Rainwater Goods Questions Checklist

Go outside during heavy rain, under an umbrella, and watch where water actually runs off the roof, where it overshoots and where it sheets down a wall.

Almost every rainwater problem is obvious for a few minutes during a downpour and completely invisible for the rest of the time.

Sketch the building elevation by elevation and mark every gutter run and every downpipe, giving each one a name you can use consistently.

Once each run has a name, a conversation about a leaking corner stops being a vague description and becomes a specific location.

Note which way each gutter appears to fall by watching where water travels along it, rather than assuming it runs towards the nearest pipe.

How a gutter should be set is a matter for a qualified professional; nothing observed from the ground settles what is correct here.

Record where one downpipe takes water from more than one roof, such as a main roof and an extension, a porch or a bay discharging into it.

Pipes collecting from several roofs are a common reason an arrangement that once coped stops coping after something is added.

Photograph each elevation with the whole run of guttering in frame, then take closer views of any corner, joint or hopper you can see clearly.

One wide photograph per elevation lets somebody follow the water in the same order you did, without having to visit first.

Photograph any staining, green growth or dark streaking on the wall below a gutter joint, a corner or an outlet, and note which run it sits under.

A stain on a wall records where water has been going for a long time, and it points at the joint more reliably than anybody's memory does.

Note anywhere plants, moss or grass are visibly growing along the gutter, since that is only possible where debris has been sitting undisturbed.

Growth in a gutter shows both that debris collects there and that the run is holding water rather than shedding it.

Record where water pours over the front edge of a gutter in heavy rain instead of running along it, and whether it happens in the same place each time.

Overshooting can have several causes at once; a qualified professional should establish which applies before anything is replaced.

Look along each run from a distance and note anywhere it dips, steps at a joint or has visibly pulled away from the wall or the fascia.

A run that no longer sits straight usually shows from the ground, and a photograph taken end-on makes it much easier to see.

Note any damp patch, blown plaster or mould inside the house that sits below or behind a gutter run, and mark it on your sketch.

Internal damp beneath a gutter is worth reporting even if it seems unrelated, because it is often the first thing anyone connects.

Record what has already been done to the guttering, such as sealant at a joint, a new bracket or a section replaced, and roughly when.

Repeated attention at the same joint tells whoever looks at it something quite different from a run that has never been touched.

Note whether any part of the roof drains into a gutter set behind a parapet wall or between two slopes rather than at a visible edge.

Concealed gutters carry water inside the line of the building, so a blockage there shows up indoors rather than down an outside wall.

Record any staining on a ceiling or a wall inside that sits below a valley or a parapet, and photograph it with a note of where you were standing.

What is happening inside a concealed gutter cannot be established from indoors; a qualified professional needs proper access to look.

Ask how a concealed gutter would be reached and cleared once the work is done, and whether that needs equipment nobody has to hand.

An arrangement that can only be cleared with access equipment tends not to be cleared at all, which is worth knowing before choosing it.

Note any open hopper or collection head partway down a wall, and whether it looks full of debris or shows staining on the wall beneath it.

Hoppers collect leaves silently and overflow directly onto the wall face, usually long before anybody thinks to look up at them.

Ask what would happen if a concealed run blocked, where the water would go and whether anything is provided for it to escape safely.

Overflow provision is a design matter for a qualified professional and should never be assumed to already be present.

Note which trees overhang or stand close to each roof slope, whether they are yours and whether they drop their leaves or hold them.

The kind and position of nearby trees decide how much arrives in the gutter and how quickly a run fills up again after clearing.

Record how often the gutters have needed clearing and who has done it, including anywhere that fills noticeably faster than the rest.

Clearing history is the most honest measure of what a rainwater arrangement actually demands from the household.

Note where debris collects first, such as a corner, an outlet, a hopper or the low end of a long run, and mark those points on your sketch.

Raise leaf guards, covers and grilles as a question rather than as a decision, and ask what each would mean for clearing and for access.

Whether any guard suits your roof and your trees is a matter for a qualified professional rather than a general assumption.

Record whether the trees causing the trouble stand on a neighbour's land, and note that before raising the subject with anybody.

Trees may be subject to local protections or to obligations between neighbours; confirm locally what applies before anything is done.

Note what each downpipe discharges into, whether that is an open gully you can see into, a sealed connection into the ground or an open end onto paving.

The bottom of a downpipe is easy to look at and tells whoever is advising you a great deal about how the property handles rain.

Record any gully that is full of silt, leaves or standing water, and note whether water backs up around it during heavy rain.

A gully that cannot take what arrives puts the water straight against the wall, whatever condition the gutter above it is in.

Ask who owns the pipe once it goes below ground, whether anybody else is connected to it and how that would be established.

Ownership and responsibility for underground drainage vary by location and property and must be confirmed with the relevant authority.

Note any downpipe that discharges onto a path, a driveway, a step or an area people walk on, and where that water travels afterwards.

Water crossing a walked surface is a nuisance in the wet and a hazard when it freezes, and it is rarely mentioned until afterwards.

Ask what should be confirmed locally about where surface water may go before any downpipe is moved, added or re-routed.

Where rainwater may discharge is subject to local requirements; confirm what applies to your property before anything is changed.

Record any water butt on a downpipe and note where its overflow goes when the butt is full, which is often straight onto the ground beside the wall.

Water butts are frequently installed without anyone deciding where the overflow should go, and the wall behind them pays for it.

Note where the ground stays wet long after the rain has stopped, and how close that area is to a wall of the house.

Ground that stays wet next to a wall is one of the most useful observations an owner can bring to a damp conversation.

Photograph the wall face below each downpipe and gully, noting splash marks, green growth, a crumbling surface or a tide line above the ground.

Splashing leaves a distinct band on a wall, and where that band sits tells somebody a great deal about where the water is coming from.

Check which way paving, a path or a driveway appears to fall by watching where puddles form, and note anywhere water runs towards the house.

Whether a level or a fall should be altered is a matter for a qualified professional and depends on far more than what is visible.

Record where soil, planting, gravel or a raised bed sits against the wall beneath a downpipe, and how it stands relative to the floor inside.

Ground built up against a wall changes how rainwater at its base behaves, and it is regularly left out of a rainwater discussion.

Note any airbrick, grille or opening low on the wall near a downpipe or a gully, and whether it looks blocked, buried or splashed.

Openings low on a wall may serve the construction behind it; ask a qualified professional before anything near them is altered.

Photograph the existing gutter and downpipe close up from the ground, including a corner and a bracket, so the shape can be described accurately.

Profiles vary considerably and a photograph avoids an entire conversation about what the existing sections actually look like.

Look along the street and note whether the rainwater goods read as consistent from one property to the next, or whether they already vary.

On a terrace or a uniform street, guttering is part of how the row reads, and a change is more visible than people assume.

Ask what replacing only part of a run would look like where new sections meet older ones, and whether the two would sit together comfortably.

Partial replacement is often sensible, but the junction between old and new is exactly where owners are later disappointed.

Decide whether you want the rainwater goods to disappear against the wall or to read as a deliberate line, and note that with your other preferences.

How visible guttering should be is an easy decision to make now and an awkward one to revisit once sections have been ordered.

Note what the guttering appears to be fixed to, such as a timber fascia, the roof edge or the wall itself, and photograph anything that looks soft or open.

What a bracket is fixed into, and whether it is sound, must be assessed by a qualified professional rather than judged from the ground.

Check with the local authority whether anything restricts the appearance of rainwater goods at your property before you commit to a look.

What may be altered on a visible elevation differs from property to property, and only the local authority can tell you what applies here.

Record where a gutter, a hopper or a downpipe appears to serve two properties, and note where the joint between them seems to sit.

Shared rainwater arrangements may carry obligations towards a neighbour; confirm locally what applies before work is planned.

Ask how each run would be reached for the work, and whether a rear or side elevation can only be worked on from a neighbour's land or a public path.

Working from a neighbour's ground or a public path needs their agreement first, and that is worth asking about early.

Look at what stands directly beneath each gutter run outside, such as a conservatory roof, planting, a bin store or a parked vehicle.

Anything under a gutter is at risk while sections are being taken down, and moving it beforehand is far simpler than repairing it.

Agree what happens to water arriving from a neighbour's roof or discharging into a shared pipe while the work is under way.

Rainwater does not pause for the work, and a half removed arrangement can put water somewhere nobody intended it to go.

Ask what clearing the finished arrangement would need, who would carry it out and how they would reach it safely in order to do so.

An arrangement nobody can reach is an arrangement nobody clears, which is how most gutters end up overflowing again.

Agree in writing which runs, hoppers, downpipes and gullies are included in the work, and what is expressly left out of it.

Rainwater work is easy to describe loosely, and the runs nobody mentioned are the ones still overflowing when it is finished.