As part of our new build we're looking at rainwater recycling.

As we live surrounded by trees what is the best way of stopping leaf litter getting into the gutters and ultimately into the rainwater recycling tank?

or my DIY solution

Our house replaced the mobile home we lived in, which had no guttering!. We're well and truly surrounded by oak and birch trees and I hadn't quite realised what a pain it would be to clear our very nice Lindab guttering every few months (weeks in the autumn). A few weeks ago I started looking into the multiude of different gutter solutions available on the market. To be quite honest, it would appear that none of them work properly. I do love a challenge.....

Spent some considerable time working my way through battery powered auger feed system, inflatable air tube, inner tip out liner etc. etc. but none of them seemed a realistic solution, especially given that the tiny seeds of the birch tree turn into porridge when wet. I was also working on the perfect solution to stopping midges getting into the house and had a bit of spare grey fibreglass fly screen lying around, mmmm...

The trouble with mesh over the gutters is that it soon clogs up and you then spend as much time cleaning the mesh as you would have done cleaning the gutters, but, if it were fixed on a slope? I taped a bit in place , threw some handy gutter debris on it and watched the majority roll off (got a good slope on the roof). Got the hose out and gave it a good dousing, water went into gutter, but not the carp. Technically Ok, but what did it look like?.

We've got a slate roof and amazingly, the mesh was almost unnoticeable, great!

But how to fix?

I tried a bit of superglue...it worked! (£3.00 for 3 grams!) Loctite, far too expensive! Found toolstation selling it for 50g for £2.99. Did a 2m test piece on Friday, seemed to work fine.

The mesh (400mm wide roll), is rolled along the roof, taped into position so that it covers the bottom line of tiles and drapes over the guttering , I then cut the mesh along the bottom edge of the next tile up. Then it's out with the superglue (did 13 metre gutter round the back on Sunday). Then I pull it taut over the rolled front edge of the Lindab and glue it again. Simples and still looks pretty good.

Had a big downpour yesterday, but worked fine.

Downside. Some birch seed just sits on the mesh, but I don't think it will accumulate. When the mesh dries out, they loosen up and blow off. Might not be frost proof or snow proof, will report back post winter. Might encourage growth of lichen (don't know). Water tends to bead on mesh, so more noticeable when wet..solution, don't stand in the rain looking at the appearance of the mesh!. A little bit of water manages to bead and roll over the mesh .03% ish, but, hey, the ground is wet below anyway.

I'll post some pics if I can.

We used this ....

I've done it before, but I can't for the life of me remember how to attach jpegs...anyone?

I think I've managed to attach some pics, can't tell 'til it's posted!

and another one.

Whole build looks good to me! ... how easy do you reckon cleaning out is going to be if ever needed?
Think there's potential here for an "S" shaped "product" that clips to the outer gutter edge only and sits at as angle.

I oversized the gutter to our dormer, at 125 mm instead of 100 mm, in the hope that this would help. Windy up there too so I imagine it should be okay.

I can't imagine that hedgehog thing is any good. Surely it just restricts the flushing out of the gutter and encourages dust and dirt to collect?

I could send you a similar picture Mike with exact same mesh and some pretty little sedum growing in it!

Dickster, I reckon that's a winner!

BTW dickster, nice looking house. I'm not a fan of bricks, myself, but they fit in very well there. Self build? Have you done any write up of it here or anywhere?

Like others, our house is surrounded by various trees and beech hedging, resulting in significant fall of leaves and debris in Autumn and Winter. We fitted gutter hedgehogs, which are in effect large bottle type brushes which sit neatly inside the gutter half round. Perhaps not the most elegant solution as you see the top half protruding out the gutter. however, they work fantastically, and keep the gutters clear / water flowing. Every Spring I spend an hour removing the hedgehogs, give them a shake and refit them. The only debris in the bottom of the gutter that remains is the fine bits of slate from when the roof slates were actually fitted. I dare say a power-wash of the gutters proper every 10 years will suffice.

Roof hedgehog now seem to be retailing at around £13 for 4 metres (less than when I installed). An average house with 30 metres of gutter, you are looking at just over £100. Beats having to go out on a rainy day and unblock gutters by hand. Easy to fit as you just roll out into the gutter. I tuck the ends of each brush under a slate to hold in place although equally one could use a cable tie which is easy enough to cut during the annual shake off.

Posted By: dicksterI'm not quite sure why the manufacturers of guttering don't liase with roofing material people to design and build both to solve this really annoying problem, perhaps not enough demand?

That's the sort of thing the Germans would do. Anybody?

@Dickster. Not sure if you are still avtive on here, but I'm liking your mesh over gutter approach. I'm looking to do the same with my steel guttering as also surrounded by trees and don't fancy cleaning the gutters out 6m up each year.

How has the mesh fared over the years? Did the superglue hold where you glued it down along the edge of the gutter?

TIA!

KG

Thanks for the update! Still fairly mild here in SE England so I think superglue would still be okay. I also want to get rid of the scaffolding asap so must get it done now and not on a ladder 5m up in the spring!!

Not gone for Lindab, but Roofart and I may be able to clip the mesh into place on the gutter side rather than glue (and roof side, I will have to undo some of the coper rivets, lift slates and the slide mesh under (replacing rivets). Pitch is 33deg.

Hoping mine is going to look as yours - and as effective!

One last question - what sized/guage steel mesh did you use?