Removing cast-iron guttering
If the plants in your flower beds next to your walls are being battered by overflows every time it rains heavily, and your walls have rusty patches just below your eaves, then it may be time to get your cast-iron guttering replaced. (But see Lawrence’s comment below.)
This can be a tough job! Cast iron is heavy and brittle. And since you’re likely to be working at the top of a ladder, you’ll need to get someone to help – to make sure that the area below where you’re working is kept clear, to help keep you steady, and to take the lengths of guttering off you as they’re removed.
Cast-iron guttering comes in six-foot (1828mm) lengths that are sealed together with putty and fixed together with bolts and nuts. Since these fixings are frequently wet, it’s very likely that they’ll have rusted, so you may well find that you have to cut the lengths apart using a hacksaw, or drill out the bolts. Either way, wear goggles – you really do not want to get rust or swarf in your eye! It wouldn’t be a bad idea for you and your assistant to wear some tough gloves or gauntlets either.
Once you’ve removed the old guttering, you’ll need to replace it – but before you do that, check the fascia boards (and soffit boards, if there are any) to make sure they’re still in good condition. If your guttering has been leaking badly, the chances are that the boards will have started to rot. You’ll need to either cut away the rot, treat the sound wood with wood preserver and fill the gaps with filler, or else replace the board altogether, possibly with uPVC so that you don’t have to bother about the replacement board rotting…
OK, now it’s time to put the new guttering up. We’ll be talking about that soon.
