There is a debate amongst garden room suppliers over the inclusion of rainwater collection systems in garden room specifications – some suppliers include them as standard whilst others don’t think they are necessary, our opinion is that guttering is a must on garden rooms having witnessed how much water can be collected from even the smallest garden room roof.
Guttering and rainwater collection has many benefits in garden room design:
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- Protects the walls from rot – if a garden room doesn’t have guttering water will run off the roof and down the walls which over time may rot timber cladding and weather painted timber.
- Directs water away from the foundations – its important to protect the ground around your garden rooms foundations from excess moisture.
- Keeps you dry – stops water dripping on you as you stand at the door of your garden room.
- Keeps the garden room clean – if there isn’t guttering rainwater will hit the ground adjacent to the building and rebound up the wall making the walls dirty.
- Good for the environment – if you choose to collect rainwater in water-butts it can be easily be reused on your garden.
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Rainwater Collection
Commonly guttering on garden rooms is channeled into water-butts or to a ground soakaway. Whilst many garden room suppliers offer guttering as standard not many actually connect this to a water-butt or soakaway so this can be an extra cost.
Water-butts come in all shapes and sizes and there are some very good space saving models which will sit up tight against the wall of the garden room, they typically cost around £25. The other option is a soakaway, this is a hole in the ground situated away from the garden rooms foundations that is back filled with stone which drains the rainwater away.
Types of Guttering
Black or white UPVC half round guttering is the standard on many garden rooms and does the job well, if you are looking for something a little more aesthetically pleasing metal guttering can be specified in a number of profiles and in finishes from galvanised to powder coated colours to match the paintwork of the garden room.
Some of the higher specification garden room suppliers have custom designed guttering systems so they look to be part of the overall design, or so you are not aware they are there at all – examples include striking metal channels incorporated into the wall or down pipes hidden within the wall structure.
Dont underestimate the importance of guttering and rainwater collection when choosing your garden room.
