Ampteam Ltd

The UNIFOLD® Gutter Lining System has recently been installed within five valley gutters, totalling more than 700metres, on the Argos Distribution Centre, Castlegate, Wolverhampton.The facility, operated on behalf of Argos by Wincanton, had experienced severe storm water ingress due to the overwhelming of the existing gutters and outlets, causing severe damage and disruption.The roof had been over-sheeted several years ago and the existing gutters were fitted with a continuous plastics liner at this time.This liner was not lying flat due to expansion and contraction problems, leaving raised areas within the gutter, further reducing the available capacity and contributing to the problems being experienced.Ampteam Limited along with rainwater drainage experts CRM Rainwater Drainage were invited to propose a solution to the problem.Survey and DesignFollowing a survey by Ampteam and CRM, a design solution was provided for the gutters.As the existing gutter had insufficient capacity and any modification to the roof at the eaves position to enlarge the gutter was not an option, the design solution required the use of all of the available space within the eaves cavity.The situation was complicated by the need to control works on the asbestos cement gutters on a building constantly in use. This in turn meant that no extra outlets could be introduced and the existing outlets could not be enlarged.The solution involved the installation of a multi-hinged Unifold gutter, fitted and sealed to the underside of the roof sheet in order to maximise the gutter capacity, combined with specially designed siphonic outlets. As the eaves conditions varied along the gutter runs and within each gutter and access was tight, the UNIFOLD® was supplied with 7no hinges.This facilitated relatively easy installation in very difficult circumstances.Siphonic OutletsThe UNIFOLD® gutter was also provided with factory fabricated side boxes to house the unique siphonic outlets that were designed and tested by Dr Malcolm Wearing of CRM Rainwater Drainage.Although the capacity of the gutters had been increased to the maximum given the existing roof conditions, these siphonic outlets, manufactured and installed by Aquaphonixs Limited, were essential to improve the drainage performance of the existing outlets and to allow the system to function without any additional outlets.Fan shaped, semi-circular siphonic outlets with an offset 100mm diameter tailpipe were specially designed to fit inside the UNIFOLD® side boxes and into the existing 150mm diameter outlets.The siphonic outlet tailpipes were connected to flexible tubes, sleeved into the existing plastic downpipes.The custom made outlets were optimised and tested in laboratory conditions and proved to provide a capacity of over 27litres/second, ten times the capacity of a standard 100mm diameter outlet.Calculations to prove the design solutions of both Unifold gutters and siphonic outlets were provided by CRM Rainwater Drainage.InstallationThe UNIFOLD® gutter system was installed by approved contractors Traditional Structures Limited who, due to the relative complexity of the contract, originally forecast a period of 7 weeks to complete the installation.First class organisation, excellent site personnel and attention to detail by both Traditional Structures and Ampteam Limited meant that the installation was completed in just over 4 weeks with no disruption to processes within the building.

210 Metres of Unifold Gutters was installed at the DHL Supply Chain, Barming Depot in Aylesford.Installed by Blenheim Roofing, the project was a full strip & re-sheet of an asbestos cement roof.During initial surveys it was discovered that historically, the existing asbestos gutters were prone to leaks and overflow issues into the building.Unifold was not only used to line the gutters to cure the leaks but also increase the capacity.

Ampteam Limited, were asked to provide a UNIFOLD® scheme for the conversion of level gutters, serving the central roof area of the building, to falls conditions, with a brief to eliminate standing water and leaks which had plagued the building for some time.Some 900 metres of valley gutters serving four separate Atrium roof areas in banks of six, which in turn are served by 5 metre wide valley gutter sections serving as Access and escape link bridges, were requested to be converted from level to laid to falls.Lower valley gutter bounding the periphery of the roof area serve and discharge the main roof area via 5 metre wide chutes from the escape link bridges. Positioned in the less sensitive areas, these were allowed to be laid level, although their existing holding capacity has been improved.The existing roof and gutter areas had initially received a PVC membrane when built. This, however, was patched in many areas and showing signs of deterioration. There were many concerns about the continued longevity of this installation.UNIFOLD® Gutter Lining System was chosen for its versatility, unfailing ability to replicate existing systems, provide falls conditions in level gutters and its long life. The system is also guaranteed for 20 years.Tapered Cork insulation was chosen to provide the base for the gutters and this was supplied in cut sets. The fall ratio was based on a minimum of 1:150. The Unifold gutters were purpose made to suit the falls ratio and provided in numbered sets to suit the individual gutters.Full site information was provided including schemes of falls, laying sequences and special details and instructions. In all, more than 50 separate drawings were issued to site. In accordance with Ampteam policy, all fabrication was factory manufactured and sealed prior to delivery to site. This ensures complete installation quality and integrity. The valley gutters serving the central Glazed Atrium roof areas were installed first. These comprised an apex at the central position of the gutters with falls arranged down to discharge ends at the Escape Link Bridges.As the glazed Atrium roof was above a sensitive area, no weekday work was allowed.Friday deliveries were permitted but all work was conducted during weekends.The end Atrium Roof area valley gutters were single fall from a transverse gutter at the outer perimeter edge.Access into the transverse gutter was extremely tight and normal joints could not be made so sections of UNIFOLD® were supplied to span individual Atrium ends and joins were made at the junctions with the valley gutters via factory manufactured tees, using UNIFOLD® patented clip joints.The existing transverse gutters were already higher than the valley gutters to aid discharge, but in order to create the necessary falls the UNIFOLD® transverse liner was lifted sufficiently to provide the required falls for the valley gutters.There was space to achieve this condition without compromising the capacity of the original transverse gutters.

More than 150 metres of UNIFOLD® was installed at HM Land Registry, Coventry.This installation utilized the UNIFOLD® patented clip-joint system designed to allow joints to be competently and successfully completed behind obstructions and where access is particularly difficult.The existing gutter systems installed on the roof of the building were manufactured from GRP (Glass Reinforced Polyester).The GRP gutter joints had broken down due to thermal movement, for which this material is particularly prone.In order to ensure the integrity of the lining, system expansion joints were strategically introduced to induce Unifold to move in complete unison with the gutters beneath.This was the second HM Land Registry building to receive UNIFOLD®. The previous installation was in Leicester.