Gutter Repair With Solder Or Silicone?

Hi All,

I have just removed my gutters painted them and looking to put them back. On the 90 deg corners the original installers cut 45's instead of cutting and folding the gutters around the 90 deg corner.

This was then soldered to bridge the gap and form a waterproof barrier. Over time it leaked and previous owners stuck enough silicone in there to choke a horse and this still leaked.

Question: What is better, soldered corners or silicone and what is the best method to prep before sealing.

Thanks

Mark

These days one tends to find fully formed corners off the shelf. Stratco does them for example. This way you just shove the straight length in both sides, rivet and seal....

I suggest you might do the same. Find a plain gal version to suit your gutter profile then prime and paint...job's done

What SBD said, you can get internal and external angles for most types of gutters, they vary between different manufacturers (ace, stratco, stramit etc) and I have even found that gutters from the same manufacturer may change slightly according to date, eg I done a job replacing a piece of gal gutter that had rusted out, identified it as ace 115mm quad, got a length of the same and found a difference of a couple of mm in the pan of the gutter, looked ok in the end but was a mongrel to marry up with the old stuff. Scratch the paint off and seal the angles with silicone then paint them again.

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Originally Posted by SilentButDeadly

rivet and seal....

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Wrong way around.

I hate the look of those pre-formed corners made out of gutter sections. You've got two square joins, just back from the corner. The narrow corner joiners that go on a mitre look better, but the bolt on ones trap water.
I cut my own mitres. It takes a little bit more time, but you don't need to buy corners and it looks a lot neater with just a mitre join in the corner IMO. Just leave 15mm overlap, then seal and rivet. :wink:

edit: I don't buy DP nozzles either. Just chop an X with a chisel and bend the flanges down. The water flows better and there's no ponding in the gutter that way. Put lots of silicone in the corners though. :2tsup:

Hi Gents,

Thanks for the replies and although mixed, useful and although I like the moden approach with most things I was expecting someone to say silicone was a no no and to solder the mitre joints.

I'm still not convinced about the silicone as I've seen many a dodgy repair with silicone thats not lasted. I was hoping someone had suggestions regarding suitable preperation that would ensure a long term fix.

Kind regards

Mark

They actually arent made from gutter the ones im referring to, they are actually a bracket only about 1 1/4" wide that fit over the gutter therefore sealing the two ends at external/internal angles. Nothing wrong with silicone if its done properly. You can go the old school way and cut your own angles and laps, which Ive done on my own place but you have to be spot on or it looks shyte. No one solders gutters anymore unless, a) your loaded and are getting copper gutters and down pipes b) your doing work on a heritage listed property. A lot of people have the conception that silicone is a bodgy fix, usually because they dont know how to use it properly and the joint fails. Make sure the surfaces are spotless, including paint, squeeze it inside the lap, rivet it together making sure the silicone squeezes out and simply wipe with a rag.

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Originally Posted by wonderplumb

You can go the old school way and cut your own angles and laps, which Ive done on my own place but you have to be spot on or it looks shyte.

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QED

(looks better, even than the narrow brackets :wink:)

You haven't mentioned what the gutters are made of. The only common types of guttering that can be soldered are galvanised steel and copper. If you have gal gutters that are soldered then they would be so ancient that i'm surprised that they aren't all rusted out. Zincalume (which can't be soldered)took over from gal about 20 years ago.
So you must have copper. In which case they are worth saving .

You asked how to prep it..

Scrape every last bit of silicon and dirt off the joint and polish it up with whatever it takes (wire brush, steel wool, emery cloth, acid) until you can see your reflection in it before attempting to solder. You can try direct soldering with a torch and a stick of solder or if you can find an old soldering iron give that a go. Heat the (pre tinned) iron up until you just see a bit of rainbow colour come over the face. Apply some flux to the joint (suggest you use bakers fluid (just ask for that at a plumbing supplier and they'll know what it is)) with a brush. Put the iron across the joint to warm it up and melt some solder onto the side of the iron. Move the iron slowly along the joint and continue to add solder.

Z

Hi Chaps and Z,

The gutters are galvanised and have been in place fo 20 years or so. Well before we moved in. Unfortunatly for this old girl it's been abused and every mitre joint leaks. On inspection they are a combination of solvered mitres and follow up dodgy silicone fixes.

I only mentioned the soldering as this was the original gear used and as I have experience with soldering and bad raps on silicone I wanted to do a good job with soldering. I just wanted to make sure with Galvanised metal that I was not creating a health hazard and that my prep was A one.

Any further ideas accpeted but I may go with the bakers fluid for a good clean job and solder away with my Mapp gas (great stuff).

Regards

Mark

Mark

Given that you have the ability to solder then that is what I would do. I have soldered galv gutter that is 36 years old at my place and still going strong. Gutters need regular cleaning (mine get an annual clean) which is sufficient for my location to prevent rust and corrosion and like you, I don't particularly like silicon. Sometimes the old way is best.

Regards
Trevor

Hi Gents,

I went with a trial on both and two days after I inspected the results. The solder has provided a more stable finish and although a little more work it has provided a better result than the silicone.

The silicone took nearly as long as the solder and this may have been down to my insistence on a perfect job. The only issue was expansion with the gutter and due to a little the silicone has parted in a couple of places and although not critical to the fucntion of the gutter I imagine over time a problem may occur.

I will be removing the silicone and going with the solder.

Thanks to all for your advise and I hope my small trial has assisted.

Kind regards

Mark

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Originally Posted by whizbang102000

Hi Gents,

I will be removing the silicone and going with the solder.

Thanks to all for your advise and I hope my small trial has assisted.

Kind regards

Mark

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Well done. Hey just make sure with it being galvanised and not copper to ignore the bit about shining it up with wire brush etc. Clean it carefully. :U