Rainwater Goods & soil on early 16th c cottages

[sue gazzard]

Just about to start total renovation of above. Already committed to replacing cement render with lime & limewashing etc etc. Wanted to specify Alutec for rainwater/soil goods but builders say costs twice as much (I didn't think the cost diff was that big??) & not worth it. They are suggesting some upvc option which supposedly looks like cast iron but I'm not convinced. General & specific views/info on this topic much appreciated. Thx in advance for all help.

 

[Nemesis]

I am always wary of builders who recommend something which looks 'just like the real thing'.

I haven't yet seen a plastic option which looks like anything but plastic - have they said which manufacturer makes it?

 

[Ian Bond]

I've seen some in a Builders' Merchants. They have a "double wall" construction so not as flimsy looking as the standard plastic.

But it looks awful close up, maybe OK from a distance. It's the performance and durability the worries me as much as the aesthetics. Thermal expansion/contraction can be a major problem with plastic...

How long will it last? If price was the only consideration I might be tempted, but I'd want to look into all other options first.

It probably is lighter and easier to install for the builders, if not the best for your building.

I'd prefer lead and cast iron, but some of the alu stuff looks OK to me, and may suit some later properties.

 

[Nemesis]

All the plastic I have seen has support brackets which are ugly, and this is something I would check.

 

[sue gazzard]

Thanks guys. I can't stretch to cast (although obviously I'd love to) but have downloaded the Alutec Pricelist, found it's not nearly so scary as the builder made out, and have made my mind up to follow my instincts. It's raised lots of doubts in my mind about how much I can trust the builder though.....

 

[Nemesis]

Well - what cost difference is there? What sort of prices have you been quoted for cast?

 

[piper]

I suppose the radical option is to say that, as they didn't have any rainwater/soil pipes originally in the 16th century, there's no point in being at all authentic or historical. Aluminium is quite OK, or even just use the cheapest plastic, and replace with something better when you can.
We did that, and years after originally using plastic (and becoming more educated about such things!) got cast iron quite cheaply from a reclamation yard (I know, I know) and spent hours wire brushing and painting it before giving to the builders to put up (the wrong way round in one place :roll: )

 

[Nemesis]

No, no point in trying to be 'authentic', but a great deal of the cost is fitting, and better to do it right and do it once. All the plastic I have seen requires more supports also, which make it quite intrusive. It can also creak a lot and can degrade.


Cast iron isn't madly costly and may be cheaper from some places than the aluminium.

Here's a not very good pic of some we did, re-using the brackets which were probably made locally by the smith:




[Open Image] [Hosted by PhotoGalaxy.com]

 

[KN]

If you want to look at lead we had ours made by Callendar Lead.

http://www.callenderlead.co.uk

Karen

 

[Nemesis]

If the cottages are listed the local authority will probably have some say in what is used anyhow.

 

[sue gazzard]

......not listed!!!

 

[dandrew]

Having used both cast aluminium and cast iron, my choice would be cast iron.
Cast aluminium does just not have the 'right' look, as cast iron has a definite chunkiness that the aluminium does not mimic

 

[biffvernon]

The French seem much better at gutters than us and there are good Scandinavian ones being imported. Various galvanised steel and even copper. (£4000 per ton.)

 

[Flyfisher]

I wonder how long the copper stuff would last at that price?

 

[Nemesis]

The French seem much better at gutters than us

Well, our gutters seem to work OK. The rain falls, it goes into the gutters, it goes down the pipe and out at the bottom.

What's wrong with that?

 

[NT]

The right species of wood wll last a lifetime, and no painting.


NT

 

[Cloudscape]

When did gutters and downpipes become the norm? I was looking at a photo (c1870) of my house and it only has a small section of gutter over the front door area. None of the other houses in the street have any guttering at all. Is it likely that people fitted gutters only if they could afford them?

 

[Nemesis]

Or when the water had somewhere to go?

 

[Moo]

When did gutters and downpipes become the norm? I was looking at a photo (c1870) of my house and it only has a small section of gutter over the front door area. None of the other houses in the street have any guttering at all. Is it likely that people fitted gutters only if they could afford them?

A quick Google came up with this, regarding gargoyles;

"Their first usage in the last thousand years or more seems to have been in the early 1200's as channels or tubes to shed rainwater from buildings, to keep the rainwater off the buildings themselves and away from the foundations. Strong evidence for this purely plumbing interpretation is that initially most were made of wood, some made of the more expensive stone, and were generally undecorated."

And another site showed a picture of guttering discharging, into a large water-butt that is set a safe distance from the house. The caption said that large cisterns were also very common (presumably as a source of domestic water?)

 

[Cloudscape]

Or when the water had somewhere to go?

Good point! :lol: