at an angle so leaves can blow off. All of that happens up a ladder, along every run of gutter.

One US gutter guard maker (opens in a new tab) says a flat fit is the most common problem with DIY micro-mesh installs. Micro-mesh that sits flat holds a wet mat of leaves, and that mat ends up blocking the water. The same maker says the snap-on micro-mesh sold in big US stores is generally one-size-fits-all. If the fit is loose, it says, wind can blow it off.

A kit is made to fit lots of houses. Yours is the only one it has to work on.

Mostly the work before the mesh goes on. When we fit gutter guard, we look at your roof, gutters and trees on site first. We clean the gutters for free, check the downpipe outlets and the fall, and set the mesh at an angle. Then you get four written guarantees. With a kit, every one of those jobs is yours.

The clean matters most. Put new mesh over a full gutter and the old leaves stay trapped underneath, holding water against the gutter. That's a callback waiting to happen, so every one of our installs starts with it.

We look for faults while we're up there, too. If we find a failed joint or a sagging bracket, we tell you before the mesh goes on. On a DIY job, spotting that is up to you.

Then there's the roof itself. Our mesh suits tile and metal roofs, and we check which one you've got before we recommend a mesh. Our guarantees page sets out what each of the four covers.

A fitted price pays for the work as well as the mesh: the measure, the hours on the ladder and the roof, and the guarantees behind the job. The gutter clean comes free with the install. With a kit, all of that work is yours, and so is the risk.

Every home is different, so there's no price list here. The price on yours comes down to the metres of gutter, how many storeys there are and how easy they are to reach, the mesh you pick, and any valleys, box gutters or solar panels on the roof. Our finer woven EmberGuard costs more than the expanded mesh.

We don't quote over the phone or from a satellite photo, because access changes the job. We measure up on site and give you a firm price, free, with no obligation. Comparing a few installers? Our list of questions to ask any installer helps you line them up.

It's ladder work, and ladder falls at home put plenty of people in hospital. The Queensland Government says (opens in a new tab) over 1,000 Queenslanders are hospitalised each year after falling off ladders, and most of those injuries happen around the home. Fitting guard means time up the ladder at every stretch of gutter, so the risk adds up.

Older men are hurt most often. A study at emergency departments in Brisbane and Nambour (opens in a new tab) looked at 177 people hurt in ladder falls. The typical patient was a man over 50 using a ladder at home. Avoiding the task is first on the researchers' list of safety steps.

The national picture looks the same. Product Safety Australia (opens in a new tab), quoting the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, says more than 6,200 people were hospitalised after ladder falls in the year to 30 June 2022. Nearly 80% were men, and 40% were 65 or older. The Queensland page adds that most men hurt or killed in ladder falls are at or near retirement age, doing maintenance around their home.

Worried about a parent with a kit in the shed? Our guide to ladder falls at home has more of the research. It's worth reading together.

When any of these is true. You're not steady on a ladder. The gutter's two storeys up. You'd need to climb onto the roof. Nobody's home to hold the ladder. The Queensland Government's first ladder tip (opens in a new tab) is to consider other ways to get the job done, and paying someone to do it is one of them.

The rest of its advice reads like a stop list. Never use a ladder in thunderstorms, rain or wind. Have someone hold it at the base. Climb down and move the ladder, rather than leaning out to reach. Check there are no power lines or exposed wires nearby. And be careful about climbing if you're alone, have a disability or medical condition, or take medication.

We added the second storey and the roof ourselves. Some homes settle the question for you. On two-storey estate homes in North Lakes, the eaves overhang and the narrow side setback leave nowhere to foot a ladder properly.

If you're older or live with a disability, the same page says you may be able to get home maintenance help from your local council or another agency. Our guide to Home Assist Secure covers one Queensland program that helps with gutter cleaning.

Yes, and most of all near bushland. Queensland's guide to building in bushfire-prone areas (opens in a new tab) lists metal rather than plastic for outside trims such as vents, guttering and downpipes on new homes in the highest fire risk areas. That line is about the gutters themselves, and it doesn't name gutter guard. So if you're buying a kit for a home near bush, check what it's made of first.

The Australian Standard for bushfire-prone areas, AS 3959, asks one thing of gutter guard: if it's fitted, it must be non-combustible. Our mesh is aluminium, which is non-combustible, finished in our proprietary coating. For streets on the bushland fringe, there's our finer 2 mm woven EmberGuard.

Then let us fit it. We're family-owned for over 25 years and fully insured, and we fit gutter guard across Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast. Every install starts with a free gutter clean. The quote is free and done on site, so you'll have a firm price before any work starts.

You also get four written guarantees: a 25-year full system guarantee, a 20-year workmanship guarantee, our 10-year no blocked gutter guarantee and a 10-year coating guarantee against fading.