Talk to me about replacement guttering!

[mm289]

So, we are getting to the stage where we can consider replacing the guttering on the house. It is a C18 traditional Kent farmhouse, nothing fancy, that was massacred in the 80's and we are gradually "improving". It currently has plain plastic guttering and downpipes etc. that are all fading AND failing.

So I am looking at biting the bullet and replacing the whole lot with something more in keeping. We have found a couple of bits of old downpipe in the garden and farmyard next door which are simple round pipe,some ~3" some ~5".

So looking around can see both plastic "cast lookalike", aluminium "traditional style" and new cast "heritage" style guttering on the market.

Any suggestions/experiences of what would suit a simple farmhouse and what the opinions are on Aluminium vs "cast" - I kinda think the plastic looks a bit tacky really (hope that doesn't offend anyone)

All suggestions on styles and suppliers much appreciated.

Thanks,

MM

 

[JanJonWestWales]

we used aluminium guttering from http://www.stormguardrainwater.co.uk/pipes/...and are very happy with the look and price

http://blaencwmbychan.blogspot.co.uk/

 

[mm289]

Thanks for that, I'll go have a look

Cheers,

MM

 

[MatthewC]

My roofer showed me some of the "heritage plastic" stuff and seemed surprised that I didn't like it! One ad says “Cast Iron Style Rainwater Systems replicate traditional Cast Iron styling with all the benefits of PVC" which, in my view, means that it goes a funny shade after a few years and looks obviously plastic, then requires replacement after 10 years.

I have seen some aluminium RWG and it looks OK but if I was replacing completely I'd go for cast iron and do the job properly. I bought all my cast iron gutters and downpipes from https://www.rainclear.co.uk/ - other suppliers are available although the reputed best is Longbottoms in Yorkshire who are so old fashioned that they don't have a website!

 

[bennoa1]

As an alternative to new, plenty of reclaimed cast iron on ebay if you don't mind a bit of work to bring it back to life. Save a pretty penny. Might need to travel a bit though. I've bought a fair bit over the years ready to go back and replace the horrid plastic stuff.

 

[Roger H]

Check out any local scrapyards for cast iron guttering - mine was charging just £5 a 6' length. Get ones that are uncracked and not too corroded and they should come up fine with an angle grinder sanding disk and a bit of hammerite. Use neoprene gaskets for the joints.

 

[CliffordPope]

Would an ordinary 18th century house have had wooden lead-lined gutters?

 

[88v8]

Yes, salvage yards or eBay for cast iron.
Derust with wire brush and Jenolite.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/282228003442?lpid=122&chn=ps&adgroupid=27378760866&rlsatarget=pla-181484361186&adtype=pla&poi=&googleloc=9061007&device=c&campaignid=620865095&crdt=0
Prime with any zinc-rich primer
Paint with Epoxy 121, two coats, then you'll never have to touch it again.
http://www.rust.co.uk/epoxy-mastic-rust-proofing-paint/c28117/

For new cast iron, Longbottom.
http://www.longbottomfoundry.co.uk/
But it's not cheap, especially the hand-cast sizes. So perhaps just use it for the downpipes, and where the gutters are more visible, and otherwise use some of the ally stuff.

Ivor

 

[mm289]

Thanks for the info people,

I have considered reclaim but the work required to get it sorted is too much for us at the moment. We have a load of other stuff to do and I need to get the gutters sorted asap as the plastic ones are failing left right and, err, above!!

Will look at the two cast options and also ally, see what prices work out at, from memory last time I added it up I needed about 60~ metres :shock:

Cheers,

MM

 

[Feltwell]

It's well worth shopping around, prices do vary.

The Saint Gobain Classical Rainwater range is made in a foundry about 2 miles from me. Going to Jewsons to buy some was about half the price of ordering it through their website. Tuscan foundry was quite cheap from memory, although the finish quality wasn't great - but it did the job and that high up you couldn't see the finish anyway.

Do try J & JW Longbottom, they do a huge range, biggest of anyone I reckon. Very basic website but you can now download their (wonderful!) catalogue. For pricing it's phone them up, last time I dealt with them to pay it was send them a cheque, they do exist in a bygone era!

http://www.longbottomfoundry.co.uk/

I joint using roof & gutter sealant - cheap and works better & easier than sealing tapes I found. Traditional way is linseed putty but I really wouldn't recommend this, it does eventually fail.

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p11002?searchstr=roof and gutter sealant

Cheapest of all is as others have said go for secondhand, but I can understand why you don't want to - I did for my last batch and the clean up operation was both long winded and messy.

Final point - don't even think of trying to cut cast iron with a hacksaw, well not if you value your sanity and arm muscles - use an angle grinder. Also, if you need to drill it to accept jointing bolts, buy a cheap pack of 10 HSS drills from Screwfix or similar, because you will blunt them quite quickly. I use them with some cutting fluid, they last a bit longer - blunt them all in a day then sharpen them again in the evening.

I can see why aluminium appeals, cast iron definitely needs 2 people to put up safely. In one batch of used guttering that I bought there were 2 S downpipe bends that were made of some kind of aluminium alloy - the paint hadn't stuck to them and they had disintegrated, they were so thin and corroded they were unusable. If that's typical of others I have no idea.

 

[worms]

I have considered reclaim but the work required to get it sorted is too much for us at the moment. We have a load of other stuff to do and I need to get the gutters sorted asap as the plastic ones are failing left right and, err, above...

If the gutters are accessible you could just put reclaimed guttering up, with minimal renovation, as a temporary fix, then do the full work with angle grinder etc when you have the time. My gutters at the back of the house were a quick job a couple of years ago, with linseed putty at the junctions and are doing ok (although I still need to go back and paint them and sort out some soakaways). Of course if they are at at height and you need scaffolding, you would want to do it right first time.

 

[Roger H]

Thinking on it, if I could get some cheap salvaged guttering, it might be worth taking it to a shot blaster to clean up.

 

[Feltwell]

Thinking on it, if I could get some cheap salvaged guttering, it might be worth taking it to a shot blaster to clean up.

The failure rate would be high - even new guttering can break when being shotblasted, my local foundry told me. Factor in the cost of the shotblaster, presuming you don't have facilities yourself, and it may not be worth it.

I cleaned mine up with a needle scaler and a compressor. Noisy job, but it worked well. If you've got or can borrow a decent compressor (it's quite an air hungry tool) then a needle scaler is cheap enough, mine was about £20. I ended up using my and my father's compressors in parallel, air lines joined by a Y piece, as I got fed up with having to stop constantly to wait for the tank to recharge!