Keeping leaves out of downpipes

[Mw Roofline]

6” gutter and a 4” soil stack does the job. Makes your house look likes it’s on steroids though.

 

[catlad]

I helped a guy do that thinking it was going to be the
answer to his problems, it wasn't.
Fortunately it was his idea.

 

[John D v2.0]

You could attach a hose pipe to the end of each run. Then turn it on for a few minutes every week in leaf fall season to flush it out.
Although I'm not sure whether that's prevention or just cleaning

 

[StephenOak]

Thanks for all the responses and apologies for not replying sooner, I did not get an email notification.

Coil of chicken wire in the top of pipe, not disturbed by wind and easy and cheap to replce.

Have you used that? The holes in chicken wire are pretty big and I would expect a lot of leaves to still get into the downpipe. When I talked about putting a strip of metal mesh along the gutter I was think about something like this
https://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-13mm-Galvanised-Mesh-Panel-600-x-900mm/p/187723

I have a mesh rose where the running outlets are, but nothing beats cleaning out by hand where possible. Its also good to scrape out the debris where the lead valleys terminate too.

Yes I always thought I would have to clear out the gutters by hand, I am just trying to avoid (or at least minimise) cleaning out the downpipes. To keep the gutters clear of leaves I suspect that I would need to clean them once a week in the autumn!

What is this mesh rose that you mention? That sounds like the sort of thing I am thinking about.

You could attach a hose pipe to the end of each run. Then turn it on for a few minutes every week in leaf fall season to flush it out.

Surely that would just flush the leaves into the downpipe. That is the opposite of what I want to do.

 

[Burnerman]

Amazon calls them 'Gutter pipe leaf wire balloons'........68 - 75mm.
For sure they do stop the grot from going down the down comer but obviously the solids collect around the balloon so they have to be removed periodically for cleaning.
John

 

[John D v2.0]

Surely that would just flush the leaves into the downpipe. That is the opposite of what I want to do.

Are the down pipes not connected to a surface water drain?

 

[StephenOak]

Amazon calls them 'Gutter pipe leaf wire balloons'........68 - 75mm.

In my first post I said

I could try more substantial gutter balloons like this
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gutter-Pipe-Leaf-Balloon-63-75mm/dp/B00FI0PEAI
or a strip of metal mesh along the gutter.

Any ideas as to whether either of those would help or anything else that would be good?

And that link is, as far as I can tell, exactly what you are talking about!

For sure they do stop the grot from going down the down comer but obviously the solids collect around the balloon so they have to be removed periodically for cleaning.

Yep, I just don't want to do it too often.

Are the down pipes not connected to a surface water drain?

Yes, but if the downpipe gets blocked by leaves then nothing will flow down. There was a mass of leaves (mostly decomposed) above the gutter balloons but after I had cleared that the next section down (where joints move the pipe next to the wall) were pretty solid as well.

The reason that I put the gutter balloons in was because the tops of the downpipe choked with leaves, particularly those from next doors field maples.

 

[John D v2.0]

Yes, but if the downpipe gets blocked by leaves then nothing will flow down. There was a mass of leaves (mostly decomposed) above the gutter balloons but after I had cleared that the next section down (where joints move the pipe next to the wall) were pretty solid as well

Fair enough that's why said do it every week but maybe it'd be more like every day!

 

[HERTS P&D]

Nothing beats doing it by hand!



Andy

 

[foxhole]

Have you used that? The holes in chicken wire are pretty big and I would expect a lot of leaves to still get into the downpipe. When I talked about putting a strip of metal mesh along the gutter I was think about something like this

Read more: https://www.diynot.com/diy/threads/keeping-leaves-out-of-downpipes.496559/page-2#ixzz57lu6pYQL
https://www.diynot.com/diy/threads/keeping-leaves-out-of-downpipes.496559/page-2#ixzz57lu6pYQL
You coil the mesh ,create quite a fine filter and keeps all the leaves out.

 

[scbk]

In my experience, the downpipe balloons only make it worse, as they hold debris back that would otherwise wash down the pipe with no issue. You're better off cleaning the gutters more often, maybe flush the downpipes with a bucket of water

 

[StephenOak]

@foxhole

I'm not 100% sure what you meant, you quoted a bit of what I wrote (but outside a quote block) and then included a link back to this thread.

By

You coil the mesh ,create quite a fine filter and keeps all the leaves out.

I think that you mean that you roll up a long strip of chicken mesh, which will have lots of holes offset from one another. Thereby making a fine mesh.

In my experience, the downpipe balloons only make it worse, as they hold debris back that would otherwise wash down the pipe with no issue. You're better off cleaning the gutters more often, maybe flush the downpipes with a bucket of water

Maybe you didn't see but earlier I said earlier, the leaves / debris do not wash down the pipes. Before I installed gutter balloons the downpipes would get blocked up with leaves, and to keep the gutters free from leaves I think I would have to clear them weekly in the autumn.