If you want ember guard protection, you don’t want a plastic guard. You need an ember guard that is corrosion-resistant and non-combustible that covers any potential roof opening, such as gutter systems for roof ventilation openings, fascia, valleys, ridges and hips.
So, does plastic ember guard work? No. An ember guard cannot be manufactured from plastic as the material voids its compliance with Australian standards. An ember guard-compliant mesh must be either aluminium, steel or bronze.
Most homes destroyed during a bushfire is as a result of burning embers. Installing a gutter guard or an ember guard-compliant mesh may protect your home in high-risk areas. However, specific ember guard requirements exist for each bushfire attack level, and you need to know which ember guard is the best solution for you.
What is an ember guard?
An ember guard is a speciality gutter guard product designed to protect homes in bushfire-prone areas from burning embers carried on the wind. Ember guard mesh is fixed to the entire gutter system, including valleys and hips and roof spaces such as roof ventilation openings, fascia and ridges.
An ember attack occurs when airborne burning debris ignites fine leaf debris in the guttering system or flammable debris in the roof. The ember guard mesh or perforated sheets must have a hole size of 2mm or smaller to prevent an ember attack.
See our full range of gutter guard products.
Gutter Guard Vs Ember Guard
The table below details the differences between ScreenTech’s gutter guards and ember guards. Some variations will exist between other gutter protection systems on the market.
Gutter Guard
Ember guard
Base Material
aluminium & polyethylene
aluminium, steel or bronze
Aperture size requirement
No size minimum
maximum 2mm
Application Type
ember guard or gutter guard
ember guard or gutter guard
Coating/Colouring
powder coating D1010 or Colorbond® steel, no coating
powder coating D1010
Manufacturing Technique(s)
expanded or extruded
expanded, expanded single direction or machine-woven or extruded
Best Fit Solutions
leaf guard, rainwater harvesting, bird & pest proofing, reduce maintenance & safety
ember proofing, leaf guard against fine debris, bird, pest & possum proofing, reduce maintenance & safety
Warranty
10-25-years
15-years
Bushfire Tested
AS3959-2018 compliant
AS 3959-2018 compliant
Gutter Guard Bushfire attack level (BAL) suitability
BAL-12.5, BAL-19, BAL-29
BAL-12.5, BAL-19, BAL-29, BAL-40, BAL-FZ
Ember Guard Bushfire attack level (BAL) suitability
N/A
BAL-12.5, BAL-19, BAL-29, BAL-40, BAL-FZ
Gutter Guard & Ember Guard Materials
Ember proof with aluminium ember mesh
Most homeowners install aluminium mesh to protect their gutters because it is corrosion-resistant, non-combustible, and flexible. These properties also make it suitable for commercial gutter guards.
Aluminium ember guards are suitable for BAL-LOW-to-BAL-29 bushfire-prone areas. Aluminium ember guards also provide other solutions, such as preventing gutter cleaning of fine debris, like pines, jacarandas, and she-oaks. The smaller mesh hole size in the ember guard gutter keeps leaves out of the gutter and allows water to flow freely.
TuffMesh® Emberguard
Specifications
- LWG: 6.0mm
- SWG: 3.0mm
- Aperture: 1.6mm (average hole size)
- Plate thickness: 0.8
- Strand width: 1.2mm
- Aluminum mesh
Features and benefits:
- Strongest aluminium guard
- One way mesh with added trough for maximum water collection
- Complies with AS3959–1999
- Australian Bushfire Standards
- CSIRO tested flammability index of zero
- Suitable to BAL 29
- Akzo Nobel D1000 powder coating.
- Powder coated in Australia
- 25-year material warranty
Colour Options:
Basalt®
Classic Cream®
Cottage Green®
Deep Ocean®
Dune®
Evening Haze®
Gully®
Ironstone®
Jasper®
Manor Red®
Monument®
Night Sky®
Pale Eucalypt®
Paperbark®
Shale Grey®
Surfmist®
Wallaby®
Windspray®
Woodlands Grey®
Zinc
See our full range of gutter guard products.
Ember proof with steel gutter mesh
Steel mesh is required for BAL40 and BAL-FZ areas. These gutter guards Colorbond® steel mesh is the most popular steel gutter guard in Australia and is the most durable.
Steel mesh is strong and durable and is made from Colorbond Bluscope® Steel which provides an excellent colour match with your roof and gutters. Steel mesh is more robust but less malleable than aluminium, making it more challenging to install.
SteelMesh
Specifications
- Base material: colorbond® steel
- Strand width: 1.4 mm
- Strand Thickness: 0.55 mm
- Mesh weight: 2500 gsm
- Hole Size: 2mm
- 200mm- 600mm- x 1.2m panels
Features and benefits:
- Aesthetically pleasing
- BAL-12.5, BAL-19, BAL-29, BAL-FZ
- 0 Flammability Index
- CSIRO non-combustible rated
- Made in Australia
- Custom galvanised products are available
- 20-year material warranty
Colour Options:
Evening Haze®
Jasper®
Gully®
Basalt®
Classic Cream®
Cottage Green®
Deep Ocean®
Galvanised
Dune®
Ironstone®
Mangrove®
Manor Red®
Monument®
Night Sky®
Pale Eucalypt®
Paperbark®
Shale Grey®
Surfmist®
Wallaby®
Windspray®
Woodlands Grey®
Zinc
Ember proof with bronze ember guards
Bronze ember guard gutter mesh is required for BAL40 and BAL-FZ areas. Bronze mesh is more robust but less malleable than aluminium, making it more challenging to install gutter guards. Steel gutter mesh is more widely used compared to bronze gutter guards.
Plastic gutter guards
Plastic gutter guards and plastic mesh are not suitable for bushfire gutter protection. However, plastic gutter guards can provide solutions for leaf-proofing, including against fine-leaf trees. The quality and prices vary among the other plastic gutter guard products, including plastic mesh, brush guards, vinyl gutter guards, mesh panels and foam inserts.
Need gutter guard installed?
Want to know more? ScreenTech sends out gutter guard samples and guides to architects. We also provide consultations for gutter protection projects and considerations across Australia.
Look no further than ScreenTech’s TuffMesh®, GutterMesh, SteelMesh and SolarMesh products. Our mesh suits Klip-Lok®, Trimdeck®, corrugated roof types and tiled roofs. Get in touch with a ScreenTech installation partner today.
