Leaky gutters. Advice please.

[Woody girl]

Help from the hive mind and diyers please.
Back in May, I asked my useless h/a to please come and sort my guttering on the bungalow out. I'm still waiting and being told I'm on a rota, and they will get to me when they get to me. No idea when.
Meanwhile,
I have curtains of water pouring from a corner that sits between the kitchen, and bathroom which are at right angles, (opposite to an outside corner) difficult to explain as I don't know the right terminology.
It's beginning to cause problems with the foundations, as instead of going down the drain, it's pouring down the drive and side of the house. Causing damp.
I can't get up there myself, but I have a friend who has volunteered to help out. He's no builder, so I'm wondering what I'm going to need to sort this out.
I did manage to partially clear out the gutter where plants were growing with a hoe!, but its only been partialy successful, as i couldnt get up high enough and it's still pouring out through the joins.
Can anyone give me a simpleish walk through and if needed, a parts list to get from the builders merchants.?
Thanks.

 

[British Red]

First things first get your friend to get up there on a ladder and look. It may be as simple as just clearing moss, leaves & debris out of the gutter & need no parts at all

 

[slowworm]

As Mr Red says. You also might want to take a tape measure up to measure the gutter and perhaps a camera to take a pic if you need any replacement parts as there's all sorts of shapes and sizes of gutter.

 

[Tantalus]

If you can not see visibly broken gutter, gutter hanging off the wall mounts or huge sags in the gutter then just send your friend up there with a spoon or a trowel and a bucket to collect all the crud that has built up in there.

Edited to add... taping the spoon to a broom handle will help avoid anyone leaning too far while at the top of the ladder.

Also possible the downpipe has clogged, if you can get in the bottom of it near ground level with a hosepipe (water off) then you should be able to clear that simple enough too. If no luck with the water off, then try with water on but this is liable to get messy.

 

[Ozmundo]

If the water is coming over the top of the gutter it’s most likely debris.

If it’s coming through the joint the rubbers may have had it. It’s best to replace the fitting rather than use mastic.

But as British Red says check first.

 

[Woody girl]

I've already hooked out most of the gunk from that area. It's at the bottom of a gully, and moss does travel down it and block the area up on occasion, I mainly cleared that, but it seems to be leaking from the joins each side of the corner piece, rather than over the top. Do I need to get a new bit of guttering , and how on earth do I insert it on a complicated gutter run. It's a t shaped building if you like, and if you look at the cross of the t it's situated on the inside bottom right hand of the cross.
Does that make sense?

 

[Ozmundo]

Common gutter issues and how to fix them.

Propper Job

 

[Pattree]

Yes your description makes sense.
That corner may be a readily available spare part but as others have said, you need to know the maker and the profile shape if you are going to replace it.

Do you need to replace it? Well first you need to do the checks that everyone is recommending. If the gutter is clear of debris get your friend to pour a plastic bottle of water slowly into the bend and see where it goes.

Obviously it should flow towards the down pipe. Leaks at the joints should be visible and on the (very few) systems that I know, such as Marley, the rubber seals will be on a new angle section but that would need to be checked.

As others have said, check that the curved brackets that hold things in place are not sagging and causing the problem.

In my case it was the barge boards that the bracket wes screwed to that caused the problem - but then the wood was 100 years old and the gutter was cast iron so no comparison.

Good luck with this.

 

[Tantalus]

OK more details... If it is leaking out the joins at the corner and coming down like a water curtain.
Water shouldn't be sitting there at all, merely flowing past.
Clean out the crud, then work out why it is sitting there. It really is that simple sometimes.
Only way to do it is to get up there and eyeball what is going on.
Plumbing parts are cheap enough, but from the sound of it you don't need more than a good clean out. Once it is all clean take the hosepipe up and run it into the gutter to check all is well.
Leaky joints in the gutter can be patched with a tube of silicone for now but am guessing once all is clean and the flow cleared, the situation will be hugely improved.
If you could post a pic or 2 that would help us all.

 

[Tengu]

Chances are it needs cleaning.

 

[Woody girl]

Thanks all for all that. I think from what's been said, the seals are gone, so may have to replace the corner bit. Anyway, first inspection will be this afternoon, and we will see where it goes. I'm rather limited on help round here, so I do hope he can solve the problem, as the water barrel I shoved underneath the leak is almost full after last weeks rain.

 

[Ystranc]

All great advice, it only takes one blockage to cause an overflow. Partially clearing the gutters may not be enough, it needs doing completely. This time of year gutters often get clogged with falling leaves and moss off the roof and water will choose the next easiest path to escape. It sounds like you have a blocked gutter between that corner and the nearest downspout. Key points to look at are the bends in the down pipe and the point where the water enters the top of the down pipe. They get partially blocked with leaves before silt builds up and it forms a nice soggy compost in the top of your downspout.
Your HA is being short sighted as the cost of damage from an overflowing gutter vastly outweighs the cost of cleaning them regularly

 

[Woody girl]

All great advice, it only takes one blockage to cause an overflow. Partially clearing the gutters may not be enough, it needs doing completely. This time of year gutters often get clogged with falling leaves and moss off the roof and water will choose the next easiest path to escape. It sounds like you have a blocked gutter between that corner and the nearest downspout. Key points to look at are the bends in the down pipe and the point where the water enters the top of the down pipe. They get partially blocked with leaves before silt builds up and it forms a nice soggy compost in the top of your downspout.
Your HA is being short sighted as the cost of damage from an overflowing gutter vastly outweighs the cost of cleaning them regularly

I have had the chap round, and it's the seals, so a new corner bit is being got to replace it.
As he said, do a proper job in the first place, and it will be better than any bodge or temporary repair. He's also discovered the other side of the house has problems too, so he's presently getting the bits needed, and will be back to do the job properly.
You are right about the h/a, but they just don't seem to care.
I've phoned so many times over the last few months. They seem content to leave a small problem become a big one. Since covid, theu are saying they have such a backlog they can't do what they once did, yet they put the rent up!
We never see the repair vans like we once did, so I've no idea where they are working. Everything is beginning to look shabby. Today I got a letter saying they want to repaint the house in the spring.. done only 5 yrs ago. Madness!
Ps, everybody's advice was very helpful, as was the video, which helped him to understand what to do.
Thank you everyone.

 

[Ozmundo]

Unfortunately it wouldn’t surprise me if the experienced maintenance team has been let go and someone less skilled employed for less. The repaint on a bungalow isn’t that hard while looking like the job is being done. I may be a cynic.

 

[Woody girl]

Unfortunately it wouldn’t surprise me if the experienced maintenance team has been let go and someone less skilled employed for less. The repaint on a bungalow isn’t that hard while looking like the job is being done. I may be a cynic.

I don't think you are any more cynical than me.
It's just ridiculous! Cleaning the gutters before problems occur is basic common sense and used to be a yearly occurrence. Mine have had no maintenance since before covid. It is cheaper than painting a house and a much quicker fix than "painting over the cracks" anyway.
Some houses round here have budlia, grass, and all sorts of weeds growing in their gutters!
A teenager could do this simple cleaning job, preventing issues snowballing.
I've not got the mobility to get up a ladder, otherwise I'd have done it myself, despite it being an outside maintenance job, therefor technically their responsibility.
I could go into the eight weeks with scaffolding to do an afternoons job, "fiasco" of them trying to replace loose roof top out tiles.. with postcrete, and leaving my roof looking like a hundred pigeons had been crapping on my roof for years when it all washed out that afternoon in a shower of rain, because they couldn't be arsed to tarp it while it dried. (Wrong product and no plasticiser)
I was madder than a shaken bucket full of hornets!!!!!

 

[Tantalus]

Sorry to hear your h/a is so rubbish that a simple maintenance job that would cost them a few quid every year seems way beyond their capabilities.
Hope you get it sorted, I guess you have a choice of paying a few quid yourself and asking them to refund you or just paying yourself and at least having the peace of mind that your home and belongings will stay dry despite being managed by a bunch of incompetent imbeciles.

 

[Woody girl]

Sorry to hear your h/a is so rubbish that a simple maintenance job that would cost them a few quid every year seems way beyond their capabilities.
Hope you get it sorted, I guess you have a choice of paying a few quid yourself and asking them to refund you or just paying yourself and at least having the peace of mind that your home and belongings will stay dry despite being managed by a bunch of incompetent imbeciles.

It's such a cheap fix though.
Ive paid just a few quid for the bits I need to do the repair, and we will hopefully have it done in about an hour, on Saturday morning. Fingers crossed for a dry day.
Crazy miserly h/a eh?
Once it's done, I'll deal with the minor mould myself too. I don't want to go through the winter with it, while waiting for months till they stir their lazy butts, with it getting worse.
Luckily I already have a tub of special mould paint, because I'm a womble, and always picking up unlikely stuff. I knew it would be useful one day!

 

[Tantalus]

That is the really annoying thing though, if they had looked after the gutters you would never have ended up with damp patches. The damage that damp can do can be thousands of pounds.

All because they were too lazy to carry out a really simple job.

As for you, yeah let the damp patch dry, sugar soap will pretty much kill any black mould that is left then a lick of paint over the top, job's a good'un.

 

[woodspirits]

You mentioned a housing association, they are responsible for that kind of repair, you are not liable for ongoing maintenance. Mention to them they will be billed for ongoing damage to your belongings, decorations, health issues caused through damp etc. speak to Citizens Advice make it a matter of record with them.

 

[just_john]

I've started cleaning gutters for a housing association, we do their pest control and have gutter cleaning equipment as part of that, then they sacked off their previous company so we have accidentally taken on that rola.

The gutters they send us ar horrific, half the time the gutter vac is useless as it's a matted clump of grass so thick it's a struggle to pull out even by hand. The tenants have to ring up and shout to get anything done, half the time the next door attached (same) gutter is just as bad but isn't put through as a job, and looking around all the surrounding houses are all the same but those tenants haven't shouted loud enough.

What should be a 10-15 minute job can take an hour.


No wonder the other firm packed it in!