The Leaf Relief gutter guards system from Ply Gem is a popular product with homeowners looking for the best way to protect their gutters from debris, overflow, and excessive cleaning and maintenance.

Leaf Relief prevents leaves, snowmelt, ice dams, rodent droppings, and more from ever entering your gutters, let alone damaging them or clogging them.

Our Leaf Relief review gives an overview of these gutter guards, including features, pros, cons, installation, customer opinions, and just about anything else you could want to know about them.

All things considered, even though we prefer LeafFilter brand gutter guard because of its best-in-class warranty and overall durability and effectiveness, we believe in giving Leaf Relief a fair shake.

Leaf Relief Review

leaf relief isolated cross section gutter guard

The Leaf Relief gutter guard system is patented and produced by Ply Gem Residential Solutions. Ply Gem has been provided superior home building and remodeling supplies for over 75 years. The company is well-known for its high-end products including siding, windows, and gutter guards. Leaf Relief is one of their most popular products with homeowners for a variety of reasons.

These gutter guards work and are made with obvious attention to detail. Not only do they work, but they work well according to most homeowners who use them. Furthermore, Ply Gem is so sure of their gutter guards that they offer an extended warranty.

Fun fact: Customers have installed over 100 million feet worth of Leaf Relief gutter guards in the last 10 years alone.

Features of Leaf Relief

Leaf Relief gutter guard systems have some really solid features. Below, we discuss each of the main features/benefits of these gutter guards.

Superior debris protection

leaf relief self cleaning gutter guard

Ply Gem, maker of Leaf Relief, has patented this ingenious gutter guard system design. Once installed, Leaf Relief ensures superior protection against leaves and debris. This includes protection from pine needles and cones to bird nests, animal droppings, and dying rodents. The best part is that all it takes is a bit of a breeze and most debris simply blows off of your gutters with ease.

Protection from Ice and Snow

In the wintertime, when snow and ice begin to accumulate in unprotected gutters, Leaf Relief protects your gutter system. Snow, especially melting snow, weighs much more than many gutters are designed to handle.

That means that too much snow can and will damage your gutters. Even if the weight of the snow doesn't bring them down completely, it can at the very least cause them to bend or buckle in the middle.

With Leaf Relief, only melted water from snow and ice is allowed to enter into the gutters and helps prevent downspouts from becoming frozen and causing leaking and overflow throughout the upper gutter system.

Excellent Water Flow

Speaking of snow and ice-melt, the Leaf Relief gutter guard system is highly rated for its Aluma-Perf Technology due to its superior water flow and drainage capabilities.

With 489 perforations spaced out every 20in along the guards, water can drain as quickly as if it were flowing through a 2 by 3 in. downspout,

That means that these gutter guards can handle up to nearly 30in of rainfall per hour (29.7in). That's more than most homes will ever see in one hour even during the most powerful storms.

Leaf Relief's Patented Continuous Hanging System

Depending on the version of Leaf Relief gutter guards that you purchase and install, they have a patented continuous hanging system with an access panel that makes it easy to clean and maintain at the same time increasing the strength of your original gutters.

Once installed, it only takes a second to lift the convenient access panel and check the state of affairs inside of your home's gutter system. This makes cleaning and removing mud easier than many competitor systems.

Leaf Relief Review: Advantages and Disadvantages

leaf relief gutter guards vertical

Here are a few of the most significant pros and cons that we discovered about Leaf Relief gutter guard systems.

Pros

  • Durable and long-lasting construction
  • Quick and easy to install on your gutters
  • Superior protection from ice, snow, and leaves
  • Strengthens your existing gutters
  • Withstands extreme temperatures and high winds
  • Cost less than gutter guards with poorer performance
  • 10 to 25-year warranty

Cons

  • Not as aesthetically pleasing as other gutter guard systems
  • Many box stores may have limited selections of Leaf Relief products
  • May require professional installation

Leaf Relief Efficiency

According to most customers, Leaf Relief is as efficient as much more expensive gutter guards systems. In many cases, homeowners claim that Leaf Relief gutter guards performed far better than they had expected especially during snow and ice storms as well as in high-winds.

The Leaf Relief is tried and tested for up to 29.7in of rainfall an hour (which is far more rain than most regions on earth will ever receive in one hour). Further, the Leaf Relief gutter guard system is an intuitive patent-protected design that blocks nearly all of the natural debris that would otherwise end up in your gutters.

Twigs, leaves, animal droppings, dead rodents, bugs, and other debris is kept out of your gutter systems as long as the gutter guards are in place.

Most gutter guard systems claim such abilities but in reality, only filter out the largest pieces of debris and still create mud, clogs, and allow dying rodents to enter the gutter systems - Leaf Relief does a better job, according to many customers.

Learn more about Leaf Relief gutter guards with this downloadable PDF.

How to Order Leaf Relief

Ordering gutter guards, in general, is not the hardest task to complete. But, it does take a bit of effort on your part if you want to end up with the correct amount and size of panels. However, Leaf Relief products are pretty simple to order or pick up in person at a brick-and-mortar store.

Regardless of whether you intend on installing the gutter guards yourself or you will hire a professional to attach them to your home, these gutter guards are equally as easy to order and acquire.

Ply Gem, the manufacturer, has a form you can fill out on their website to help locate the nearest store where you can find Leaf Relief products.

Just be sure that you, or your professional help, properly measures the width of your pre-existing gutters as well as adding up the overall length of the entire gutter system you plan to protect. You will need these numbers to be as precise as can be to ensure you get the right amount of pieces.

If for whatever reason, you happen to have problems locating/ordering Leaf Relief products to protect your gutters with, you can reach out to the manufacturer (though we can't vouch for how long it will take for them to contact you/resolve your issue) via their contact form.

leaf relief by ply gem warranty

Installation & Warranty

The installation process of the Leaf Relief gutter guard system is one of the simplest in the industry. If you are handy with basic tools, and a ladder, you can install these gutter guard panels to your existing gutters in as little as a few hours.

Downloadable instructions are available for Leaf Relief installation, from the manufacturer. These instructions include sections for installing new gutters with continuous hanger, flat hangers or spike/ferrule, zip hangers, and half-round gutters.

Little more than a drill, utility knife, gloves, and a ladder is required for the installation, regardless of which type of installation is necessary for your home and gutters.

That said, if you do happen to need a professional installer, the manufacturer of Leaf Relief has made it super easy to find one via their website. Leaf Relief has a large network of contractors and building professionals all over the United States.

Ply Gem, the makers of Leaf Relief gutter guard systems, are family-oriented and know that high value is important. That is why the Leaf Relief products are designed and built to be as durable, functional, and long-lasting as possible.

Ply Gem wants you to get every penny out of your purchase - and then some, which is why they offer a 10 to 25-year manufacturer warranty with every product that they produce and sell.

How Leaf Relief Compares to Other Systems

Leaf Relief gutter guard systems are easier to order online or get your hands on in person at a big box store, then some brands of gutter guards. The exception is that you may not find the preferred length you want without ordering the guards online. The company has offered 4ft and 5ft lengths, both of which are found online.

In regards to durability, it is safe to say that Leaf Relief gutter guards are as long-lasting and heavy-duty as many other brands out there. They are much more durable than many gutter guards from other producers who use less-quality materials in the manufacturing of their products.

Another area that Leaf Relief ranks well against competitors is in basic functionality; these gutter guards genuinely protect your gutters from flooding, clogging, and collecting debris in general. All it takes is a bit of wind for most leaves and debris to be denied access to your gutters once Leaf Relief is in place.

Appearance-wise, the verdict is mixed. Many homeowners, particularly with tiles and metal roofs like the look of Leaf Relief on their pre-existing gutters. But, homeowners with shingled roofs and pre-installed gutters don't seem as pleased with the way these gutter guards look on their home.

Last but not least, Leaf Relief is fast and painless to install. Further, they also have quick shipping in comparison to other gutter guards. They show up in a few days and only take a single morning or afternoon to install on your pre-existing gutters.

Leaf Relief Customer Review

According to the vast majority of customer opinions that we discovered while digging in deep on our research about Leaf Relief products, these gutter guards seem to work well in general. Customers claim that the guards protect their gutters from flooding and collecting leaves and debris even in the most severe weather (including high winds).

Customers also claim that the Leaf Relief gutter guards save them time on maintenance and cleaning of their gutters. They also seem to be quick and easy to install, as the bulk of reviews (even negative ones) expressed this opinion. Even more, folks with metal roofs love these gutter guards as they are even easier to install with metal roofs (their opinion, not ours!).

gutter detail leaf relief continuous hanger

On the other hand, some customers have claimed that the newer versions of the Leaf Relief gutter guards don't match the style and color of previous models. In these cases, the homeowners were left with non-matching gutter guards on their home.

Another downside we found with customer opinions about Leaf Relief gutter guards was that many big box stores (like Lowes and Homedepot) are often missing the best Leaf Relief products such as the 4ft-long gutter guards.

Furthermore, additional customers made similar claims stating that the gutter guards work just fine in protecting their homes from the leaves and debris but that they aren't appealing visually (even when matching Leaf Relief guards are installed).

You can read up on as many customer opinions about Leaf Relief as you wish over on Amazon.

Bottom Line

Again, even though we prefer LeafFilter for protecting our gutters, Leaf Relief seems to be a great product for many homes with pre-existing gutters.

The guards have a classic look, are easy to order, come in a wide variety of lengths and widths, and are reported to be extremely effective overall (and not just with leaves and debris, but with snow, ice, and rainwater as well).

Do you currently use Leaf Relief, LeafFilter, or perhaps some other gutter guard brand on your home's gutters? If so, what has your experience thus far been? Wed love to hear all about it in the comments section below.

If you don't have gutter guards installed, and aren't impressed with Leaf Relief, you may find our other gutter guard reviews useful.

Good luck finding the best protection for your gutters!