Kitchen Garden Forum

Hving recently had a shed put up on my plot, I attached guttering on either side, intending to collect rainfall.

Having today made some adjustments to the downpipe, I decided to pour some water from a bottle onto the roof and was alarmed to see it simply ran down the felt so quickly that it shot off the roof and did not trickle into the guttering.

I'm rather hoping you are going to tell me that this is because rain water, when it lands on the roof, slides down more slowly and that the cascade effect I created was not typical. That's what I am hoping. If not, what on earth am I doing wrong? I attached the guttering beneath the ends of the roof, using brackets, in the belief that the rain water just dribbles in and then makes its way to my water butts.

Should I have done something different?

No rain water, no water, since there is none on the allotment.

Is the roofing felt sitting in the gutter or is it tucked around the under side of the roof if it is rain water will run around the bottom of the roof and drip down behind the guttering

The felt is tucked back under the roof, so I imagine rain water will drip naturally into the guttering. However, poured water shoots over the edge.

Needs to hang into the gutter

wait for it to rain and see what is happening then.

It's Sods law that light rain will trickle under the felt and down the side of the shed and torrential rain will cause the water to gush down so fast that virtually all of it completely overshoots the guttering altogether.

Don't mention gutterings, downpipes and water butts to me. We have a completely insoluble problem like this of own own!

It is going to rain tomorrow, so I shall have a look at lunch time.

But if the felt needs to run into the gutter, I shall have to buy some felt and tack on about three or four inches to the end of the roof. Would that do it? I don't want to disturb the existing felt, but would actually tacking a new layer on top of the existing felt and leaving it to loosely "flap" into the gutter work?

You will need to fix it underneath the last few inches of the exciting felt

Or, I suppose I could unpick the existing felt and position that into the gutter. But won't that mean in high winds I could have the flet ripped off the roof...?

If I remember rightly, the felt comes to the end of the roof, then drops down a couple of inches and is tacked underneath the bit of roof that guts out, thereby making it difficult for the wind to get a purchase.

This is my shed: http://www.acesheds.co.uk/products/Stan ... /140615011

You can see how the felt comes down and is then tack back under.

I don't think you need to mess about with extra felt. Any chance of a photo perhaps with the stop end removed so we can see the exact alignment?

If the gutter brackets are fixed to the shed wall then try putting spacers behind them to bring the gutter a little further out. You'll always get a bit of water running back under the turn of the felt by capillary action, so don't bring it too far out.

There is an expensive solution - never seen one.

http://hallsrainsaver.com/products-page ... buildings/

Expensive and they don't supply enough brackets for some of the kits........

I should think by tipping a jug of water straight onto the roof would be like getting a inch of rain in about five seconds..... water often jumps the gutters in a very heavy downpour, it's just that not many people are standing out looking at there gutters in a torrential down-pour....

Maybe it it the wrong sort of rain.

Geoff, thanks for posting that!

It is expensive but comes with the guttering & if I count up the years I've been waiting for Mr Westi to sort some guttering on the shed the price per annum is minuscule! On my Birthday list that goes! Even better when they move us it comes too - think the shed might not make it that long, but managed to find some EU banned preservative so who knows.

Westi