ᐅ Leaf guard for a 6-section gutter system

Hello everyone,

The roof covering is about to begin, and I want to take advantage of the scaffolding to install leaf guards in the gutters. The roofers are expected to arrive by the end of next week, or at the latest, the following week, and the carpentry team told me that it is a 6-piece gutter system.

I found out that the nominal size is 333mm (about 13 inches), which doesn’t mean much to me, and the diameter is 153mm (about 6 inches). What is important for me is to know which leaf guard I can use. What do nominal widths of 80mm, 100mm, and 125mm (about 3, 4, and 5 inches) refer to?

Or what do you suggest for integrating leaf guards?

Our neighbor once had a deciduous tree quite close to their house, so every autumn a lot of leaves fell into our gutter as well. Because of that, we got some leaf guard screens made of plastic with plastic fasteners. They were easy to install and worked well. The only problem was that when snow slid off the roof, it tore off the fasteners, so every year we had to grab a ladder to reattach the screen.

So definitely get something more sturdy.

There are also screens that you insert at the top of the downspout. I don’t have these myself, but I consider them not very practical because a lot of leaves can accumulate there and block the water flow. That means taking a ladder again to clean it out.

I would think that leaf diverters installed about 0.5 or 1.0 meter (1.5 or 3 feet) above ground inside the downspout could be a better solution.

Why don’t you just measure first and then buy a guard from one of the well-known online retailers?

Are there even trees nearby that would make installing such a guard worthwhile? Otherwise, you can simply do it later once you see where a significant amount of leaves fall into the gutter.

We have plastic snap-in grids. They don’t look very attractive, but fortunately, I don’t often look at the gutter. If they eventually break, I will use these round guards because they are not visible from below.

We have a downpipe guard. The gutter is cleaned about 3 to 4 times a year under the trees, and not much less on the street side. Coffee cups, bakery bags, cigarette boxes, etc., regularly cause blockages there. I wonder how that stuff even gets up there.
We have a gutter cleaner with a telescopic handle from Fiskars. It works without a ladder.
We were advised against using a leaf guard. I can’t recall the reason anymore.

Lol, you have coffee cups and cigarette packs in the gutter? It must be a 'lively' area.

Well, just the town center. By 6 p.m., or at the latest 7 p.m., it gets quiet. Haven’t seen anyone since 5 p.m. I think it’s because of the staircase that runs past the property.