Guttering Replacement
Gutterings are fixed to the fascia, wall plate or brick work of your house, just under roof level. The purpose is to collect the rainwater and allow it to run away down a gentle slope cleaning dirt out of the gutter as it flows to the down pipes and away.
What is a good quality guttering brand ?
Frankly there’s a lot of cheap rubbish on the market these days often so poor you will not even find the makers mark on it, and there’s no shortage of cowboys that will fit it badly as well. If you’re fitting new guttering to your property the first place to start is to make sure It has a makers mark on it.
Guttering choices
What is the best guttering? Good quality PVC guttering is made from tough U.V. impact resistant plastic and will have passed stringent quality control so all the joints have a nice even pressure. This will ensure the gutter seals remain waterproof for years to come, and of course in the unlikely event of damage you can get spares and repair the guttering.
I’ve been fitting guttering and repairing guttering now for over 30 Years and my favourite guttering manufacturers are Polypipe and FlowPlast, this is just my opinion, but I think they are certainly amongst the best quality guttering available.
Here’s what I think make these makes top quality guttering choices
- Tough non brittle plastic, doesn’t snap when clipping the joints together, even in the middle of winter.
- Loose gutter brackets, essential for expansion and contraction, a loose bracket allows for this without grabbing and holding the gutter itself.
- Joints and unions that are tight to clip in and distribute an even pressure throughout the joint.
- Fade resistant colour.
- Good quality rubber seals
Guttering Styles – Common types and shapes
There are many different guttering choices on the market today, I will point out a few different guttering styles and any strengths or weaknesses as I see them. Most colours are available and many stockists will powder coat them on request to virtually any colour if required. The most popular guttering styles are…
- Half round
- Square line
- Ogee (pronounced ‘Oh – Ghee’)
- Deep flow
- Continuous aluminium or seamless aluminium guttering
The most popular gutter choices
Half round – The most popular profile, available in all colours and ‘cast iron effect’. Very long lasting profile and suitable for most household applications. No real negatives, the popular classic workhorse of guttering systems. W112mm x D52mm
Square line – A popular profile, available in all colours, the most popular being white. A modern profile suitable for most household applications and with slightly higher flow capacity than ‘half round’ but more prone to suffer from dripping joints. W114mm x D60mm
Ogee – Profile pronounced “Oh Ghee” This Style is FlowPlast’s own take on the Ogee style and has a very high flow rate and the largest Ogee section. Not a good match into old terrace house cast iron guttering’s however. Great flow rate, most colours and ‘Cast Iron effect’. Slightly prone to leaking joints in later life. W110mm x 80mm This profile is called ‘Sovereign’ in Polypipe’s guttering range.
Hunter’s own take on the Ogee style often used to match into old Cast Iron guttering on terrace houses because of the very close profile match. W130mm
Good flow rate, most colours, long lasting
Polypipe’s own take on the Ogee style often used to match into old Cast Iron guttering on terrace houses because of the very close profile match. Slightly larger than Hunters profile and with a great flow rate, long lasting but can be expensive to purchase in comparison to others. W130mm
Good flow rate, most colours
Deep flow – The clue is in the name, often overlooked because of the slight increase in cost but a fantastic gutter. If you have a large house or need high capacity gutters this is a serious contender.
Very long lasting, superb flow rate, most colours and cast iron effect. W115mm D75mm
Flowplast’s Industrial Range, super large 170mm profile, very high flow rates. Really good guttering unless subject to large impact. W170mm x D108mm
Black and Grey only to my knowledge from factory.
Continuous or Seamless Guttering – I’ve got to be honest, I am really not a fan of this type of gutter for two main reasons. Firstly I’m always cleaning it out, it seems to block up more than any other guttering I’ve come across, and the internal strengthening bars make it hard to clean out as well.
Self cleaning guttering
Every guttering from one time to another will get blocked with dirt and debris, if you’re really unlucky you may even get a plant or two growing in it at some point. The biggest factor to a clean guttering system and unblocked downpipes is the correct installation in the first place. The most important thing after choosing a style and make, is the fall. For some reason some guttering fitters get this wrong, but if you create a nice gentle downhill slope from the highest point of your guttering to the lowest point, which incidentally is where your outlet will be, the guttering will clean itself in most situations.
Clean guttering – If you fit gutters with the correct fall ( downhill slope ), the guttering will self cleanse. The polished internal surface of good quality guttering combines with the fall to wash the gutters clean with every rainfall.
Blocked guttering
Sometimes guttering will get blocked so here’s a tip, quite often the easiest thing to do is to ask your window cleaner to clean it out for you, this is normally cheaper than asking a roofer to make a special journey. If you don’t have a window cleaner yourself ask the neighbour’s if they have one, and get him to pay you a visit next time he’s in the area. Sometimes window cleaners offer a fascia and gutter cleaning service from the outside, also to smarten up the appearance if it has become dirty.
Also see…
- Roofing tools – Some of the tools I use daily