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Semi with separate gutters, neighbour asking to join gutters
Our 1930's semi currently has separate plastic guttering systems, with
each half having their own single downpipe, although our downpipe is cast iron. We've lived there over 10 years, with our elderly neighbour living there far, far longer. Neither gutter have been replaced in that period, but as neither is cast iron, both have been replaced at some point. Our neighbour approached us to say that she's replacing her guttering. Apparently she also mentioned something about having a damp problem, but I'm not certain where it is, or whether the guttering replacement is meant to resolve this. Apparently there was some discussion about whether we wanted our side replaced as well - we can't afford this. Today we've been asked to confirm whether we want the guttering systems connected. At present they're separate, and doing a quick check around neighbouring properties, there's a mix of both joined and unjoined. I suspected originally they were joined, but over the years some have been separated as one half replace theirs. When I said I was happy to leave it as is, she was fairly polite, but pressed the point that (she was advised?) as there would be a gap (however small), that water could run down and cause damp. She repeatedly said that she's fine with our decision, but to make it clear she's warned us of the potential problems. I think she was trying to make it clear that if things go wrong, its our fault. My reason for not wanting them joined was mainly that it's not been a problem for the last 10 years (and likely longer), and that I'd like to avoid shared systems were possible to prevent potential disputes should one side leak/overflow etc. What do people recommend? Should we connect our guttering (assuming it's possible) or keep separate? Is there a real chance of damp due to the gap, or is it best to keep as-is? Thanks David |
Semi with separate gutters, neighbour asking to join gutters
David Hearn wrote:
Our 1930's semi currently has separate plastic guttering systems, with each half having their own single downpipe, although our downpipe is cast iron. We've lived there over 10 years, with our elderly neighbour living there far, far longer. Neither gutter have been replaced in that period, but as neither is cast iron, both have been replaced at some point. Our neighbour approached us to say that she's replacing her guttering. Apparently she also mentioned something about having a damp problem, but I'm not certain where it is, or whether the guttering replacement is meant to resolve this. Apparently there was some discussion about whether we wanted our side replaced as well - we can't afford this. Today we've been asked to confirm whether we want the guttering systems connected. At present they're separate, and doing a quick check around neighbouring properties, there's a mix of both joined and unjoined. I suspected originally they were joined, but over the years some have been separated as one half replace theirs. When I said I was happy to leave it as is, she was fairly polite, but pressed the point that (she was advised?) as there would be a gap (however small), that water could run down and cause damp. She repeatedly said that she's fine with our decision, but to make it clear she's warned us of the potential problems. I think she was trying to make it clear that if things go wrong, its our fault. My reason for not wanting them joined was mainly that it's not been a problem for the last 10 years (and likely longer), and that I'd like to avoid shared systems were possible to prevent potential disputes should one side leak/overflow etc. What do people recommend? Should we connect our guttering (assuming it's possible) or keep separate? Is there a real chance of damp due to the gap, or is it best to keep as-is? Thanks David The supplier is trying to drum up business. Keep it separate. The risk of a damp wall is minute IMO. Check that your guttering is undamaged before and after next door has the work done. |
Semi with separate gutters, neighbour asking to join gutters
On 01/03/14 11:48, David Hearn wrote:
What do people recommend? Should we connect our guttering (assuming it's possible) or keep separate? Is there a real chance of damp due to the gap, or is it best to keep as-is? A small gap is irrelevant - think how much rain hits your walls anyway. And even working gutters catch some rain on the outside that runs down underneath and drips! I would not connect them if your downpipes are set up to cope with an isolated system. Then if she (or new occupant) fails to clean her gutters or fix a blocked downpipe, you do not suddenly get the benefit of a lot of extra water or muck down yours. Never share any service with a neighbour that you don't have to! Ever... |
Semi with separate gutters, neighbour asking to join gutters
Capitol wrote:
David Hearn wrote: Our 1930's semi currently has separate plastic guttering systems, with each half having their own single downpipe The supplier is trying to drum up business. Keep it separate. The risk of a damp wall is minute IMO. Check that your guttering is undamaged before and after next door has the work done. If you have corrugated tiles (rather than flat slates) best if the gap is in a valley, rather than a ridge, to minimise runoff. |
Semi with separate gutters, neighbour asking to join gutters
Tim Watts wrote:
Never share any service with a neighbour that you don't have to! Ever... My neighbour and I jointly replaced the soffits/fascias/guttering of our houses about 7 years ago, I organised the materials, they borrowed a scaffold tower and we shared the work. There's a single run of guttering front and back, in other houses I've known, the front gutter has a downpipe on one house and the rear is on the other, but here both downpipes are on my house. After we'd finished the work he asked me for copies of the receipts for the materials and he'd square up, when I did so he struck-off his half of the cost for the downpipes and outlets, on the grounds they were all mine, cheeky git! I felt like putting a hacksaw through the gutter at the mid-point and fitting two end-stops. |
Semi with separate gutters, neighbour asking to join gutters
On 03/01/2014 12:26 PM, Andy Burns wrote:
My neighbour and I jointly replaced the soffits/fascias/guttering of our houses about 7 years ago, I organised the materials, they borrowed a scaffold tower and we shared the work. There's a single run of guttering front and back, in other houses I've known, the front gutter has a downpipe on one house and the rear is on the other, but here both downpipes are on my house. After we'd finished the work he asked me for copies of the receipts for the materials and he'd square up, when I did so he struck-off his half of the cost for the downpipes and outlets, on the grounds they were all mine, cheeky git! I felt like putting a hacksaw through the gutter at the mid-point and fitting two end-stops. Some people are unbelievable. No wonder there are so many disputes. |
Semi with separate gutters, neighbour asking to join gutters
Andy Burns wrote:
Capitol wrote: David Hearn wrote: Our 1930's semi currently has separate plastic guttering systems, with each half having their own single downpipe The supplier is trying to drum up business. Keep it separate. The risk of a damp wall is minute IMO. Check that your guttering is undamaged before and after next door has the work done. If you have corrugated tiles (rather than flat slates) best if the gap is in a valley, rather than a ridge, to minimise runoff. I'm not expert but intuitively, I would have thought the exact opposite? |
Semi with separate gutters, neighbour asking to join gutters
Bob Minchin wrote:
Andy Burns wrote: If you have corrugated tiles (rather than flat slates) best if the gap is in a valley, rather than a ridge, to minimise runoff. I'm not expert but intuitively, I would have thought the exact opposite? That's what I meant to write! |
Semi with separate gutters, neighbour asking to join gutters
On 01/03/2014 12:03, Tim Watts wrote:
On 01/03/14 11:48, David Hearn wrote: What do people recommend? Should we connect our guttering (assuming it's possible) or keep separate? Is there a real chance of damp due to the gap, or is it best to keep as-is? A small gap is irrelevant - think how much rain hits your walls anyway. And even working gutters catch some rain on the outside that runs down underneath and drips! I would not connect them if your downpipes are set up to cope with an isolated system. Then if she (or new occupant) fails to clean her gutters or fix a blocked downpipe, you do not suddenly get the benefit of a lot of extra water or muck down yours. Never share any service with a neighbour that you don't have to! Ever... +1 |
Semi with separate gutters, neighbour asking to join gutters
On 01/03/2014 12:03, Tim Watts wrote:
On 01/03/14 11:48, David Hearn wrote: What do people recommend? Should we connect our guttering (assuming it's possible) or keep separate? Is there a real chance of damp due to the gap, or is it best to keep as-is? A small gap is irrelevant - think how much rain hits your walls anyway. And even working gutters catch some rain on the outside that runs down underneath and drips! I would not connect them if your downpipes are set up to cope with an isolated system. Then if she (or new occupant) fails to clean her gutters or fix a blocked downpipe, you do not suddenly get the benefit of a lot of extra water or muck down yours. Never share any service with a neighbour that you don't have to! Ever... I'd second that. I clear lots of guttering & very often the problem is with next doors. -- Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk |
Semi with separate gutters, neighbour asking to join gutters
On 01/03/14 12:26, Andy Burns wrote:
Tim Watts wrote: Never share any service with a neighbour that you don't have to! Ever... My neighbour and I jointly replaced the soffits/fascias/guttering of our houses about 7 years ago, I organised the materials, they borrowed a scaffold tower and we shared the work. There's a single run of guttering front and back, in other houses I've known, the front gutter has a downpipe on one house and the rear is on the other, but here both downpipes are on my house. After we'd finished the work he asked me for copies of the receipts for the materials and he'd square up, when I did so he struck-off his half of the cost for the downpipes and outlets, on the grounds they were all mine, cheeky git! I felt like putting a hacksaw through the gutter at the mid-point and fitting two end-stops. Exactly... Keep your dealings with neighbours light and airy... |
Semi with separate gutters, neighbour asking to join gutters
In message , Andy
Burns writes Tim Watts wrote: Never share any service with a neighbour that you don't have to! Ever... My neighbour and I jointly replaced the soffits/fascias/guttering of our houses about 7 years ago, I organised the materials, they borrowed a scaffold tower and we shared the work. There's a single run of guttering front and back, in other houses I've known, the front gutter has a downpipe on one house and the rear is on the other, but here both downpipes are on my house. After we'd finished the work he asked me for copies of the receipts for the materials and he'd square up, when I did so he struck-off his half of the cost for the downpipes and outlets, on the grounds they were all mine, cheeky git! I felt like putting a hacksaw through the gutter at the mid-point and fitting two end-stops. A very long story, but, shortened version :- My parents own a property in a village and 5 houses have septic tanks, the over flows of which combine and run through our property. A few years ago there was a blockage of the common pipe on our land and I organised a company to come in and clear it. It is amazing what passes through the system, including a very large foam sponge. Any way after it was cleared I spoke with the neighbours about sharing the cost and apart from one they said, tough, it's on your land you have to pay the bill, maybe legally correct, morally they were a bunch of self righteous ******* . I really felt like blocking their feeds into our pipework for a few days, but didn't!! PS, the effect of the blockage being removed is very impressive with 100' head of "liquid" out of a 4" pipe, you don't want to be anywhere nearby. -- Bill |
Semi with separate gutters, neighbour asking to join gutters
On 03/01/2014 02:47 PM, Bill wrote:
A very long story, but, shortened version :- My parents own a property in a village and 5 houses have septic tanks, the over flows of which combine and run through our property. A few years ago there was a blockage of the common pipe on our land and I organised a company to come in and clear it. It is amazing what passes through the system, including a very large foam sponge. Any way after it was cleared I spoke with the neighbours about sharing the cost and apart from one they said, tough, it's on your land you have to pay the bill, maybe legally correct, morally they were a bunch of self righteous ******* . I really felt like blocking their feeds into our pipework for a few days, but didn't!! PS, the effect of the blockage being removed is very impressive with 100' head of "liquid" out of a 4" pipe, you don't want to be anywhere nearby. 18 of our semis are served by what was a private sewer along the rear of the properties. When that blocked the same argument ensued, with those up the road refusing to contribute. The Council took the problem over, added 10% and split the bill across all the properties. Fortunately now as I understand it, the Water companies have taken them over. |
Semi with separate gutters, neighbour asking to join gutters
David Hearn wrote:
Our 1930's semi currently has separate plastic guttering systems, with each half having their own single downpipe, although our downpipe is cast iron. We've lived there over 10 years, with our elderly neighbour living there far, far longer. Neither gutter have been replaced in that period, but as neither is cast iron, both have been replaced at some point. Our neighbour approached us to say that she's replacing her guttering. Apparently she also mentioned something about having a damp problem, but I'm not certain where it is, or whether the guttering replacement is meant to resolve this. Apparently there was some discussion about whether we wanted our side replaced as well - we can't afford this. Today we've been asked to confirm whether we want the guttering systems connected. At present they're separate, and doing a quick check around neighbouring properties, there's a mix of both joined and unjoined. I suspected originally they were joined, but over the years some have been separated as one half replace theirs. When I said I was happy to leave it as is, she was fairly polite, but pressed the point that (she was advised?) as there would be a gap (however small), that water could run down and cause damp. She repeatedly said that she's fine with our decision, but to make it clear she's warned us of the potential problems. I think she was trying to make it clear that if things go wrong, its our fault. My reason for not wanting them joined was mainly that it's not been a problem for the last 10 years (and likely longer), and that I'd like to avoid shared systems were possible to prevent potential disputes should one side leak/overflow etc. What do people recommend? Should we connect our guttering (assuming it's possible) or keep separate? Is there a real chance of damp due to the gap, or is it best to keep as-is? Just tell her that you haven't had any problems in all the time it's been speperate so there's no need to replace anything at this time. Her fitter is pressurising her into talking you into having yours done, probably with the offering of a price reduction in her job - the fact is, hundreds of thousands of semis have seperate systems without problems, and if she's having damp problems at the join now, it's probably because her existing gutter is running the wrong way - toward the joint instead of away from it and towards the outlet. |
Semi with separate gutters, neighbour asking to join gutters
Andy Cap wrote:
18 of our semis are served by what was a private sewer along the rear of the properties. When that blocked the same argument ensued, with those up the road refusing to contribute. The Council took the problem over, added 10% and split the bill across all the properties. Fortunately now as I understand it, the Water companies have taken them over. Yes, nicely summarised here http://www.water.org.uk/home/policy/private-sewers-transfer/customer-info/before-after Similarly, the water companies seem set to take over private sewage pumping stations by 2016. |
Semi with separate gutters, neighbour asking to join gutters
On Sat, 01 Mar 2014 11:48:40 +0000, David Hearn
wrote: What do people recommend? Should we connect our guttering (assuming it's possible) or keep separate? Is there a real chance of damp due to the gap, or is it best to keep as-is? Thanks David You're very lucky to have separate gutters. I live in a terraced house second from the end, and the water from the one on the end has to travel 4 houses to the nearest downpipe. The gutters drip a bit, and water just sits there, so I reckon the downpipe is blocked. -- Dave W |
Semi with separate gutters, neighbour asking to join gutters
On 01/03/2014 16:18, Dave W wrote:
On Sat, 01 Mar 2014 11:48:40 +0000, David Hearn wrote: What do people recommend? Should we connect our guttering (assuming it's possible) or keep separate? Is there a real chance of damp due to the gap, or is it best to keep as-is? Thanks David You're very lucky to have separate gutters. I live in a terraced house second from the end, and the water from the one on the end has to travel 4 houses to the nearest downpipe. The gutters drip a bit, and water just sits there, so I reckon the downpipe is blocked. Same here. A couple of years ago next door had a 4 foot icicle on the underside of their gutter, right above the front door. Could have been a horror show |
Semi with separate gutters, neighbour asking to join gutters
In article ,
David Hearn writes: What do people recommend? Should we connect our guttering (assuming it's possible) or keep separate? Is there a real chance of damp due to the gap, or is it best to keep as-is? Like others said, keep them separate. A join between two different makes of guttering is always something prone to leak. Also, it makes the length of gutter to expand and contract much longer, rather than the gap being an expansion gap. The fall and position of the two gutters might not be correct to join up at that point anyway. I formed a piece of lead to direct any water which comes through the gap into one or other gutter. -- Andrew Gabriel [email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup] |
Semi with separate gutters, neighbour asking to join gutters
"Tim Watts" wrote in message ... On 01/03/14 11:48, David Hearn wrote: What do people recommend? Should we connect our guttering (assuming it's possible) or keep separate? Is there a real chance of damp due to the gap, or is it best to keep as-is? A small gap is irrelevant - think how much rain hits your walls anyway. And even working gutters catch some rain on the outside that runs down underneath and drips! I would not connect them if your downpipes are set up to cope with an isolated system. Then if she (or new occupant) fails to clean her gutters or fix a blocked downpipe, you do not suddenly get the benefit of a lot of extra water or muck down yours. Never share any service with a neighbour that you don't have to! Ever... Very true. Especially a driveway. |
Semi with separate gutters, neighbour asking to join gutters
"Andy Burns" wrote in message o.uk... Tim Watts wrote: Never share any service with a neighbour that you don't have to! Ever... My neighbour and I jointly replaced the soffits/fascias/guttering of our houses about 7 years ago, I organised the materials, they borrowed a scaffold tower and we shared the work. There's a single run of guttering front and back, in other houses I've known, the front gutter has a downpipe on one house and the rear is on the other, but here both downpipes are on my house. After we'd finished the work he asked me for copies of the receipts for the materials and he'd square up, when I did so he struck-off his half of the cost for the downpipes and outlets, on the grounds they were all mine, cheeky git! I felt like putting a hacksaw through the gutter at the mid-point and fitting two end-stops. The normal way here is one has the front pipe and one has the rear. |
Semi with separate gutters, neighbour asking to join gutters
On Sun, 2 Mar 2014 10:14:12 +0000 (UTC), Andrew Gabriel wrote:
What do people recommend? Should we connect our guttering (assuming it's possible) or keep separate? Is there a real chance of damp due to the gap, or is it best to keep as-is? I formed a piece of lead to direct any water which comes through the gap into one or other gutter. This is the way to go, water coming down the roof does not hit the top of the end stops or down the small (1/2 inch) gap between them. As others have said don't share "services" with neighbours unless you really, really, have no option. Even then such shared things ought to be in the deeds and the procedure etc for dealing with and paying for problems laid down. -- Cheers Dave. |
Semi with separate gutters, neighbour asking to join gutters
"Andy Burns" wrote in message
o.uk... Tim Watts wrote: Never share any service with a neighbour that you don't have to! Ever... My neighbour and I jointly replaced the soffits/fascias/guttering of our houses about 7 years ago, I organised the materials, they borrowed a scaffold tower and we shared the work. There's a single run of guttering front and back, in other houses I've known, the front gutter has a downpipe on one house and the rear is on the other, but here both downpipes are on my house. After we'd finished the work he asked me for copies of the receipts for the materials and he'd square up, when I did so he struck-off his half of the cost for the downpipes and outlets, on the grounds they were all mine, cheeky git! I felt like putting a hacksaw through the gutter at the mid-point and fitting two end-stops. The cheeky ****. Shove some expanding foam up his cars exhaust pipe and put dog**** under his car door handles. It's all he deserves. -- Adam |
Semi with separate gutters, neighbour asking to join gutters
In message , ARW
writes After we'd finished the work he asked me for copies of the receipts for the materials and he'd square up, when I did so he struck-off his half of the cost for the downpipes and outlets, on the grounds they were all mine, cheeky git! I felt like putting a hacksaw through the gutter at the mid-point and fitting two end-stops. The cheeky ****. Shove some expanding foam up his cars exhaust pipe and put dog**** under his car door handles. It's all he deserves. Expanding foam may have competition. Fence post fixing foam sounds interesting for a similar purpose. http://www.u-can.tv/u-can-products/ I do worry about my thought processes sometimes :-( -- Bill |
Semi with separate gutters, neighbour asking to join gutters
On 01/03/2014 11:48, David Hearn wrote:
What do people recommend? Should we connect our guttering (assuming it's possible) or keep separate? Is there a real chance of damp due to the gap, or is it best to keep as-is? I would opt for a shared system since it gives extra downpipes in case one gets blocked. -- Cheers, John. /================================================== ===============\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \================================================= ================/ |
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