Gutter Quality

[JIH]

Can anybody comment on the quality of Screwfix guttering - does i

compare to Marley etc? the price seems very good

-- JIH

[John]

Used a fair amount of gutter, downpipes, clips, joints etc. on my In Laws bungalow a couple of years ago and it still seems OK if that helps.

Cheers

John

[Merryterry]

(left the last one some 15 years ago), this is how I rate them on quality and longevity, i.e. non fading, lasting flexibility and security of joint pads over a long period:

1st Key Terrain 2nd Hunter Plastics 3rd Osma Plastics 4th Bartol Plastics 5th Brett Martin 6th Polypipe

No experience with the Screwfix System but I know it is imported by a company in Brum. All the others are UK manufacture.

[Aidan]

Strangely, I bought some recently (gutters & fittings, no downpipes) but haven't fitted it yet.

Having compared prices with the Marley stuff in a builders' merchants, Screwfix was considerably cheaper. Not having seen, I had concerns about the quality of the cheaper Screwfix stuff.

Having got it, I'd say it's equal to or better than anything else I've seen in the usual outlets. I'd definitely buy it again.

[Aidan]

It's marked 'Floplast'.

[Phil L]

As an aside to all the other replies, don't use long lengths, IE anything over 4m....if you put them up in summer when they are fully expanded and fit them to the 'fit line', come winter, each length will shrink about 75mm and often pulls itself out of a joint...fit them in winter, and in summer they grow and twist and turn (like a twisty, turny thing) and also end up dislocating themselves...as I found out when using 5m lengths last year...dark colours are worse than white for this BTW.

[JIH]

Are you referring just to Screwfix or UPVC in general

-- JIH

[Phil L]

upvc in general, the darker colours, black mainly but also dark brown, will expand by as much as 75mm over a 5m length, or if it's fitted in July/August, will shrink by the same amount in Jan/Feb....I'd use 3m lengths if they are available, more joints yes, but more room for expansion/contraction, this is what hindsight tells me, it's a pity I didn't realise this before.

[Tim Lamb]

In message , Phil L writes

Seems a bit excessive! 3"?

I certainly find Osma in black tends to ratchet out of the joints in South facing locations. What appears to happen is that the support brackets grip better in one direction than the other (probably imperfect mounting) and *travel* the gutter out of the joints. This only happens on end runs ie. not between two joints.

regards

[Phil L]

I've had 5m lengths pull out of joints, usually in the centre of a long run, so it had a joint at each end, rather than a stop end, and they go into the joints by about 1.5 inches, sometimes 2...it must have shrunk by 3 inches for this to happen, I know people who still use them, but they insert so that the gutters are almost touching (in summer) leaving just a 1 inch gap instead of the usual 4 inch, then when winter comes and each length shrinks, they retract back to the fit line.

personally, I now prefer to just chop them in half and use 2.5 or 3m lengths, slightly more work and slower but a far better job done, which will last.