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Drainpipe overflow port

If your drainpipe blocks, it overflows somewhere sensible
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My house has very, very old-fashioned lead-lined wooden gutters, hidden inside the parapet of the roof. And lead downpipes. These downpipes have a tendency to block, at which point they fill up with water, meaning that the gutter fills with water, which then gets into the wood and rots it from inside. And believe me, it's a massive nuisance to fix it all.

If the downpipe had a spout on it like a teapot, blockage would be both obvious and fairly benign. I could then unblock it and not have to spend ages up on scaffolding fixing woodwork, and a fortune on a lead-worker to reinstate the lead once I was finished.

david_scothern, Nov 02 2025





       Yes but they must be gargoyles.
Loris, Nov 02 2025
  

       Gargoyles are a great shout. Maybe the excuse I needed to get a 3D printer at last. If I paint it to match the rest of the pipe, nobody will know the difference.
david_scothern, Nov 02 2025
  

       I approve of the gargoyle design, and suggest they've puffed cheeks and water discharges from their ears.
reensure, Nov 02 2025
  

       Lead-lined wooden gutters?   

       I never knew such a hazard existed. Hopefully the water doesn't pick up too much of the lead.
RayfordSteele, Nov 03 2025
  

       It's an old-fashioned system. I live in one wing of a small country mansion. Lead provides a very long-lived waterproof layer that can be formed into just about any shape. As long as you obey the design rules, use appropriate thickness lead and keep an eye on things, it will survive indefinitely (i.e. a century or more). Unless, of course, the downpipe blocks, when it will last a couple of years.
david_scothern, Nov 04 2025
  

       Just add duct-tape.
Baker Gordon Halveseys, Nov 10 2025
  
         


 

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