Timber/Aluminium/Plastic guttering

joe90mitch

Hi all,

We moved into our house a year ago (Victorian terrace) and recently discovered that our front gutter is pretty rotten - it's timber front and back and I don't think the previous owners ever painted it for maintenance. The front is leaking above one of the pillars and a guy we had out for another gutter job said it's soft to the touch now. The back looks bad from the bathroom loft dormer window, with water sitting in it for days after it rains. We did try to be good responsible people by paying to get it cleaned back in Autumn, but that's just highlighted these larger issues.

So we're looking to replace and have already had a couple of quotes through. Unsurprisingly the guys have different opinions on what material is best, but we've been offered all of plastic, aluminium and timber so far. Price points aren't a million miles away for any. Just looking for some impartial opinions on the pros/cons of each (when you google it most of the results are guttering companies who have a vested interest in pushing one or the other).

To add to this, at the back we have an extension the full width of the property which means I couldn't easily use a ladder to access the back gutter - just think this is an important consideration re timber - I don't think I (or a handyman) could get up there without scaffolding, so repainting/bitumening the gutter if we went for timber would be extremely difficult or costly going forwards.

My general take is that plastic (twinplas?) seems to be the cheapest, but may look less nice alongside other neighbours with timber/aluminium - but also can be damaged more easily? The gutterer today claimed it's most likely to fail, but at the same time another gutterer said a pro is that it's easier to add a replacement piece and rejoin. Then aluminium is pretty hardy but obviously costs a bit more - but looks quite nice still? One gutterer said if it gets damaged the issue (when compared to plastic) is that you have to replace the whole run - but is it actually that likely that something would damage it? Then wood is theoretically the best solution, but only if you put the effort in to maintain it regularly. Is that right? Any other considerations?

The other piece of the jigsaw is that we share our run (correct term?) with one of our neighbours. She is pretty ill at the moment and very out of it a lot of the time, so it makes it a bit difficult - but all the guys have said ideally you'd get the whole lot replaced at once (the aluminium one said it'd be one long run of aluminium ideally, for example). Again, does this seem correct (to me it does)? One concern they all have is that the neighbour's gutters look to be in a similar condition to ours - so they're all worried that if we don't replace hers that the joint there will be a big problem (i.e. trying to join to rotten timber). We'll probably try to broach the subject in a polite manner anyway, but would be good to know if I've heard anything that sounds wrong.

Any inputs/advice appreciated as always

daveyjp

Is the timber is supported on projecting bricks or stonework?  If so I'd go for either direct replacement timber or Victorian Ogee in aluminium or plastic which can be fitted to sit on the existing structure, anything fitted above it doesn't look good.

If its fastened to barge board it is up to you.

joe90mitch

daveyjp said:

Is the timber is supported on projecting bricks or stonework?  If so I'd go for either direct replacement timber or Victorian Ogee in aluminium or plastic which can be fitted to sit on the existing structure, anything fitted above it doesn't look good.

If its fastened to barge board it is up to you.

Here's a photo - there are pieces of timber that project out and the gutter sits on these (believe the gutters have called them "pillars"?). In that photo you can see our and the neighbour's timber gutter running from the middle to the right. On the left side is our other neihbour who has seemless aluminium, also sat on the pillars. It's not the clearest photo, but I think the black aluminium on the pillars looks ok enough, but not quite as nice as gutter.



The barge board has been offered (the guys who suggested installing plastic said they'd remove the pillars and put in a board) - there are houses on our street where you can see this has been done, but most still have the pillars in place.

Is my summary of the pros/cons of plastic vs aluminium vs timber somewhat correct? 

TELLIT01

Assuming you aren't in a conservation area the choice is really up to you.  Personally, I would move away from timber for all the reasons you have outlined yourself.  There shouldn't be any problem connecting between different types of gutter.  We replaced our cast iron guttering with plastic and it was connected to the adjoining cast iron without any problem.

joe90mitch

TELLIT01 said:

Assuming you aren't in a conservation area the choice is really up to you.  Personally, I would move away from timber for all the reasons you have outlined yourself.  There shouldn't be any problem connecting between different types of gutter.  We replaced our cast iron guttering with plastic and it was connected to the adjoining cast iron without any problem.

Yes, sorry should have said that we are outside of a conservation area Good point.

OK noted, thanks. Main concern for me is whether the neighbours wood is rotten, I have a sinking feeling it could be. The point of the join overflowed a lot over summer until we got the gutters cleaned and it was causing some penetrating damp into our living room, so it's definitely a concern for me. But we'll raise it with our neighbour and if she's unwilling we'll have to just crack on and revisit it if the joint does get worse and cause damp on our side again.

donnablossomm

I'd actually go with aluminium - if you get a sleek design in something black or white then it won't look too out of place on the house anyway, and aluminium is going to last a lot longer than the plastic would, especially if you find it rains a lot on your patch

joe90mitch

donnablossomm said:

I'd actually go with aluminium - if you get a sleek design in something black or white then it won't look too out of place on the house anyway, and aluminium is going to last a lot longer than the plastic would, especially if you find it rains a lot on your patch

Thanks for the reply. I think I am starting to lean that way myself. We live in Sheffield, so it's fair to say we get a good amount of rain up here

donnablossomm

joe90mitch said:

donnablossomm said:

I'd actually go with aluminium - if you get a sleek design in something black or white then it won't look too out of place on the house anyway, and aluminium is going to last a lot longer than the plastic would, especially if you find it rains a lot on your patch

Thanks for the reply. I think I am starting to lean that way myself. We live in Sheffield, so it's fair to say we get a good amount of rain up here

Let me know if you go for it and if it goes well!