Cast Iron Guttering - Advice Needed!

[Flyfisher]

That's a very nice Traction Avant there FF - your friend's pride & joy I presume.

You're more knowledgeable than me, though I did at least recognise it as a Citroën. :lol:

Yes, it's our friend's car. 1954 apparently. About as noisy inside as my Defender though! It was also a rather odd feeling not wearing a seatbelt (none fitted). It turned a few heads though and we got quite a few 'thumbs up' from other drivers

 

[Feltwell]

One of the first mass market front wheel drive cars I believe, hence the name - well ahead of it's time as well, Citroen were very innovative.
My Dad's got himself a 1953 Lanchester which should be on the road before too much longer - that Citroen looks very sporty in comparison to the Lanchester, which is rather upright and boxy, looking very similar to most pre-war saloons.

 

[JanJonWestWales]

beautiful house, and cracking location !!

 

[welshfarmhouse]

Thanks again to all for the replies and for sharing your experiences - it's very helpful indeed! I feel a lot more confident about tackling the job now. The house is going to take a lot of work and I am sure I will be asking for more advice along the way

Ruthin and the surrounding area is very appealing and we feel so lucky to be living here.

 

[bennoa1]

I've been painting all my metal work (cast iron hoppers, victorian lamppost, my car chassis and various metal bits) with POR15 - its brilliant stuff. You need to get the Blackcote if you want a black gloss finish as the standard POR15 black fades with UV light. Surface only has to be rough and clean, so prep is key, and once sealed will not rust.
I've been meaning to get one of those needle descalers as they look great so just off to buy one - thanks for the prompt.

 

[Roger H]

Hi. I'd echo Feltwell but add:
Cleaning up - Use a flap sanding disk on a 4 1/2"anglegrinder - takes paint off inside and out a treat.
Angle grinder steel cutting disk works fine although a bit sparky.
never had a problem drilling through the cast iron but start with a small bit and work up to final size.
I used hammerite inside and out 5 years ago and it is still sound.
Use rubber gaskets to seal the joints - is removeable and gives more play in the joint when you bolt it together - plus no messy mastics.
https://www.rainclear.co.uk/cast-iron-gutter-sealing-pack.html

 

[Feltwell]

I can see the appeal of a rubber gasket, but I'd be a bit suspect if I was jointing guttering that wasn't of exactly the same profile or radius - a mastic will cope better there I think.

What I definitely wouldn't bother with is the mastic strips one of the guttering suppliers sells - it's like a thick tarry strip of goo that's supposed to go in the joint and squidge (technical term) out as you tighten the connecting bolt. In reality even in warm weather it's way too hard to squidge properly and doesn't seal well, I threw mine away after the first joint!

 

[Pennyviz]

Funny question - my roofers quoted on repainting cast iron guttering - but have only done outside - wouldn't it be normal to do the inside as well? he says that you don't as frost will take it straight off?

Penny

 

[Craig89]

When I painted my guttering I did inside and out but thats only really because it was on the ground and fully stripped back so it seemed like the right thing to do. Whether or not it does stand the elements only time will tell. Having it unpainted isnt the end of the world because if you think about it the downpipes wont be painted internally.

 

[Feltwell]

My earlier comment -

Very few people paint the inside of gutters once they are up, mine were certainly neglected, and they lasted about 100 years! As I mentioned earlier, don't ask me why but they don't seem to rot from the inside much - the secondhand ones that I've bought, which I guess date from the 1920's, the insides have no paint remaining and are only lightly pitted. The outside though, at the back where no one ever paints, is very heavily pitted.

I too paint them inside & out before they go up, but once up I'll probably do outside only.

Not sure on frost as an excuse though! More that they're just a pain to paint on the inside I suspect.

 

[Pennyviz]

My earlier comment -

Very few people paint the inside of gutters once they are up, mine were certainly neglected, and they lasted about 100 years! As I mentioned earlier, don't ask me why but they don't seem to rot from the inside much - the secondhand ones that I've bought, which I guess date from the 1920's, the insides have no paint remaining and are only lightly pitted. The outside though, at the back where no one ever paints, is very heavily pitted.

I too paint them inside & out before they go up, but once up I'll probably do outside only.

Not sure on frost as an excuse though! More that they're just a pain to paint on the inside I suspect.

Thanks, I'll let this one pass then. had an hour long discussion with them about why putting breathable membrane on top of the temporary waterproof one wasn't going to work, and in the end i had to phone up Roofshield technical team and put them on the phone to each other. Roof still not finished and they have gone on holiday. Exhausted by it all!

 

[Pennyviz]

My earlier comment -

Very few people paint the inside of gutters once they are up, mine were certainly neglected, and they lasted about 100 years! As I mentioned earlier, don't ask me why but they don't seem to rot from the inside much - the secondhand ones that I've bought, which I guess date from the 1920's, the insides have no paint remaining and are only lightly pitted. The outside though, at the back where no one ever paints, is very heavily pitted.

I too paint them inside & out before they go up, but once up I'll probably do outside only.

Not sure on frost as an excuse though! More that they're just a pain to paint on the inside I suspect.

Thanks, I'll let this one pass then. had an hour long discussion with them about why putting breathable membrane on top of the temporary waterproof one wasn't going to work, and in the end i had to phone up Roofshield technical team and put them on the phone to each other. Roof still not finished and they have gone on holiday. Exhausted by it all!

Oh and this was after I realised the original cast iron gutter had 'disappeared' with the rubbish despite them quoting on refurbing.

 

[Feltwell]

Thanks, I'll let this one pass then. had an hour long discussion with them about why putting breathable membrane on top of the temporary waterproof one wasn't going to work, and in the end i had to phone up Roofshield technical team and put them on the phone to each other. Roof still not finished and they have gone on holiday. Exhausted by it all!

:? ??? That's just common sense, surely! Don't sound like the best team of roofers I have to say.

Roofshield is okay to be used as a temporary roof covering with no tiles on for 3 months anyway. It's remarkable stuff - we had just that for a while, 2 months in winter with no tiles on, go into our eaves from the inside of the house and you could see straight through the Roofshield, feel the breeze blowing straight through it, but it could be chucking it down with rain and not a drop came through.

Ohh, and it *should* be laid a little loose and saggy across the rafters, not pulled tight over the top (as most roofers seem to do!). Reason I believe is so that any water that gets past the tiles can then run down the top of the membrane under the roofing battens, if it's pulled tight then it's tight up to the back of the battens and water can pond behind them, especially after a few years of muck building up.

 

[Feltwell]

Oh and this was after I realised the original cast iron gutter had 'disappeared' with the rubbish despite them quoting on refurbing.

Hmm, who is paying for it? Mind you, it's very labour intensive to refurb properly, as I've found. I suspect many tradesmen would give it a nominal clean and a quick coat of paint only rather than cleaning it back properly to remove all rust.

If there's new going up I'm surprised they don't just paint it inside & out on the ground. Most new stuff comes pre-painted anyway now, not always in a final finish though.

 

[88v8]

.... had an hour long discussion with them about why putting breathable membrane on top of the temporary waterproof one wasn't going to work,...

What a perfect illustration of incompetence in the building trades. I'd be worried what else they were doing or not doing.
Also illustrates how essential it is to learn how something should be done before one lets someone else do it.

New gutters from Longbottom come ready painted. Not that it stops me repainting them, inside and out.
http://www.longbottomfoundry.co.uk/

Ivor

 

[Pennyviz]

.... had an hour long discussion with them about why putting breathable membrane on top of the temporary waterproof one wasn't going to work,...

What a perfect illustration of incompetence in the building trades. I'd be worried what else they were doing or not doing.
Also illustrates how essential it is to learn how something should be done before one lets someone else do it.

New gutters from Longbottom come ready painted. Not that it stops me repainting them, inside and out.
http://www.longbottomfoundry.co.uk/

Ivor

yes I am very worried! Been up and down that scaffold quite frequently! It's not even about learning about how something should be done - it is just common sense, but sadly as a single woman I am often talked down and tbh didn't want to get into a huge fight until the lid is on. They did manage to source some replacement second hand cast iron gutters allegedly from a farmer they know who stores this stuff (or it could have been mine come back ....)

 

[88v8]

...didn't want to get into a huge fight until the lid is on....

Mmm, with the roof off you are at a slight disadvantage.
Buying back your own gutter, ha, not the first time that's been done I suspect.

I hate employing people to do stuff. But was at a neighbour's last night, when I see how much they've got done how quickly by using builders, compared to my snail-like progress, hmmm. But then, they've pretty much just turned it into a modern interior, any fool can do that.

Ivor

 

[Cubist]

My fathers advice;

"Never pay someone to make the same mistakes you can. At least you will know where you buried the bodies and may have learned a little something to boot".

 

[Pennyviz]

Mmm, with the roof off you are at a slight disadvantage.
Buying back your own gutter, ha, not the first time that's been done I suspect.

[/quote]
Didn't pay for it. Officially anyway, suspect I paid for in terms of crap work elsewhere. Steamrollered me so I even got a chartered surveyors report but he still argued with that and tried to get me to pay for fixing the obvious bodges. I didn't, but suspect the unseen stuff will appear at some point.

 

[88v8]

Oh dear.
Not a very positive experience.
When it's all done you can get your revenge by leaving them a Google review.

Ivor