Warning over costly backyard mistake Aussies keep making: 'Nightmare'
Gutter guards are aimed at reducing mess, money and cleaning time. But some gardening experts say they're actually creating more problems than they prevent.
Aussie gardeners are sounding the alarm over a common roof addition which they say people wrongly believe prevents muck and leaves from gathering in gutters — but it actually ends up creating homeowners more problems down the line.
Online personality and builder Matty said in a social media video this week gutter guards deceptively claim to reduce leaf pile-up and gunk, but actually, they "make them harder to clean" and cost homeowners "more in the long term."
"If anyone is on the fence about getting gutter guards, specifically this mesh [one] — do not do it. It's a big no-no," Matty warned in a now viral video. "You’re better off not using anything in your gutters at all," he argued.
Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, Sydney gardener and landscaper Nathan Stafford reiterated Matty's sentiment, urging homeowners to think twice before having them installed.
Gardener's warning to homeowners contemplating gutter guards
He said because they're bolted down with "hundreds of nails", it's extremely difficult to remove the build-up from beneath them — which he said commonly occurs despite the whole point of the gutter guard being to prevent just that.
"I've been maintaining homes for over 15 years and I've done thousands of gutter cleaning jobs," he told Yahoo.
"I am not a fan of gutter guards. What happens is, you get them installed and a lot of people think 'well, that's it'. But things fall on top of them, and they have little holes [because they're made from mesh], so over time, the matter breaks down and falls in."
"Then it turns into a soil-like substance and it's very hard. Add a bit of rain to it and it becomes mud and it actually starts pulling on the gutters, which impacts the fascia of the roof."
Nathan said in recent times he's noticed gutter guards appearing "more and more". He said often, in his experience, homeowners are having to call in professionals to clean their gutters, which become even more clogged with the guards in place than if they weren't.
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"It's a nightmare — you have to go around and literally get up on a ladder and individually unscrew the bolts so you can lift it up to get right under there properly, and then you've got to come back, re-screw them all back on. You're there for hours," he said.
"The quickest method is to get a vacuum and suck it all out really quickly. Or what some of the people do is they just get a blower and they just quickly run along blow it all out. It makes a little bit of a mess, but you can clean it all up after.
"It saves so much time and money."
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