Guttering issue

benson1980

Hi, we’ve recently moved into our new house and have a bit of an issue with part of the guttering arrangement, and was wondering if anyone could help. 

As you can see from the photo, the down pipe from the dormer gutter feeds down across the lower roof and in theory should nicely flow into the lower gutter, I presume. In reality what happens is that when it’s raining it just over spills onto our patio area, presumably because of the flow rate down the roof tiles and it simply over shooting, so to speak, and we just hear it dripping down onto the paving stones, when we are in the lounge (which patio door leads into). I was wondering if there was something in could do to fix this at all?

thanks

Hasbeen

Is the main lower gutter clear of any debris etc. Is the down pipe blocked?

stuart45

You could change to a deep flow gutter if all else fails.

benson1980

Hasbeen said:

Is the main lower gutter clear of any debris etc. Is the down pipe blocked?

Good point....I’d cleared the gutters but forgot the Down pipe bit. It’s got one of those metal wire guards that was quite clogged so hopefully that might do the trick

benson1980

stuart45 said:

You could change to a deep flow gutter if all else fails.

Thanks will bear that in mind if the above doesn’t work

Hasbeen

benson1980 said:

Hasbeen said:

Is the main lower gutter clear of any debris etc. Is the down pipe blocked?

Good point....I’d cleared the gutters but forgot the Down pipe bit. It’s got one of those metal wire guards that was quite clogged so hopefully that might do the trick

Wire guard is to stop debris like the moss you have, going into the drain.

Required a check every so often.

But hope it works for you now.  

Belenus

You could replace the bottom elbow of the upper down pipe with some sort of T Piece that will divert the flow two ways. That might be enough to stop the water overshooting the lower gutter as there will be two flows of half the volume each.

Add elbows to each side of the T piece so the flow comes out downwards and not sideways to prevent the water possibly going under the side of the tiles.

Check with an expert that it is ok to do that. There may be a reason why it would be bad practice.

Or you could add a splashback of some sort made of black plastic to the lower gutter where the flow arrives but that might look a bit odd.

Belenus

Can you post a picture of the whole guttering on that aspect of your house.

Is there another downpipe to the left?

It could be that the down pipe in your picture is taking more water than it is designed for because of a blockage somewhere to the left out of picture or because the gutter is sloping toward the right.

I hope that makes sense.

stuart45

You can buy spreaders, or make them up as mentioned above. Piece of pipe with holes drill in it will work. Probably best to close the ends so it does not come out sideways.

benson1980

Thanks all...that is the only down pipe from the dormer  window. Will have a look at the spreaders as well if the issue persists

Jeepers_Creepers

I think you need to figure out why it's overspilling first, Benson, and for that you'll need to wait until it teems down again (darn this dry spell...)

It'll either be due to the sheer volume and speed of water coming down that focused spot, so some of it completely overshoots the gutter or just splashes against the outside edge of it, in which case the solution is probably deep-flow guttering or some clever adaptation like wot Belenus suggested, or some other contrived solution like a raised extra rim along that outer gutter edge (made from a short length of similar gutter dropped in, and pulled up that side - and glued in place.)

The other cause could be that the existing gutter contents isn't being drained away quickly enough, so the gutter is already partially filled so this extra water overflows with its sideways force. In which case checking gutter levels (sloping enough and the correct way), checking that the DP and drains are free-flowing, or swapping to deepflow guttering as before could solve it.

So, you need rain, an umbrella, and a ladder. Enjoy...