Lindab's website says a lot about extra-duty galvanising (special order) for tough environments. At least for their roof sheeting, prob for gutters too.

or copper that does not rust

There are Lindab gutters on the house I am currently renting which were installed in 1991. The back of the house is 60m from the sea shore. The paint has flaked off in some places on the downpipes and the landlord has never bothered to re paint them but even there where the galvanised steel has been exposed for a number of years there are absolutely no signs of rust. Likewise no rusts at any ends or joints.

I will qualify that by pointing out we are on the Baltic and the salt content is considerably lower than the North sea and whilst we get some good old storms in Winter we would certainly not be as exposed as Shetland.

I have just installed steel gutters from Planja (as we got steel roofing from them as well) and as long as you pay attention to re painting any cuts you have to make I would be reasonably confident you won't have any problems.

I am 2 miles from the sea, SE England, and put Lindab up just over a year ago. I recently checked where I had cut holes in the gutter to take the downpipe and there was no sign of rust.

You can in theory leave exposed cuts in galv steel, because the zinc corrodes preferentially to the steel. but don't bank on that - it's just a safety net!

We just made diagonal cuts to verge edges on heavy-grade galv and Plastisiol 'ordinary' corrugated iron, with angle grinder because the nibbler wouldn't go diagonal, left exposed and on view, hoping they'll not rust! If they do, will find some push-on C-section rubber, fill with Waxoyl, retain in place by the soffit board which is st steel nut'n'bolted to the corrugated.

Posted By: PeterStarckLindab say all cuts should only be made using hand tools. They explained to me that the cut steel doesn't rust because the galvanizing creeps back across the cut at molecular level. This doesn't happen if using power tools because the galvanizing melts apparently!

Same thing for the gavlalum panels used on our roof - you're supposed to cut them with a shearing action - this somehow smears the galvanizing over the exposed cut and it "heals". If you use an angle grinder, this doesn't happen and the cut edge may rust.

Surely aluminium guttering is easily available? Over here, it comes in long sections which can be fastened together or made in situ. Copper is not as expensive as people think - it's quick and easy to work so labour costs are not too bad - plus it looks great! Of course, I guess, in the UK, there's the liklihood of theft, but probably not in remote parts of Scotland.

Paul in Montreal.

We use Marley Alutec (easily found on google). All painted RAL1019.
Aluminium, but just like ordinary guttering to use.

Aren’t the coloured Lindab powder coated? Surly that would last longer.

Looking at the Lindab technical brochure, I am pretty sure that the AluZinc one is the heavy duty one (you get an extra 5 years on the guarantee) and it does seem to be a different process. There is a specific AluZinc brochure on the site that contains all the details about what other materials it and can't be used with.

I am not aware that plastic ages differently in a harsh environment like ours. Whilst stuff gets a good wind, rain and salt lashing at times up here, we don't get the extremes of temperature that, say, south-east England gets. As we are surrounded by the sea (you can't be more than 3 miles from the sea in Shetland) frosts are always very mild (-3 is exceptional) and a day over 20 C would make headline news. The long daylight hours in the summer might mean a bit more UV bleaching.

Corrosion is the killer for things up here. There is an 11kw air source heat pump sitting in my local builders merchants that has a big 50% off sticker on it and it has been sitting there for months. There is just too much exposed steel in it and everybody thinks that it will rust. I went to see a new house a couple of months ago where the owners hadn't yet moved in. It had a different make of ASHP round the back and it already looked horrible as the grill and fins appeared to be rusting badly.

What metal is the downspout? If it's different from the guttering, that maybe the cause of the rusting.

Paul in Montreal.

There seems to be some specific problem there with some bits untouched and others rusted completely through. Have you asked Lindab about it?

Hi there,
yes we have raised the matter with lindab.

Their response so far is that the 15 year guarantee is only on “coated” system.

Of courdse we invested in a system that was described

"coated with 275g zinc per m2. The galvanised coating is naturally self-healing, any scratch or cut being automatically sealed by zinc ions which migrate to re-coat the uncovered steel.”

now clearly this has failed and the term coated was applicable to the product we invested in at the time.

However, Lindab are now saying there is no warranty on the galvanised only system. 15 year guarantee is only on their “coated” system

This is a matter we have taken up with Lindab, following their complaint process.

I think it is very misleading to describe a product with the word coated in context of the reason why it will last because of galvanising and then turn around and say it isn't coated in the context of their warranty.

Please be aware of the performance we have experienced and also the companies stance on when the term coated does and does not applies to warranty.

Ditto, I was about to order a galvanised system - back to the drawing board me thinks!

ajp12345, it's not clear from the photo, but is there an object sticking out of the roof? Is it possible that there is something being emitted from a vent up there that's getting washed down the roof and causing corrosion where it first hits the gutter?