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How to fit guttering on a greenhouse

in Home : Projects: Garden DIY

You will need

  • Lengths of guttering
  • Downpipe
  • Guttering brackets
  • Joining brackets
  • End stop
  • A saw
  • Screws
  • Screwdriver
  • Chicken wire
Do it: all year round
Takes just: two hours

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Overview

Fitting guttering and installing water butts to catch the rain is a great way to store this precious natural resource. Keeping crops going through the summer requires plenty of water, so it pays to have a good supply close by.

Guttering is fairly cheap to buy from any DIY store and you can cut it to length with a saw. You'll find a variety of brackets and connectors available too, so take the measurements of your greenhouse with you when you go to buy your guttering to ensure you get the right pieces. Screw the brackets into the frame of the greenhouse to hold the gutter in place, with an end stop at one end and a downpipe on the other feeding water into the butt.

How to do it

Adam Pasco checking the length of a piece of guttering against the side of his greenhouse

1Check your measurements and cut lengths of gutter to fit neatly along each side of your greenhouse.

Close-up of Adam Pasco attaching brackets to the wooden frame of his greenhouse

2Attach brackets at regular intervals along the frame, positioning each one slightly lower towards the downpipe to make the water flow.

Adam Pasco slotting a length of guttering into the plastic brackets designed to hold it

3Carefully slot the guttering into the brackets.

Close-up of two lengths of guttering joined with a linking bracket

4Join lengths of guttering using linking brackets with watertight rubber seals for a snug fit.

Adam Pasco pouring water into the guttering from a watering can, to test that the water flows smoothly

5Pour water into the gutter to test that it runs smoothly towards the downpipe and there are no leaks.

Adam Pasco fitting a downpipe into a water butt

6Fit the downpipe into the butt and put a wad of chicken wire into the top to stopp leaves falling in.

Adam's tip

Greenhouse manufacturers often sell tailor-made gutter kits for their own products, and many greenhouses come with guttering supplied. If you are fitting out an existing greenhouse and know the name of the manufacturer, contact them first to see if they can supply a kit before heading for the DIY store.

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Talkback: How to fit guttering on a greenhouse
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ceris hughes 26/04/2012 at 16:50

Would like to see similar projects for aluminium greenhouses. would love to know how to get the bubble wrap to stay up, how to fix up a shelf for bits & bob's etc. Anyone got any idea's to share?

Paul N 26/04/2012 at 21:26

Hold on a sec. Are we asking about guttering, bubble wrap or shelving? Attaching bubble wrap. Garden centres sell plastic whatsits for the very purpose. Shelving. They will also sell tiny right angled brackets and special alloy nuts & bolts. I've just fitted a wooden shelf in the greenhouse. 5" wide wood. I made short length of copper brackets made from old water pipe with alloy nuts & bolts and a screw at each end. Easy DIY job.

trillium2cv 26/04/2012 at 23:48

Copper and Aluminium are electrochemically not compatible. I.e. the aluminium will corrode quickly in contact with copper. Not a good idea. Otherwise I agree with you. Just use aluminium alloy for the brackets where possible, or insulate the metals from each other with plastic, or possibly paint the copper to minimise metallic contact between the two.

figrat 27/04/2012 at 08:54

Thanks for that Trillium - I use an old bit of copper pipe to prop up my aluminium framed cold frame lid. Will have a hunt in the depths of the shed for something more suitable - and maybe use copper pipe for slug deterrent. I got aluminium shelf brackets with gh fixings from Two Wests and Elliot a few years back, I'm sure they still do them.

ianrollason 13/05/2012 at 18:50

How can you fit guttering to an octagonal greenhouse? It's an Alton cedar. Any advice very welcome

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