Creeping gutters

[Tim Watts]

I'm getting a lot of trouble with two sections of gutters - the long (6m) straight sections down 2 sides of the house.

These are made up of 2x 3m lengths of Brett deep plastic guttering (non round, more of a stepped square high flow).

In the summer, one piece on each side walks along due to thermal expansion and contraction. One side comes out of its joint several times a year and the other managed 3 years in service until it popped.

I could replace both sides with sections with shorter bits and more joints.

But I was wondering if there were any other solutions? I was wondering if a small screw through one end of the joint to the fixed coupler might work - or whether that would just end up cracking the plastic.

[Tim Lamb]

In message , Tim Watts writes

I've done this with some of mine. Small stainless woodscrew locking one end to the joiner.

Last guttering put up here by a builder had a white interior finish. I can't say if it helps as it is not in a sunny position.

[Weatherlawyer]

It doesn't sound like your supplier was very good at sourcing architecturally sound products. Maybe the environmental conditions are different where they are made these days although as far as I know China is still above ground.

[Bob Minchin]

You could try a bit of silicone lubricant as an experiment. There is clearly some sort of ratchet action going on as the gutter expands and contracts. Another thought: if you put a small screw through the outer end of some of the clips into the edge of the gutter, the clips might act as a bit of spring assistance to re-closed the joints on contraction maybe?? idea 3: how about notching the gutter at the ends where the coupling clips sit to the joint can slide but not slide out. Possibly in combination with lubricating the seals.

Bob

[Tim Watts]

Brett Martin are a major UK manufacturer:

Mine's the 106 deep ogee...

It might be more accurate to say "plastic gutters are crap", but the effort in putting metal up is much higher... And I needed high flow gutters as the drains are around the back.

[Tim Watts]

The notching idea sounds like an idea - thanks for that :)

I think a bit of plumbers grease might be a good idea. The other problem with ogee is that the flat bits are not very flat anymore, so the seals are not perfect. Bit of grease should help that too.

[John Rumm]

Yup, small notches cut[1] into the top edge of the gutter such that the clips will clip in slightly easier, but are also then prevented from moving to the side much. It seems to be a common solution.

[1] Half inch file would probably do the job nicely.

[Tim Lamb]

I suppose you could make an assessment of temperature/expansion and file the slot with that in mind. I think fixing one end only safer and then only where this is a regular problem.

[harry]

Incorrect installation. One end (or the middle) needs to be anchored, the other end(s) free to move with expansion. As long as one end is anchored, it goes back to it's starting point when it contracts..

[Andrew Gabriel]

Take it part and clean it, particularly the rubber seals which may have collected grit. You might need to replace the rubber - some guttering models have replacement rubbers available, otherwise buy whatever is the cheapest fitting and either swap the rubbers or swap the whole fitting.

Grease the rubbers with silicone grease on assembly so the joints slide easily as they expand and contract. Couplers should be fixed to facia and spaced such that the gutter will never contract far enough to drop out. You might be able to find an installation leaflet online to tell you what that distance is for your model of gutter using standard guttering lengths.

[Tim Watts]

Hi Andrew,

Apart from the grease, I did do most of that. There's a mark on the couplers that shows where the cut end should come - it is 10mm from a stop ridge to allow for expansion.

Perhaps what's happening is that I only sprayed silicone lubricant on rather than grease - and the end stop ridge is not very big so the gutter can get past it.

[Brian Gaff]

It will just end up rusty and leaking. Sounds like a bit of bad design to me. Can they be glued to the brackets that support them with something suitable? Brian

[Andrew Gabriel]

Silcone spray should be fine. If you assemble just using the guide markers, the guttering is at an unknown percentage of its max expansion. If it was at, say, 100% of its max expansion, it should really be assembled with the guttering to the stop ridge. OK, this is unlikely as it would be rather hot to handle, but you get the idea.

I suspect max expansion depends on colour too. My brother had some black half-round guttering fitted, but it's white inside, which is to reduce the solar gain and expansion.

[Muddymike]

No such problems with our continuous aluminium gutters.

Mike