Had gutter replaced recently and now have a downpipe that backs up slightly and leaks when rain is heavy in light to moderate rain its fine. What to do pipes are 75mm on the whole house. No leaks or issues with the other downpipes.
Hi @mills28,
I wanted to zoom in and have a closer but unable to do that because the photos are quite small and low res.
I would like us to try and confirm where the leaking starts, with assistance can you poke the hose into the downpipe until it hits the elbow.
With the garden tap turned wait to see what happens and where the leaking starts to show itself.
Please come back with the results...
Cheers
Similar to @AlanM52, I'd like to know where the specific location of the leak is. Is it from the dropper that goes between the gutter and the downpipe, or is it from the bend in the downpipe, or is it coming through the overflows in your gutters themself?
Locating the source of the leak will likely provide answers as to what is going on and how we can address it.
Also, when the gutter was replaced, what was the reason for this? Was it not handling the volume of water before? Were there issues with the fall?
If the issue is due to a gap that is allowing water to leak, then it may be a simple case of applying some silicone to that gap, but if the issue is related to the system itself, then you may need to look at having larger diameter downpipes installed to ensure they can cope with the volume of water.
We're going to need to do some further investigation to work out what is going on.
Allow me to tag our knowledgeable members @Noyade, @Dave-1 and @Nailbag to see what they think.
Jacob
Good Afternoon @mills28
In your pics we can see water overflowing. Is that the only point the water is overflowing? If it is then the next question is "how clear are your stormwater pipes in the ground"?
Gutters are supposed to have a slow slope to them towards the downpipe, as your excess water looks like its baking up at that point and your other downpieps are handling the same load ok it makes me consider there could be a blockage.
I had my gutters replaced and breathed a sigh of relief, until it rained and I had water coming out of the ground at the downpipes. Turns out that yes my gutters were shocking (could see through the rust 😲 ) but also the stormwater pipes were compressed from clay and filled with large roots. I had a plumber come out with a camera but the pipes were so far compressed we could only get a few meters in 😕
Dave
Hey Alan I used the hose to simulate heavy rain and the leak is from the pop and thru the rivets. Water seems to be backing up around the top in the elbow area and then letting go thru the pop and rivet
The leak is thru the pop and rivets and backside of the pop. Using a hose to simulate the heavy rain it appears to be getting stuck around the top of the elbow and then going thru the pop and rivets. It then subsides and flows normally. This only happens in heavy downpours. I had to replace the guttering as it was very rusted thru from evaporative airconditioning.
Hi @mills28
Pretty straight forward here, get your plumber back to resolve the issue. There is obviously something they have mistakenly overlooked in replacing your guttering.
Initial first thoughts is that it appears there is no silicone around the downpipe connection which is where the water is pouring from.
Nailbag
Hello @mills28,
One or both elbows are blocked and as @Nailbag mentioned the downpipe connection is not sealed and... from the start I suspected this:
RE: The leak is thru the pop and rivets and backside of the pop.
That's why I wanted to zoom-in for a closer look but the photo was low res.
@Nailbag is correct your starting point is to get the guy back to fix and my bad for not including that.
When replying to someone could you please tag that person with the @symbol.
I agree with the above; it appears the dropper outlet was not sealed properly during installation. To fix it, the dropper outlet would need to be taken back out, silicone applied between the joins and then reinstalled. I would be hesitant to just apply silicone to the leaking joint as is, as it is a band-aid solution.
Mitchell
What is at the other end of the down-pipe?
I'm picking there might be a restriction where it goes into a drain?
Is the down-pipe exit right down on the grille on the drain, there needs to be a gap of about 30mm between the grille and the end of the down-pipe or it will air-lock when there is a significant amount of water falling down the pipe, as it can't drain adequately.
Just a thought.
Cheers,
Mike T.
Hi @MitchellMc,
I don't know if I agree with what you're saying, my down-pipes are only held together with two self-tapping screws into the PVC on each side.
However, one thing I did notice from the OP pictures, it seems like there isn't enough fall on the lateral pipes to prevent air-locking when you have heavy rain.
To prevent this, we use 45 degree elbows, not 90 degree elbows, so that the water has better flow and doesn't build up inside the pipe.
Like I said above, there needs to be a decent gap between the end of the down-pipe and the transition that takes the water from the down-pipe, this allows 2 things to happen, it allows air to get up the vertical section of pipe to help it to drain and it also stops leaves and other things blocking the end of the pipe.
Hi @MikeTNZ,
Yes, the downpipe is typically secured to the dropper outlet with screws, as water flows through the dropper outlet into the downpipe. However, the dropper outlet itself, which I am referring to, needs to be sealed to the bottom of the gutter to prevent leakage there.As shown in the image below, the leak begins just below the dropper outlet. This indicates to me that water is flowing along the gutter and under the dropper outlet rather than falling into it. Typically, to prevent this point from leaking, a bead of gutter silicone is applied around the flange of the dropper outlet, sealing it to the bottom of the gutter, and then it is pop-riveted into place. Without this silicone seal water can bypass the dropper.
There could likely be other issues, but we shouldn't be seeing a leak between the gutter and the dropper outlet like this.
My apologies, it wasn't intrinsically clear where exactly the spouting/outfall pipe was leaking from with the first pictures.
I'm glad you're on the case!.
