My home is in an outer Melbourne suburb. Single story brick veneer, concrete tile roof, 22 years old and gutters still in very good condition. Many mature pines and other trees grow from 10 meters of the roof. Within the past 10 years there have been at least three torrential thunderstorms that resulted in rainwater entering the roof space and causing minor interior damage to walls, floors and curtains.
Recently there was the biggest downpour I have witnessed here. The gutters were overflowing on both edges, resulting in rain again finding its way into the roof, down light fittings, around all windows and onto many carpets.
As in the past, despite keeping them as clear as possible, the gutters were to blame for the problem. During this storm leaves, twigs and branches ****** on the roof had been washed into the gutters causing blockages in most downpipes. I am simply unable to keep the roof surface clear of debris and neither can I afford to have this done for me prior to every storm.
The existing Quad guttering is higher at the front than at the back, and additionally it is attached to the very top of the facia. Naturally when they overflow the way for the water to escape is initially to the rear, over the facia and into the roof space.
My first thought was to lower the existing guttering to a position where the top of the facia is much higher than the front of the gutter, which should then result in any excess water overflowing over the front.
Next I thought of drilling a row of 15mm holes at the front of the guttering and along the entire length in such a way that they would come into play before the gutter could overflow rearwards.
Lastly I considered replacing the gutters with new low front products I read are available in many states, other than Victoria it would appear. It seems that whilst this backflow problem is of concern in many states, no one here has yet woken up to this.
As you will realise, I am more concerned with safety and security than the appearance of the roof.
Recently I have spent many hours researching replacements and made untold interstate and local phone calls. I have had three tradespersons visit in order to provide solutions and thus far I have not made any real progress.
All tradespersons I have discussed the tree problems with agree that no form of mesh will completely correct the leaf and pine problem, thus I will not be entertaining this "solution".
I need to know:
What is the best way to address this problem?
What is the cheapest way to address this problem?
Where can I obtain true low front colorbond guttering, preferably within the Melbourne area as I prefer not be up for freight charges? By low front I mean a front that is lower than the rear by many millimetres.
What else can I do to prevent this reoccurring?
Many thanks.