I want to fit guttering and downpipes to our detached garage with a pitched roof to discharge into a water butt on each side. Each half of the roof is about 20 m2 in area. What do I do about surplus water? At the moment it just runs of the roof onto the ground (no gutters, as implied above). Do I have to provide a soakaway or suchlike, or can it just overflow from the butts?
|!I want to fit guttering and downpipes to our detached garage with a |!pitched roof to discharge into a water butt on each side. Each half of |!the roof is about 20 m2 in area. |!What do I do about surplus water? At the moment it just runs of the roof |!onto the ground (no gutters, as implied above). Do I have to provide a |!soakaway or suchlike, or can it just overflow from the butts?
WE just have empty dustbins catching the drips from our garage roof. When they overflow the water runs into the tarmac no problem.
On Thu, 24 May 2007 19:47:08 +0100 someone who may be Peter Twydell wrote this:-
Depends on what is around the garage.
Simply letting it overflow will turn the sides green and is likely to undermine the pile of bricks or whatever the butt rests on. It is generally best to provide an overflow that takes it somewhere definite, where this is depends on the location.
Do you mean legally?
Yes, that's why I said 'Do I have to'.
Well if you really look at the regulations, first of all I am not sure they apply to garages..only habitable stuff, and secondly even there they only insist on a means of protecting the structure against being permanently wet etc.
I.e if you DO have gutters and storm drains, then you have to build an effective soakaway etc..but if you don't have gutters at all? :-)
Its a very grey area. By BCO started to cut up about lack of gutters on the tiled roof, till I pointed out that there weren't any on the thatched roof..we still haven't finished that discussion. although I decdided to gutter and pipe it anyway.
The gulleys simply go down into a huge gravel filled moat round the house - French drain - that is drained by a perf pipe all round and finally a pipe to the pond.
Alla soakaway is, is pretty much the same thing..a large leaky tank somewhere that can absorb high inputs, and store and release over a longer period. Typically a pit full of gravel with a plastic sheet over, covered in soil..
As a slight aside...
I have disposed of the need for a tap, connecting a piece of plastic hose with a U loop at the end. The remainder of the existing downpipe has been cut off just below the top of the butt, such that when not in use the U can be dropped into it.
This has two benefits.
1) We don't have to fiddle with the tap, simply unlatching the 'hook' and dropping it into the watering can. 2) During heavy rain, the water in the butt is circulated out - well in theory - and is less likely to get stagnant.There is 1 definite downside...
I have made the U from 15mm copper, which I suppose is about the same as the tap outlet and so during peirods of heavy rain, the butt overflows which is not a problem in my particular case. I've always thought I could perfect the idea but never bothered.
Andy
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