In the past, a combination of low-pitched roofs, large box gutters, and leaves from thick bushland and trees on the university grounds had caused severe gutter blockages. In turn, this led to water back-up, inundation and major flood damage to campus buildings and equipment.
To avoid the risks of repeat flood damage, university maintenance staff often undertook the dangerous task of gutter cleaning. However, this created serious occupational health and safety concerns and was not a viable long-term solution.
Blue Mountain Co’s ember guard compliant 2mm Steel gutter mesh seemed like the natural choice to dramatically reduce the threat posed by bushfire and reduce the maintenance burden of leaf-clogged gutters.
However, several older, established buildings on the university grounds had copper guttering. This posed two key challenges: avoiding accelerated corrosion and rusting from joining dissimilar metals, and ensuring the mesh blended with the gutters from an aesthetic point of view.
Solution
Blue Mountain Co invested significant time in understanding the corrosion threat in this situation in order to develop an installation method that would not threaten the copper gutters’ lifespan.
This allowed the university to install our 2mm Steel gutter mesh as originally planned.
Since installing the gutter mesh over their gutters, Murdoch University has lowered the costs and risks of maintenance, boosted maintenance staff productivity and reduced the threat of fire and flooding around their campus.
Location
Perth, Western Australia
Gutter Length
- 4.562 kilometres
Timeframe
- 10 Weeks
Roof and gutter types
- Corrugated roof
- Trimdek® roof
- COLORBOND® gutters
- Copper gutters
Solution
- 2mm Steel gutter mesh from Blue Mountain Co
Outcomes
- Aesthetically blended appearance
- Reduced fire risk
- Reduced maintenance time
- Reduced OHS risks
- Reduced flood risk
- Reduced vegetation build-up
