Renovating my old house – I didn’t know it needed it when I bought it, so this is a labour of necessity rather than love – and I now need to specify the guttering, fall pipes and soil stacks.

The age of the house demands cast iron (it might even justify lead but that’s way beyond my budget). A bit of research (= 5 minutes on Google) and Longbottoms is discovered … a bit more research reveals the hideous price of it!

Are there any other good quality alternatives out there that are a bit more wallet-friendly?

Any comments welcome, other than those questioning the wisdom of using cast iron!

The age of the house demands cast iron

unless it’s in a conservation area I’d look at the plastic alternatives 🙂

Edit: re-reads the original post and realises he’s failed to take account of the last sentence…

FWIW when we got our guttering replaced, was cast iron, we got cast zinc or zinc alloy (IIRC) which was a deal cheaper and equally importantly, could be installed by the builders with ease as it was considerably lighter. Could then be left to weather or be painted to suit.

lovely.

that would be my recommendation.

It is indeed pricey stuff, hope this helps

rainwater direct

Alumasc also do cast iron guttering and pipework, They also do a cast aluminium range which looks identical but won’t save you money. You can’t beat Longbottoms on quality or there ability to supply widgets to accommodate corners no-one else has thought of. Space the pipework off the walls preferably with hardwood ‘bobbins’ (Old style cotton reals) or if not available proprietary plastic spacers, or you won’t be able to re-paint the rear face of the pipework and it will rust through

Definitely having cast … just who makes it is the question. The plumber who’ll be doing it recommends St. Gobain’s PAM (made in Telford I think) as it’s less than half the price of Longbottoms.

reclamation yards might have some, I recently weighed a load of mine in as scrap some of which could have been cleaned up and used 😳

I’d have loved to have kept it but would have cost more time & money to sort, both of which are in short supply at the moment. House needs finishing quick smart baby29er’s due in 10 weeks.

Thank all. Still can’t see why Longbottoms should be double the price of what appear to be decent alternatives.

Andy thorntons architectural salvage.
Worth a try.
Ade