Thread: Overflowing gutter

We have had an extension added to our cottage & now every time there is a heavy rain the gutter overflows & floods the cupboard underneath!
Help!
The builder came back & put a tiny & unattractive extra down pipe in, but it hasn't helped.

Photo 1 shows new building with original at left.
Photo 2 The gutter runs above the old stone wall in 2nd photo.
Hope these help to make sense of my question!
Thanks in anticipation.
Beth

Your photos are not enough, I would like to see photos from on top of the roof in 3 directions, length wise along the gutter, then from the existing roof and the new roof looking down at the new gutter. As wide a photo as possible without you falling off the roof.
I don't see any downpipe from the new (lower) gutter so assume it is at the other end.
Also I would like to see how the vent comes up through the roof at the new gutter line.
Is the main roof gutter overflowing to the new roof ? in heavy rain, if so this will obviously cause problems for the new gutter.
Also what are the measurements of the new gutter, what size is the downpipe, and what is the square metreage of the new roof on that side of the new building.
Lastly, how good is the underground storm drain system because if it is unable to cope then everything will backup to the gutter and overflow.

Hope I am doing this right, haven't been on a Forum before!
Thank you for your prompt reply, I'm sorry, the photos are all I had, will have to wait until I go back for a visit to take some more suitable ones.
In the mean time I have the plans/drawings of the extension.
Really appreciate your interest (more than the builder has shown!) and will get measurements & photos soon.
Thank You
IMG.pdf

Looks pretty simple - there must be a box gutter between the old roof and new one since the extension has one side of roofing abutting the old one. That means that the box gutter itself is too small or the outlets from it are too small (including if they are all trying to drain into a single 100mm or 90mm stormwater pipe as mentioned above).

In any case this is a problem your builder must remedy - by identifying the causes and redoing whatever needs to be done so there is no water going where it shouldn't. No ifs, no buts, it is your builder's problem - you do not need to know what the underlying cause or the solution is - just to firmly and persistently let him know that he has to fix it.

Originally Posted by Bethjg

Hope I am doing this right, haven't been on a Forum before!
Thank you for your prompt reply, I'm sorry, the photos are all I had, will have to wait until I go back for a visit to take some more suitable ones.
In the mean time I have the plans/drawings of the extension.
Really appreciate your interest (more than the builder has shown!) and will get measurements & photos soon.
Thank You
IMG.pdf

Now I have seen the drawings it only reinforces what I said above, and the original gutter, imo, should have been replaced with a larger box type gutter along with a larger downpipe and storm drain on the south end.

edit....We think alike Bloss.

I knew it!! It is still the original gutter & one down pipe. When we complained he put in a tiny down pipe at the other end, which isn't even flush with the wall. It goes down the middle of the bench opening.

(My niece is doing architecture & she was told if they ever put in a Box gutter they will be failed immediately!!)

We are thinking of putting another storey on top of the original building-that's another question!- Maybe we should just wait for that?

Thank you so much for your reply's.

Beth

Totally agree, draining into an existing gutter is just totally insufficient, and with only one downpipe is never going to work.

Your builder needs to be realistic, in the fact that the existing gutter is being asked to take twice the volume of roof space it was before. It at least needs a larger box gutter and a number of downpipes.

Thanks all.
i will go & check it out as soon as I can.
cheers

Hi, I don't know much about gutting but I really like your roof. I'm in the process of building one very similar. I'm designing it myself and likes the look of cathedral roofs (like yours) because it doesn't have a ceiling and looks lot more rustic. My span is 7m. I believe is quite similar to yours. Can you post some more photos? I would like to use as an example to show the missus.

Originally Posted by baileyboy

Hi, I don't know much about gutting but I really like your roof. I'm in the process of building one very similar. I'm designing it myself and likes the look of cathedral roofs (like yours) because it doesn't have a ceiling and looks lot more rustic. My span is 7m. I believe is quite similar to yours. Can you post some more photos? I would like to use as an example to show the missus.

Sorry baileyboy, I haven't been able to get down to the cottage yet, so haven't looked on here for a while.
These are a few photos I have, hope they are some help!!

Well finally been back & taken a few more photos of the roof/gutter.
Probably only confirms what you all have already told me!

The first photo shows the down-pipe. The funny little one at the bottom joining the original, is for the closer half of the roof shown in 2nd photo.
The 2nd photo also shows other two roofs, (both sharing one gutter) which is where the flooding occurs from.
Next two show 2nd down pipe put in when we complained about flooding.

Thanks for your advice on this, think it would be an expensive repair job to rectify??

The 50mm down pipe connecting into the existing down pipe, in photo #1, is woefully done and just choking any water from getting away.

I don't think it would be overly expensive to rectify, but I'd be looking to have a real plumber rectify the situation, if that's the standard of the existing guy.

The water will always follow the "path of least resistance" which in this case is overflowing because it can't squeeze down the 50mm downpipe. I'd suggest replacing both with 90mm downpipes to open up the flow path.

Good luck.

The dreaded box gutter strikes again - along with rubbish workmanship. Just re enforces the existing theory that box gutters, of any kind, are to be avoided at all costs

Beth the workmanship is terrible, as Bloss said, get the Builder back to solve the problem no if's, no but's, and it does not matter that the drawings say to use existing gutter, the Builder has a duty of care to do it right.

Thank you all so much for your advice, it helps to have confirmation of what we thought, but have not been sure about, re approaching the builder!
Really appreciate your time & words of wisdom-thanks.
Beth