Re Iron gutterings

[Deebrief]

my Mum has these on her bungalow and one or joints have started to leak.

What is the best way to stop this, someone says use a cement solution ?

Cheers

Dee

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

CEMENT!! Nah... Flashband the joint.

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[Nick Atty]

The proper way is to take the joint apart and repack it with hemp and sealant.

As I don't fancy angle grinding corroded screws off and wrestling with damn heavy stuff up a ladder I tried rubber underseal/roof sealant stuff. It worked a treat.

Mark the leaky joints on a wet day, then wait for a dry period (the stuff claims to work when its wet, but this is what I did). Clean out all around the joint. Then apply a thin layer across the joint, and round the securing screw (where, IME, a lot of the leaking actually occurs). You are trying to put enough on the joint to seal it without obstructing the flow of water too much - so keep it thin and avoid having a step at the ends/where it goes over the joint.

[Nick H]

The guttering sections are held together with "gutter bolts" (obvious know). If you have a leak usually a joint has come apart, maybe becaus a bolt has rusted through. To mend it properly you need to seperate th two sections of guttering, if the bolt has broken thats easy if not yo will need to undo the bolt, probably impossible, or gently try to brea the bolt with a chisel. They are usually rusted and break easily. Once you've opened the joint you can clean all the rust and dirt of with sandpaper and then use some "non-setting gutter sealant" on th joint and bolt together with a new bolt and nut. Its not a difficult job and being a bungalow you wont be too high up. Good luck

-- Nick H

[norm]

I raked out the old filler and filled the joints with "lead sheet sealant " from Screwfix. Building Silicone should also be OK. Norma

[keith_765]

The old way was to use paint and putty

Either saw or chop off the old remains of the gutter bolt nut, then with a nail tap out the bolt from the bottom. With a large flat screw driver split the joint open. gently support the male end of the gutter so you can clean out the old putty from the socket end, this is usually done with a hacking knife or a semi blunt chisel. All the putty must be cleaned out or the new seal will not seat and will leak.When all the putty is cleaned off do the same with the male length. Paint both socket and male end with oil paint. Soften putty and roll a length of putty about 1/2 or 12mm thick full width of the socket. place the male end back into the socket. With a nail realign the bolt hole, then insert the new gutter bolt from the top so it fits into the counter sunk hole, fit the nut on and screw by hand until it bits the under side of the gutter. With a screw driver start to tighten the bolt causing the putty to compress and squeeze out of the joint. do not over tighten as this will crack the cast gutter. Clean off all the excess putty with finger leaving the putty flush and then coat the inner and outer putty with oil paint.