Conservatory box gutter

I occasionally get a leak inside my conservatory - its appears from the plastic panelling over the doors into the main house so presumably coming from the box gutter. It was doing it before the leaves started falling but we had a real downpour this week which led to a very wet floor inside so I've been up for a look and am wondering my next step. Its a bungalow so the gutter takes both roofs water, the gutter itself looks to be aluminium but not sure on age. Anyway here is a pic, the leak is located inside around about the end of the second roof panel but I know the actual leak might not be there.



So a few issues strike me.
It needs cleaning, especially after the recent leaf fall.
Previous cctv/aerial/sky people thought it would be a good idea to use the gutter as a cable run (they've done this all around the house which I've been trying to sort out). I've pulled out some redundant cables but there are still 4 cables running along this direction - I'd like to try and get them over the roof tiles rather than in the gutter.

I think the only way to sort out these issues and try and find any defects in the gutter is to get up on the roof and use my hands to clean and sort the wires - I've tried flicking the wires from the end but they need some closer manipulation to get them out. I'm just trying to figure out if I can get on this roof safely. I'm not concerned about the height, more breaking any tiles. Closer look at the tiles...



Is this slate? I always thought slate was a bit thinner? I can easily access it with my ladder, and if I shuffled along on my backside or all fours would it be ok? I wouldn't want to stand on the conservatory roof side unless I has some planks or something to go across the structural bits.

yes it is slate, Welsh Penrhyn slate in fact
clear gutter , also looks like a broken slate above the third panel.
do not climb the slate

The box gutter looks extremely narrow and shallow for the application bearing in mind the amount of rainwater you could have coming down from that roof and the conservatory during a downpour..... Clearing out the leaves and getting the cables out will help, but this looks like a case of "original sin" when the gutter was installed - I have a similar set-up at my house but my box gutter is about four times that width and much deeper. Sounds like your problems occur when the water level in the box gutter rises above a certain level.....

thanks. I didn't measure it, but I reckon its about 6" wide, and maybe 4" deep? I'll check next time I go up. I think its when it gets too high, but never been up while its leaking to see if there is a high level, I wondered if depended on wind direction too?

I'll have to see if I can disconnect the cables at one end and pull them out and reroute over the tiles.

Managed to get all the cables out and rerouted the two sat dish cables around the other side of the house so it's just leaves and sludge I need to sort out now.

Got some drain rods to try and clear the gutter but the twisty prong attachment has only cleared maybe half the leaves. Is there any trick to this? I'll try and make some sort of rectangular "thing" I can attach to the rods and push along the channel, tomorrow...

Typical conservatory box gutter........i.e. Too small with no access.

It's often kept small for structural reasons

Very similar to my situation.
When I venture up there to clear out the gutter and to renew the Flexacrete sealant, I edge along with my backside spreading my load on the slates(!) and my feet on the polycarbonate sheeting - near the bottom. I haven't broken any slates as yet anyway.

I would think that your problem is either occurring when the water level in the box gutter rises too much or there such a deluge coming down from the slate roof that it's impinging onto the top of the side of the gutter and then somehow seeping inside your conservatory. I'd be surprised if wind was a major factor because it looks fairly sheltered from wind.

Keeping the gutter clear is an obvious thing to do first. If I was you I would then inspect along the top of the side of the gutter on the conservatory side to see what it looks like. If you can't see directly you could use an inspection mirror and flashlight or you can even get small inspection cameras, either with it's own screen or one that you can plug into your mobile 'phone. If you can see that there are some obvious gaps/cracks between the side of the gutter and the conservatory you can then look at sealing them with a suitable sealant. You might have to just calk them by hand (messy job !) if (as looks likely) you cant get a calking gun in there. Or you can get a calking gun with a long flexible tube before the nozzle. As I've said, I think your box gutter is really too narrow and shallow for the application, but keeping it clear and sealing up any obvious places where water can get over the top of the side of the gutter and into the conservatory will hopefully greatly improve or resolve your problem.

Cheers. I've managed to clear it all out now so we'll see what happens. I had to make a 6" wide bit of wood to push and pull all the debris to each end, there was a lot of sludge and leaves so hopefully that has helped - I'd say it hasn't been cleared for a few years (like all the gutters around the house!).

So its still dripping again today A few more leaves fallen but nothing to clog it up. Here is a photo looking along the gutter from the end. I think the leak is coming from the tiled roof side rather than the conservatory roof side of the gutter. The roof felt is not going into the gutter all the way along - seems to be be bits where there is none and then a section where there is quite a large overhang (maybe a previous fix?) which you cant quite see in this picture. There is about 8" of soffit between the box gutter and the house wall - there looks to be lots of silicone in there where a previous owner might have "fixed" the problem, I might try and get some of it off to see inside the eaves (I've looked from the loft side and no signs of water as far as I can see, cant see as far as the roof edge though)




Removed the trim to expose the soffit underneath. I don't really want to break this open, will it help though??

Ok slow down a bit! have you checked further up the roof to see if there is a problem and water is not reaching the gutter?

catlad said:

Ok slow down a bit! have you checked further up the roof to see if there is a problem and water is not reaching the gutter?

Click to expand...

There appears to be a damaged slate near the third poly panel.
Might not be obvious to all..but I'm sure it's there

Notch7 said:

Typical conservatory box gutter........i.e. Too small with no access.

It's often kept small for structural reasons

Click to expand...

Agree, my box gutter was 300mm wide and 250mm deep but still flooded is leaf litter obstructed the outlet.

datarebal said:

There appears to be a damaged slate near the third poly panel.
Might not be obvious to all..but I'm sure it's there

Click to expand...

thanks - can you be a bit more precise as to which one you think is damaged? Is it on the bottom row or higher up? I can try and get a closer picture if I know where I'm looking.

Nothing obvious to me higher up the roof, maybe need another check in a downpour to confirm though. Light rain doesn't cause a problem, its heavy rain that starts the drips (What I don't really know yet is how much the wooden soffit and plastic trim stems the flow of water - how much is actually sitting above the sofitt??)

Why don't you put the hose pipe in at one end of the box gutter and see if it leaks.