Guttering/leaking pipes

Gonzo1987

Evening all,

Just had an email from my landlady informing me next door have complained of water leaking into their bathroom from our property. She's asked me to check if the gutters are blocked. Is this as simple as looking at the guttering? And do I just unblock it if they are blocked?

Sorry if this is a silly question, I have never had to deal with guttering before!

Ectophile

A good start would be to wait until it rains, then stick your head out the door and take a look.

In any normal rain conditions, the water should just be collected by the gutters and disappear down the downpipe. If the water starts overflowing the gutters and dripping down the side of the building, then either the gutters or the downpipe are blocked.

Another sure sign of blocked gutters is when it looks like the hanging gardens of Babylon, with grass and other plants growing out of the gutters.

As for clearing them yourself, it depends how high they are. Don't kill yourself clambering up huge ladders to do it. It may not even be your responsibility anyway. One quick check that you can easily do, though, is to check that the bottom of the downpipe hadn't been blocked.

Gonzo1987

Perfect thank you - We've in a converted Victorian terrace and next door is the same, a flat upstairs and one down, and I'm not sure which neighbour is having the problem, but I shall go out on the flat roof to take a look.

I suppose dynorod or similar would be the one to call if there is a problem?

DRP

I would also suggest you knock on each of the neighbours' doors - to find out where the water leak is - it may be the quickest way to identify or rule out problem areas.

GoneWithTheWindFabulous

Dyno rod would be expensive. Check local builders in your areas for gutter cleaning or even window cleaning

Whereabouts are you? I know someone who covers south east London

clayton16749

If ur a tenant I think the landlady should be paying to clear the gutters...

Gonzo1987

having looked this morning, there was a small tree growing out the gutter that runs along the flat roof. I tried to clear as much as possible, but it's like solid mass in there, I'm hoping that is the problem, as I'm not sure it could be a leak in the pipework as between my bathroom with in downstairs, there is a corridor used by my downstairs neighbours (it's a really odd layout) so any leak would be apparent to them too?

I'm pretty sure I can clear this with a little elbow grease, interestingly, the renting/buying board think gutter upkeep is the tenant's responsibility, I have no idea.

Ectophile

If you can get at it safely, it's just a matter of scraping all the rubbish out so the water can flow properly again.

Gonzo1987

The blockage is in the pipe the runs along the length of my flat roof, so access is easy enough, getting the blockage out...not so much!

Our neighbour has sawn the pipe in half - I guess technically this a pipe we share as both our gutters join and run down this pipe.

I've do what I can to clear as much debris as possible, water case now get down the pipe at least, I'm away this weekend, so not much else I can do at this stage, the main this is water can now escape so hopefully no more water damage will occur next door.

I have a friend coming to help clear all the other gutters next week so this should be fixed!