Drains and gutters 101

Cleaning gutters isn’t high on anyone’s list, but the nightmare begins when the system lets go, writes Kya deLongchamps.

It may not be the ‘sexiest’ of subjects, but your rainwater drainage system prevents damage to your home from a seemingly benign source.

The first time you may realise something is wrong, is when a completely overwhelmed gutter overflows at its edge. Gutted. The trouble with gutters is that they are out of reach and served by enclosed down-pipes. How many of us could judge the flow rate from the ground? Inaccessible, with their working face invisible, it’s out of sight and out of mind. Guttering and downpipes, as part of a rainwater system are a vital sluice to spirit water not just off the roof, but away from the fabric of the house, and down to the ground as efficiently as possible.