Colorbond or PVC downpipes??.... Help!

Hi

We are building an extension onto the back of a lovely federation cottage in Ashbury (sydney). Trying to keep it in heritage character.

Our builder is a bit random and constantly does things without consulting first (sigh....). This morning we went to the house and found that they had used bright white quite large PVC downpipes (looks about 10cm diametre) all around the house.

The extension aslo has a large box gutter - and because we are on the low side of the street, they had to string a whole length of this same PVC pipe running from the new back extension along the whole length of the side of the house (midlle of wall about eye height) to the front where the stormwater is.

Basically we've ended up with these very prominent white huge PVC pipes; 3 downpipes - plus that whole length along the side of the hosue (about 15 meters). It looks hideous!

We told the plumber and builder we wanted to use colorbond, preferably the rectangular downpiping - especially on the length along the side of the house. They said no, that the colorbond leaks (especially the rectangular piping) and they are insisting on the PVC. They also said that the colorbond rectangulars block up - and rust at the joins.

I have a feeling that they are just trying to save themselves money (I guess PVC is cheaper)- and just don't want to go back and re-do the job.

Can anyone on this forum advise if we are being told the truth? We drove around several neighbourhoods nearby and notice that all the other houses have colorbond and mostly rectangular downpipes - both old places and recently renovated ones. We feel that the PVC is quite out of character iwth the area.

Do you guys think its OK for us to demand the builder replace the PVC with colorbond? Any advice would be much appreciated ... feeling a bit lost and not sure what is the right way to go.

We even gave the builder the option of replacing the PVC with round colorbond pipes - if the rectangular ones are genuinely no good. he still said no.

Thanks!
Amanda

#1 - Don't pay until you are happy. Sounds like an el cheapo solution, something that you would more likely see on a shed. The 'normal' solution is to have the horizontal pilpes buried, and the downpipes in discreet colours and positions, like at corners and on verandah posts etc. As long as the guttering is higher than the outlet to the street, and the system is sealed, the water will escape or 'syphon' no worries.

Thanks for this reply. Much appreciated

We will ask them about burying the horizontal pipes but this might not be possible as this wall adjoins neighbour's boundary overlooking their concrete path which we'd have to dig up to bury.

The main thing we are concerned with is the PVC pipe vs Colorbond steel (either rectangular or round) downpipes. Any views on this?

Amanda

I used to work for Lysaght and I can assure you the seam joints in the Colorbond gutter will not leak and you can get them in up to 3 metre lengths.

If the joins from pipe to pipe are siliconed properly by a professional roof plumber they also will not leak.

To stop leaves from going down the down pipes you can install leave guards in the tops of the down pipes in the gutter.

Just as another point you can get round coloured PVC downpipes in 80mm diameter which has more UV protection than just plain 90mm storm water pipe.

I think your builder is having a lend of you.

The PVC is definately cheaper ... I have just used it ... but I actually prefer the look when it is all painted up. As for the horizontals it should be a pressure system, which is also what I have had to do becasue the connection point is so high.

Thanks all. We spoke to the builder. He agreed to change the downpipes to colorbond. However he is very reluctant to change the horizontal piping.

He is arguing that it will have to carry a lot of weight in water because its taking the water from the large box gutter. He reckons the rectangular colourbond pipes won't be strong enough to take the weight and will crack/leak. He reckons we have to keep the PVC for that reason. (didn't say whether round colorbond is a possibility)

Does this sound right?

Thanks a million - this forum is so helpful. Gives me faith there are honest and knowledgable tradies out there. Had a bad experience with this builder being fibbed to a lot so was feeling a bit frustrated and lost with it all.

If the weight is an issue he just needs to add more clips. But ti wouldn't be that much wight ... water is 1kg / litre.

If he put the pipes down in the ground you wouldn't have any weight issues.

I have a pressurised system with a Colorbond retangular downpipe siliconed into PVC underground pipe and it doesn't leak.

Bazza, how ong has your system been in place. The reason I ask is because I have a tank that will be connected by underground pipe to the downpipe. I already have the colorbond rectangular downpipe but my plumber says that he will have to use PVC for the tank downpipe because the colorbond will leak over time. I was going to suggest colorbond down to tank height and then PVC. Hope the cricket starts soon, I'm getting a bit tired.

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Originally Posted by Metung

Bazza, how ong has your system been in place. The reason I ask is because I have a tank that will be connected by underground pipe to the downpipe. I already have the colorbond rectangular downpipe but my plumber says that he will have to use PVC for the tank downpipe because the colorbond will leak over time. I was going to suggest colorbond down to tank height and then PVC. Hope the cricket starts soon, I'm getting a bit tired.

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Hi Metung

My system has been in place for 27 years. I have one down pipe that has corroded slightly in the last couple of years but all the others are fine. The reason I think it has corroded is because I believe that the colorbond downpipe being 28 years old is made from galvanised material instead of zincalume and gal is more suseptable to corrosion.

All downpipe these days is made from zincalume material so you should have no problem providing you use neutral cure silicone made especially for steel.

kaliani, I have colourbond downpipes and guttering to suit federation style colour schemes, mine are indian red .....and one thing I must advise you of strongly is this .....where the downpipe meets the ground level ...DO NOT have any bends in it .....when it rains ...you will go mad ......ping ping ping ping .....I have one pipe on the corner of my bedroom and when it rains ...I dont get a wink of sleep .....it makes that much noise ..and I can't do much about it ......the plumber told me "moss" would grow and deaden it .....no worries mate .....that was 6 yrs ago ....:~ ......one day when I have "nothing" to do .....I am gonna rip it open and glue some rubber mat in there ....but at the moment I am too busy working on other ppls homes ....mine is neglected .....:C

Hi

I just came across this thread.

Quote:

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He is arguing that it will have to carry a lot of weight in water because its taking the water from the large box gutter. He reckons the rectangular colourbond pipes won't be strong enough to take the weight and will crack/leak. He reckons we have to keep the PVC for that reason. (didn't say whether round colorbond is a possibility)

Does this sound right?

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NO! I can't believe how much bullsh*t SOME builders put out!

IF the pipe were horizontal then MAYBE just maybe there would be some weight to consider. However even IF that was the case the builder could add some more support! This is cr*p at its finest.

If you have sufficient space in the area surrounding the extension then why not install one or more soakwells? *IF* you can do this then you will remove the hideous pipe pvc or not. Soakwells done properly do not normally overflow. I live in WA so the ground here - being sand - works well with soakwells, if you are in a clay or some relatively less porous ground area then maybe soakwells will not work for you.

BTW *YOU* are the person paying the bills and HIS work therefore *YOU* stipulate what *YOU* want. YOU decide on what you want and are willing to pay for and the BUILDER COMPLIES.

Thanks for all the answers guys. I'm embarrassed to say that we gave in to the builder. We arranged to meet him and the plumber and they basically ganged up on us and span the same line.... saying that they refused to take responsibility if we insisted on the colourbond. They also said they would be forced to charge us more for having to do it all over again, plus the extra materials.

By this time we were simply worn down (in the middle of a big building project with a thousand things like this going wrong).

Now evertime I look at it i hate it. Even our neighbour complained as its an old place in inner sydney where our wall is effectively the neighbour's boundary (no fence). So he has to stare out his window at this hiddeous horizontal length of PVC pipe right the way along the length of our house.

I think in about six months we will just get someone in and pay them to replace it. The builder was just too stubborn and refused to give in. Sigh....

Now I've re-read these later posts of yours i think we should have held out for our way.

Thansk for the advice MrFixit. Unfortunately soakwells are not an option as we don't have the space, and are also on solid clay.

Well if it isn't painted you could at least do that in the interim? PVC paints up OK with solar guard or similar.

kaliani,
Check your contract and if it says colourbond then get a seperate quote for replacing the PVC and at the end of the job withhold that amount until the builder fixes it.

Money speaks louder than words.