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