Leaking Concrete (flintlock) Guttering.

[undergroundhunter]

Afternoon all,

We moved into an ex council house earlier this year when we moved in there was damp in 2 of the upstairs bedrooms at the top of the walls with one bedroom being worse than the other. A quick trip up the ladder seemed to reveal the cause, the gutters were full (overflowing actually) with debris and plants, we promptly cleared all this and ran a dehumidifier for about 3 weeks all seemed well. I have been up there again today (about 4 months later) and found various small leaks in mainly in the joints. At some point in the past someone has "lined" them 3 or 4 times with what looks like flashband. I have tried to clear as much as I can and repair some of the failed joints (one had no mortar in it at all) all the time I'm thinking this is really just a temporary repair and I need to find a long term solution.

Looking at the options I either line them or chop them off, I have read many horror stories of people employing "specialist" companies to remove them only to make the problem worse and others saying that lining them is not a viable solution as they will just leak again. I did have 1 quote about 2 months ago to line them with EDPM but at £3500 this is to do about 20m of guttering, I was a little taken back! The gent said it would take 3 days and they would have to remove the lower 3 rows of tile and have full scaffold erected. I haven't yet had a quote to remove but I'm seriously considering it, we are first time buyers with the kitchen and bathroom to renovate yet so it would be a big investment for us.

Has anyone got any experience of either removing or lining concrete gutters? If so could you recommend someone to carry out either.

Thanks in advance

Matt

 

[Terry - Somerset]

My daughter and hubby have similar problems.

I suspect that removing them is potentially far more disruptive to the structure of the house and risks causing collateral damage.

Lining seems fairly straight forward and fundamentally non-destructive.

Both will involve scaffolding + removal of lower tiles. Cutting and removal would not be a quick process and replacement woodwork and guttering would need to be installed. Lining by comparison seems straightforward, much quicker and lower material cost.

The alternative is simply to remove previous "repairs" and thoroughly clean existing gutters, re-mortar defective joints, and paint/line the gutter itself. This may not require scaffolding depending on contractor- we recently had UPVC soffit and fascia replaced by a couple of guys without ladders. Just make sure they are insured.

Whatever you choose make sure you get a few quotes - £3500 seems excessive for scaffolding (£5-800??) + (say 6 person days work (say £1200) + materials around £250.

 

[sunnybob]

I'm struggling to visualise a gutter that needs tiles removing and the joints filled with mortar with a price tag of thousands.
anyone got a pic of this?

 

[undergroundhunter]

My daughter and hubby have similar problems.

I suspect that removing them is potentially far more disruptive to the structure of the house and risks causing collateral damage.

Lining seems fairly straight forward and fundamentally non-destructive.

Both will involve scaffolding + removal of lower tiles. Cutting and removal would not be a quick process and replacement woodwork and guttering would need to be installed. Lining by comparison seems straightforward, much quicker and lower material cost.

The alternative is simply to remove previous "repairs" and thoroughly clean existing gutters, re-mortar defective joints, and paint/line the gutter itself. This may not require scaffolding depending on contractor- we recently had UPVC soffit and fascia replaced by a couple of guys without ladders. Just make sure they are insured.

Whatever you choose make sure you get a few quotes - £3500 seems excessive for scaffolding (£5-800??) + (say 6 person days work (say £1200) + materials around £250.

Thanks for the reply. From what I have seen to remove them they remove the lower row of tile and then cut them flush with the building, then the UPVC soffit, facia and new guttering is installed and off you go. Removing them completely is not an option as they for part of the structure of the roof, the wall plate sits on top of them and they act as cavity closers.

I am leaning towards lining them but with all the different options rubber, lead, aluminium, fiberglass and zinc its a bit confusing to say the least. The internet seems full of peoples opinions on what is best to do thing is they are all different!

Sunnybob, I will nip up and take some photos for you if you like.

Matt

 

[undergroundhunter]

Photos as requested.

From the ground

Failing joints

The lack of fall seems to be part of the cause

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It last rained about 10 hours ago and this is still sat in there, they are pretty much constantly wet.

Matt

 

[sunnybob]

Ah ha, thanks for showing the pics. I vaguely recall seeing them about a half century ago.
You must be reasonably agile to take the pics, cant you do the work yourself, piecemeal?

 

[undergroundhunter]

Ah ha, thanks for showing the pics. I vaguely recall seeing them about a half century ago.
You must be reasonably agile to take the pics, cant you do the work yourself, piecemeal?

Ideally I would, I'm just unsure as to what to do where the two properties join, I would hate to create a problem for my new neighbour.

Matt

 

[sunnybob]

If his is the same, I'm fairly sure he would welcome you to do the work on his as well, if he pays for all his parts and a consideration for your time.

 

[undergroundhunter]

HAHAHA, his have been lined (some years ago now) and no longer leak.

Matt

 

[Woodchips2]

If you put 'Finlock Gutter Repairs' into your search engine you will find lots of different solutions and companies willing to repair them.
Regards Keith

 

[undergroundhunter]

If you put 'Finlock Gutter Repairs' into your search engine you will find lots of different solutions and companies willing to repair them.
Regards Keith

Thanks Keith, I have trawled the internet for solutions but advice is so conflicting, some say to repair them is fine others say that chopping them off is the only real solution,
I was hoping someone on here had real experience or could maybe even recommend a company.

Matt

 

[Homers double]

A few years ago I worked on a renovation of a old property that had a stone gutter around all 4 sides of the building, over the years the joints had failed and the frosts had totally destroyed a lot of the stone.
After having heart failure at some of the prices to line the gutters, I contacted a swimming pool construction company I'd used to cure a leak in another clients pool.
They quoted about £3000 to fibreglass Line the gutters which was about half price compared to the specialist company's
That was to do about 80 meters in length, you really wouldn't have liked the scaffold price, it was up for 12 weeks as we had to completely rebuild all of the four chimneys and reslate a lot of the roof.

 

[Mark A]

Could waterproofing paint such as Acropol/Flexacryl/Cromopol be used as a quick fix?

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

 

[undergroundhunter]

Could waterproofing paint such as Acropol/Flexacryl/Cromopol be used as a quick fix?

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

From what I have read it really doesn't last long enough to be called a repair more of an emergency fix.

Matt

 

[dynax]

i would be inclined to use fibreglass and polyurethane resin, you could use epoxy but it would need uv inhibitors added to it in the mix or painting while in it's gel stage, poly is more resilient to uv, any cracks can be prefilled with putty before fibreglassing,

 

[n0legs]

We have had concrete roofs on our substations done with Sika products for years.
They lay a coat of the stuff down, then roll out a fibreglass matting and then add several coats of the compound. I was told the stuff in the tin is about £200 and that's about 25Kg IIRC. It seemed to go along way when applied with a roller.
Cleaning down the concrete seems to be a big thing before any coating is applied. I think they use a weedkiller/mosskiller and then jet wash the guts out of it. I do not know of any we've had problems with.
http://gbr.liquidplastics.sika.com/en/group.html

 

[RogerS]

HAHAHA, his have been lined (some years ago now) and no longer leak.

Matt

There's your answer! Line them.

They also look as if they could have a damn good clean as all that crud at the bottom will slow the flow.

 

[Selwyn]

Hd Sharman will make you a rubber plygene liner. Tell them the dimensions and fit it yourself or even a builder could fit it

 

[beech1948]

Hd Sharman will make you a rubber plygene liner. Tell them the dimensions and fit it yourself or even a builder could fit it

"Even a builder could fit it" brilliant commentary on todays skills

 

[Selwyn]

Hd Sharman will make you a rubber plygene liner. Tell them the dimensions and fit it yourself or even a builder could fit it

"Even a builder could fit it" brilliant commentary on todays skills

What I meant is that a local roofer could do it for you as in its not a specialist job really