Tim Lamb wrote:
In message , The Natural
Philosopher writes
Tim Lamb wrote:
In message , The Natural
Philosopher writes

Remember gutters are not there to COLLECT water. They are there to
get rid of it to avoid it soaking the edge/wall of the building.
Whether they store some locally, or dump it into a soakaway, is
irrelevant.
Water stored in gutters leads to problems with algal growth and
collected leaves.


Oh hah bloody ha.

Alga growth does no harm and leaves will be there whether there is
water in or not. Until the wind blows em out or the next water wahes
them out.
And there lies a problem. If blown leaves don't dry and blow out they
rot providing a feedstock for the algae and gradually taking up space in
the gutter. If they are washed down into a soak-away they plug the
spaces and eventually block the pipe. Regular gutter cleaning is the
obvious answer.

I have never had gutters that did NOT do this irrespective of anything.

Leaves will rot naturally outside anyway, whether soaking wet or not.

the resultant sludge in the gutter evenentually reduces the depth, or
gets washed somwhere else. In all cases eventually it has to be removed.






Was this always a lead gutter or is it a bodge where sheet lead has
been used rather than replacing cast iron?
regards


Fer *** sake, you dont make iron gutters like that.

Its a classic cast in stone gutter and parapet.

You lead line em.

OK. Stone gutters are a bit like hen's teeth in my part of the world:-)

If you butt or solder the lead together it pulls part in the cold Or
buckles in the sun. If you lap them together the water creeps
underneath,. Experince has lead to a simple technique. You fold the
lead a bit like rolling up a toothpast tube and mash it down., This
doesn't leak, wont split when the lead shrinks, and is waterproof. It
always leaves a slight ridge. All lead gutters end up with puddles if
they are essentially level. Think of them as moats, with drains.

OK again. From the photo, this does not look to have been done very
well. BS 5502 agricultural buildings can have *eves beam* gutters where
a rectangular section galvanised trough supports the edge of the roof
and catches the water. Because the building is level, there is no fall
to the gutter leading to the problems I described. None of this helps
the OP.

Galv iron can be bolted through lap joints which can move under thermal
expansion. Lead practice is to overlap and fold. Wherever you have level
gutters, crap will tend to build up.

Hence the need to clear it peridiocally. In fact crap builds up anyway.
Its just less at the highest flow rate points of the system, and will
collect at the lowest flow rates, or where its impeded by a sieve of
some sort. Orgainic matter eventually composts down to a peat which will
get through most sivees and grilles., This then blocks your soakaways.
Hence these need replacing every 50-60 years or so.


Or pressure was the guttering every coule of years as an alternative.










regards