blog: guttering post

@s

@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+---
+title: "Replacing garage guttering"
+slug: /replacing-garage-guttering/
+date: 2025-12-06
+tags: ["projects", "DIY"]
+---
+
+I faced the following problems with the guttering on my garage:
+
+- It had been bent out of shape by the wind
+- The seals on the joins had worn away causing leaks
+- There was sitting water that wasn't making it to the downpipe
+- It was old and gross
+
+Whenever it rained heavily, these problems would compound and lead to water
+pouring over onto the garage brickwork.
+
+The sitting water was caused by the lack of a sufficient drop from the union
+join with my neighbour's gutter to the downpipe. A further impediment was that
+the water had to turn a 90 degree angle, around the side of the garabe, before
+reaching the downpipe. As a result, water was only making it to the downpipe
+when there was very heavy rain and/or high winds. During normal drip-drainage of
+the daily dew condensation on the roof, the water was just pooling in the
+gutter.
+
+I decided to redesign the passage to the downpipe. Instead of trying to make the
+water turn a bend I thought it would be better to work _with_ gravity and have
+the drop start at the end of the guttering, not around the corner. This way, the
+water would have increased velocity at the beginning of its descent into the
+downpipe.
+
+By fashioning a "swans neck" sequence of joins, the downpipe now turns the
+corner _during_ descent and is fed downwards along the wall to the water butt.
+
+This has been working very well and the water no longer pools. I've noticed
+however that condensation forms on the underside of the downpipe. This doesn't
+look great and I worry about it wearing away the sealant I have applied at the
+joins.
+
+Overall, however I think it looks much neater as well as being more satisfying
+from an engineering perspective. The white half-round gutters blend in nicely
+with the neighbours' and look a lot cleaner.
+
+I didn't keep track of costs for this project. I think in total it cost around
+£80. This included the cost of the Floplast guttering and fixtures, the downpipe
+and the protective mesh I applied to the top of the gutters to prevent blockages
+from leaves and roof moss.
+
+In order to drill the fixtures into the garage masonry I needed a more powerful
+drill than my 18V battery-powered Erbauer. I bought this a few years ago before
+I knew much about brands and power-tool quality. So I bought a wired Makita
+hammer-drill for around £90. I think when I buy new power-tools in future I will
+stick to Makita. The build quality and performance is excellent.

posts/installing-loft-ladder-and-hatch.md

@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ have plenty spare) and B.I.N which seems to be the gold standard of primers. I
 also now have an intimate and god-like knowledge of my loft hatch and how many
 people can say that these days?
 
-![Not extended, coy.](./img/ll-loft-collapsed-rotated.jpg)
+![Folded](./img/ll-loft-collapsed-rotated.jpg)
 
 | Product                                                | Cost  |
 | ------------------------------------------------------ | ----- |

posts/replacing-garage-guttering.md

@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+---
+title: "Replacing garage guttering"
+slug: /replacing-garage-guttering/
+date: 2025-12-06
+tags: ["projects", "DIY"]
+---
+
+![](./img/new-main-guttering.jpg)
+
+I faced the following problems with the guttering on my garage:
+
+- It had been bent out of shape by the wind
+- The seals on the joins had worn away causing leaks
+- There was sitting water that wasn't making it to the downpipe
+- It was old and gross
+
+Whenever it rained heavily, these problems would compound and lead to water
+pouring over onto the garage brickwork.
+
+![The old guttering. I didn't save any un-annotated pics
+unfortunately](./img/old-main-guttering.jpg)
+
+The sitting water was caused by the lack of a sufficient drop from the union
+join with my neighbour's gutter to the downpipe. A further impediment was that
+the water had to turn a 90 degree angle, around the side of the garage, before
+reaching the downpipe. As a result, water was only making it to the downpipe
+when there was very heavy rain and/or high winds. During normal drip-drainage of
+the daily dew condensation on the roof, the water was just pooling in the
+gutter.
+
+![The old corner bend](./img/old-corner-bend.jpg)
+
+![The old downpipe](./img/old-down-pipe.jpg)
+
+I decided to redesign the passage to the downpipe. Instead of trying to make the
+water turn a bend I thought it would be better to work _with_ gravity and have
+the drop start at the end of the guttering, not around the corner. This way, the
+water would have increased velocity at the beginning of its descent into the
+downpipe.
+
+![The new downpipe design](./img/new-downpipe-rotate.jpg)
+
+By fashioning a "swans neck" sequence of joins, the downpipe now turns the
+corner _during_ descent and is fed downwards along the wall to the water butt.
+
+![The "swans neck" joini to get arong the corner](./img/swans-neck-downpipe-rotate.jpg)
+
+This has been working very well and the water no longer pools. I've noticed
+however that condensation forms on the underside of the downpipe. This doesn't
+look great and I worry about it wearing away the sealant I have applied at the
+joins.
+
+![The new guttering](./img/closeup-of-new-main-guttering.jpg)
+
+Overall, however I think it looks much neater as well as being more satisfying
+from an engineering perspective. The white half-round gutters blend in nicely
+with the neighbours' and look a lot cleaner.
+
+I didn't keep track of costs for this project. I think in total it cost around
+£80. This included the cost of the Floplast guttering and fixtures, the downpipe
+and the protective mesh I applied to the top of the gutters to prevent blockages
+from leaves and roof moss.