guttering / rainwater tanks

well spent yesterday cleaning out the gutters on the 'NEW ' hse the feed to the rainwater tank was so blocked in middle of storm was only getting a dribble of water thru, the pipes to the tank had been connected with 3 roofing nails driven thru so formed a nice little base for twigs etc to log on and block up
so dose anyone have experince of building ? a diverter for rubbish . Saw one on a tv show that was just a grate set at 45 degrees just below the downpipe exit . water flowed from the downpipe , only a few inches , then hit grate rubbish was blown / washed away then water continued on way down downpipe to tank seemed simple and dont know how hard it would be to build but am also wondering if this could be used inline with a first flush device that lets roof be 'washed ' by fisrt rainfall before then switching to fill tank Has anyone got any plans for this as well (can u build then or is it best to buy ) the town has a fruit bat palgue at the monet so bat cr*p everywhere so wouldnt drink the water but dont want the tank filling with rubbish

another thing discovered that the gutters have large sections of rust in them only tiny pin holes that cause drips is there anyway of sealing them ? inside gutters are pretty rough but just cant afford to replace all the gutters at the monent and also the fact it only rains for a couple of week and thats all the use they get is a expense that i can do with out any ideas on how to extend their life would be good ?

would piant /sealer do the trick for short time ?

thks again
david

try and find a Bunnings store near you. They sell that mesh thing that you talk about. retails around the $20.00 mark. i am in the process of connecting my tank to the guttering. i checked them out the other week.

G

David, somewhere herabouts is a thread started by Mick (Journeyman) about his simple but effective home built downpipe trap. Do a search.

Cheers

Here tis

http://woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/...ad.php?t=12191

Cheers

David,
you could patch your gutters using "blackjack", a thick bituminous compound. If you've got larger holes you could try reinforcing them with old flyscreen first.

Mick

Holy snappin' bat Batman! :eek:

thks for the replys guys have had a look at the idea of micks and is exactly what i am after i dont suppose the lenght of pipe matters ie his is 1.5 mtres long but if i made mine 2.5 mtrs wouldnt matter ? as the house corner where the tank is quite high there and to open and let the crap out would need to be a lot longer so as not need a ladder will have a look at the dump tomorrow and see what pipe they have there but dose the pipe need to be straight as the downpipe (on the guttering ) is about a meter out from the wall can i dog leg so it gose against the wall ? and still get the same rersults ?


will also looks at the grate from bunnings and maybe combine the 2



this blackjack is it paintable ? and do u put it on the inside or outside of guttering ?

thks again
david

David,
they'll work fine with bends and doglegs in them. Lenght of pipe is not that important, bear in mind though that a 2.5M lenght will have a fair weight of water in it. It may pay to fit a small plastic tap to the cap to drain it. I'm planning on doing this to mine as they can take a long time to drain in order to remove and clean the cap.
Blackjack is paintable (needs to be primed with silvasheen before topcoating with acrylic) and should go on the inside of the gutter.

Mick

David

The larger holes could also be patched using self adhesive aluminium flashing, which can be got from most hardware stores. then seal over the top with blackjack. ( I use ormand paintable bituman sealer ) this works really well.

TIM