Gutter coating... or use A gutter lining?

When deciding what to use, a survey would be your first action, either with a gutter specialist, or gutter coating specialist provider like ourselves .

Your step-by-step repair options, depending on the state of the gutter, would be;

1. Repair small problems with quick fix patches
2. Focus on joints, bolts, cracks or cut-edge-corrosion areas by priming, using a proper anti-corrosion primer and spot treatment
3. Apply an anti-corrosion coating over the full gutter as a preventative measure for other weakened areas and to pro-long the gutter repairs
4. Use a gutter lining for gutters that are past the point of disrepair

Some building owners or contractors opt for a gutter lining rather than using options 1,2 or 3 – when a gutter can be repaired. But...what are the issues with Gutter linings?

Gutter linings cause capacity issues

Firstly why is capacity an issue?

 A lot of industrial buildings were built in the 60’s/70’s – when we had consistent seasons which brought a much more steady pattern of rainfall. The gutters weren’t made to withstand huge influxes of water on them (like we commonly now see), so were generally smaller. It is therefore surprising to see how much capacity of an old gutter can be lost with a gutter lining, that already overflows in heavy rain.

There are many types of gutter liners including membranes and some bespoke systems, but all liners must fit over the height of the original fixings at the joints and add depth when connecting into the outlets (not to mention reduce the outlet diameter if they use inserts).

The diagram below shows how capacity is taken out of a gutter when a liner is inserted. (For simplicity’s sake of demonstrating, the gutter is perfectly rectangular, many gutters don’t have sides that rise vertically.)

It may not look much but in this scenario, you would lose 13% of the capacity. For a 60m gutter length, that is a reduction from a capacity of 7,200 cubic litres to 6,260 cubic litres.

That is a lot of water that could be finding its way into a building from a valley gutter when these roofs are collecting litres of water every minute – and have you considered the reduction in the diameter size of the outlet from a liner to take it all away. As you can see from the picture these theoretical figures often aren’t what really happens with a liner and the capacity reduction can be greater.

Even with an overflow gutter sometimes they simply get overwhelmed in heavy downpours – not to mention they often are left for months and years to fill up with debris and grass, or even trees (yes we’ve seen that), to grow in them.

Gutter linings can leak

 Liners can also mask a problem. If you see a leak coming through a normal ‘unlined gutter’ you can work out where the leak is. But if you have a lined gutter, and the lining has a failure, the water will seep through into the space below the liner where the water can flow. This water could travel along the existing gutter, creating a leak elsewhere. This can make it very tricky to establish where the failure is coming from and where the problem is with the actual lining. A costly and frustrating problem to solve!

Gutter linings are bespoke – this will create delays

As gutter linings are designed and made to fit a specific existing gutter there will inevitably be a delay in getting these made, and then fitted. The production could be 3+ weeks. The advantage is you don’t need to make the repairs to the gutter below, so you do use less labour time? However, you do need to consider the strength of the fixings holding the gutter which may need reinforcement.

 To conclude… gutter linings have their place and usually it will depend on the state of the gutter and preference. However exploring a gutter coating like Alltimes Advantage® Gutter is a sensible consideration to save time, and money for gutter repairs that also come with a 15 year warranty.  Call one of our team of experts to find out more 01453 872850.

If you’re interested in this article, you may also like to read ‘Failing Industrial Gutters – Don’t put off repairing them this winter’ or ‘Typical problems with gutters and repairs – your questions answered’