Downpipe leaf protection

[DeLaCruz]

Just did a gutter vacuum on a woodland property. The gutters had 60cm plastic grids placed inside them for the entire run. I agreed with customer to get rid of these for them as they have a ton of debri on top and beneath them. Vacuumed the property and flushed downpipes. The downpipes run from 30ft high inside the wooden exterior of the property and then come out in a kind of underground garage area. If they get blocked up its gonna be a mission to do any maintenence. Customer was asking about what kind of measures could be taken to prevent debri getting into the downpipes. The downpipes are square standard size 65mm - any recommedations for leaf / branch excluders that won't instantly block in the auturmn ? thanks in advance

 

[K in Kent]

leaf / gutter guard balloon I use and do the job. I put them in before doing roof moss and never let me down - cheap and effective and fit round and square downpipes
Link to Screwfix

 

[Pjj]

leaf / gutter guard balloon I use and do the job. I put them in before doing roof moss and never let me down - cheap and effective and fit round and square downpipes
Link to Screwfix

Do you not find that it only takes a couple of decent sized leaves or a few sycamore seeds to block them up ? We have done a few gutter vac job’s recently and tge gutters were basically empty but the downpipes had there things in them and were causing a blockage , we removed them and all was fine I don’t know of anything on the market that will keep stuff from going down a downpipes but not get blocked .

 

[Clean zero]

Very true always removing them they get blocked very easily

 

[Part Timer]

Basically there's no option that covers all scenarios. In all of the jobs we do the downpipe balloons are the best.
What I would say if there is loads of moss on the roof and overhanging trees regular, twice a year, maintenance is required. Soakaways are a blockage nightmare as well

 

[Iron Giant]

From personal experience just on our last home which was a bungalow and had 3 trees out the back plus a moss-laden roof along with the neighbours as it was a terrace so the full run of 3 houses and garages would get full and need cleaning out 4 times a year the only thing that prevented the downpipes getting blocked and stopping loads of moss going down into the drain and potentially blocking those was gutter balls,

The same not long after we moved into our current home one downpipe at the top was completely blocked which meant going up the ladder with a hosepipe and a stick to unblock as it was impossible to disconnect at the top that was 2 years ago and never had a problem since I bought some aluminium mesh ones of amazon

 

[K in Kent]

Do you not find that it only takes a couple of decent sized leaves or a few sycamore seeds to block them up ? We have done a few gutter vac job’s recently and tge gutters were basically empty but the downpipes had there things in them and were causing a blockage , we removed them and all was fine I don’t know of anything on the market that will keep stuff from going down a downpipes but not get blocked .

the other option is a strip of hehgehog in the gutter and over the downpipe but I think things tend to get stuck in them, but should prevent blockages in pipes

 

[Part Timer]

the other option is a strip of hehgehog in the gutter and over the downpipe but I think things tend to get stuck in them, but should prevent blockages in pipes

In my opinion they are the worst invention ever, after a few years they just block the gutters.

 

[Pjj]

In my opinion they are the worst invention ever, after a few years they just block the gutters.

We have had gutters blocked solid after 6 months with them fitted , we remove hundreds of meters of the stuff every year

 

[Part Timer]

We have had gutters blocked solid after 6 months with them fitted , we remove hundreds of meters of the stuff every year

We actually say we won't quote if they're in, but will remove them and clear after. Those and the just as stupid grills, are a nightmare. Gutters are designed to flow and wash rubbish down, putting blockages and soakaways in just cause future problems.

 

[Pjj]

We actually say we won't quote if they're in, but will remove them and clear after. Those and the just as stupid grills, are a nightmare. Gutters are designed to flow and wash rubbish down, putting blockages and soakaways in just cause future problems.

We charge a premium to remove stuff like that doesn’t matter how careful you are they flick dirt everywhere and generally have to rinse the walls down after removing them . We did a nursing home and removed 300 meters of them ended up having to wash all the walls and vac the floor to pick up all the debris, and it filled one of those small skips . We were also covered is stinking dirt , hideous job .

 

[Part Timer]

We charge a premium to remove stuff like that doesn’t matter how careful you are they flick dirt everywhere and generally have to rinse the walls down after removing them . We did a nursing home and removed 300 meters of them ended up having to wash all the walls and vac the floor to pick up all the debris, and it filled one of those small skips . We were also covered is stinking dirt , hideous job .

Only ever removed one lot as usually our price to cut them out is more than they paid to install them ?