Where there is rain, there is water...bring on the down pipes

This week on stuff, I'm talking about cladding. Getting it finished, finally! It means that we are in a mad rush to finish off the outside of the building completely so we can get the scaffolding down. All that scaffolding stuff is booked out on a per week basis, and those weeks are mounting up...along with the bill. 
One outside job we haven't quite been able to work with corrugate, has been the down pipes to take all that water our roof will produce away (and into tanks). There are options in steel but they don't come in the right size for our capacity, and we because the water tank is above floor level, the down pipes need to hold water (not something that's so good in steel). So instead we're using good old PVC. Trouble is, there are a lovely range of colours available, just not black... Given the whole house is black, except for the splash of cedar, it seemed odd to suddenly have something else in the mix, and when you hold the nearest colour (ironsand) next to the black, well, it's not black, is it. Anyone say #firstworldproblems?
There is good reason that PVC drainpipes don't come in black, says Mr BuildingBoxes. Sun equals heat, equals movement in PVC, equals issues with the joins, and stability of those precious down pipes. Of course for us, given the down pipes we're talking about are on the southside, it's not really a problem, but still, no premade black PVC down pipes for us, or you.
Still, if you've paid all that money for the house to look sleek in black, you want it looking sleek and black. Solution? Mr BuildingBoxes and his spray gun. The trick to getting such an even finish, he tells me, is to go at it with long even waves of your spray gun, you're painting after all, so do it in strokes, with a steady hand and at an even distance. Don't, however, balance your newly painted drainpipes precariously and let them fall to the hard, unyielding garage floor. Because they will smash. And you will have to glue that smashed piece back in, sand the crap out of all the sealant you put in to put the puppy back together, and then paint it all over again. Just saying...

Mr BuildingBoxes mid spray

Samples of the colours available in PVC