Does black guttering always bleach?

[asnoop20]

Per the title really. Mine has and I'm wondering whether to scrap it all and go white.

 

[Scally-Ho]

I've seen many white installations turn pink so this is why I opted for grey when I renewed the lot on my house. Grey fades a little with age, but it does so uniformly.

 

[asnoop20]

That sounds like a reasonable compromise!

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Plastic does suffer from deterioration from the UV in sunlight, Black and Brown tend to be more obvious with the colour fade. White tends to fair better I think. Have known grey go different shades, the downpipe on my garage is a classic example!

 

[foxhole]

I prefer black as it’s easy to respray and hides defects that other colours show .

 

[mattylad]

I put black twinwall front and back of my terrace 18 years ago, it's still looking as black as the day it went up.

So what timeframe are you looking at for yours to lose it's colour?

ISTR that running along it with a flame can bring the oils out to return it to it's original colour, whether that remains or not I do not know.

 

[johnny2007]

Mine is a weird one.
I replaced all gutters and pipes at once a few years ago, all in black, all from same supplier, all bought at the same time.
The connectors have all remained black and shiny.
One 4 inch pipe is still black, others have faded to a matt grey.
WTF!

 

[Koolpc]

Per the title really. Mine has and I'm wondering whether to scrap it all and go white.

Not if you paint it!!!

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Plastic does suffer from deterioration from the UV in sunlight, Black and Brown tend to be more obvious with the colour fade. White tends to fair better I think. Have known grey go different shades, the downpipe on my garage is a classic example!

We have quite a variety....

Gutters, fall pipes, fascias on house white, and no discolouration.

Soil pipe black, and UV faded.

Gray water drains, some grey, some black, both UV faded.

Brown gutters on summerhouse, no noticeable fading.

Black gutters on garage and workshop, these were repurposed, after removal from the house - no noticeable fading.

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Looking out the window now at the Garage, the Running outlet, and downpipe bends are several shades darker than the gutter and downpipe, in fact the downpipe almost looks white, it's faded that much!

 

[asnoop20]

My pipes are completely bleached but joining and end pieces aren't. All are floplast (40 year old) but I figure they're made from different plastics.

 

[opps]

I recently painted the exterior of a property. I recommended that the customer replace the guttering. I wasn't interested in doing it and accordingly recommended a roofer.

The exterior of the new guttering was black but the internals (not visible from the ground) were white. I had never seen that before.

Freeflow 112mm Half Round Style Plastic Guttering 4m Length - Black | Roofing Superstore®

Freeflow 112mm Half Round Style Gutter 4m Length - Black from freefoam. (FRG400B). Order Helpline ☎ 01752 692 221

www.roofingsuperstore.co.uk

According to the above link, the white helps to deflect some of the UV light and reduce the risk of the guttering deforming.

 

[Exedon]

I know Kevin Mcdonald (founder of Bartol and later Polypipe) to talk to.
He explained both brown and black plastic are not a true colour they have a colour added to grey polymer.
Most of damage is uv the reason the pipe and fittings often change colour at different rates is because pipe is extruded (in effect stretched) and the fittings are injection moulded so compressed.
Would add guttering starts life as pipe, in the extruder it has a blade split it and its then pulled through a mold and rapidly cooled so it maintains its new shape.
I live about 25 minutes from Edlington home of Polypipe and Wavin factories interesting places to look round.

 

[asnoop20]

I'm against waste so I've reconditioned some of the fittings with spray paint. The tubes however will cost more in paint.