Welcome to Family Roofing

What is a Downspout?

Your gutter system consist of gutters and downspouts.  The gutters are the horizontal trough that collects the water on the sides of your roofing edge.  The downspouts are the vertical pipe that carries the water from the gutter to the ground.

Downspouts come in all different shapes and sizes, but they all perform the same task.  Getting the water to the ground.  Most homes have 2×3″ rectangle downspouts, or 3×4″ rectangle downspouts.  We just call them downspouts.  However, some homes will have circular downspouts which are called “round downspouts“.  They come in different sizes from 3″ up to 6″, with 4” being the most common.  Lastly large commercial buildings will often have square shaped downspouts which are called “square downspouts”.

What is a Downspout Clog?

Downspouts are the only way for the water to drain through your gutter system.  Meaning all the water that lands on the roof goes into the gutter which drains down and out via the downspouts.  Basically, it is the only road through which all water must travel to drain.

When debris goes into the gutters it eventually flushes through the downspouts.  However once something becomes lodged inside the downspout it begins to form a blockade.  Water is still able to pass but eventually more and more debris will get snagged up and a clog forms. A downspout clog is when the water no longer flows through the downspout.

Signs of Clogged Downspout

There is one key point to remember when it comes to gutter problems.  You won’t be able to know there is an issue if you do not check the gutter system during rain. Especially downspout clogs.  Since the debris gets lodged inside of the downspout you are not able to see it.

Gutter Overflowing Near Downspout

One of the first signs people often notice that they have a downspout clog, is when the water overflows the gutter nearby.  If you have water going over the gutter directly near the downspout, then you likely have a clogged downspout.  The gutter could also be loose in that location, but you would see a gap behind the gutter.

Entire Gutter Overflowing

Whenever you have water overflowing your entire gutter system.  That is a for sure sign that you have clogged downspouts throughout your gutter system.  All that water has to go somewhere, and if the drain is plugged then it will eventually overflow.  If your gutters are completely filled with water like this, they are pulling themselves loose from the wall.  Therefore, if you see this happening, you’ll want to get the gutters cleaned before expensive damages occur.

No Waterflow Coming Out Of The Downspout

All water that lands on your roof will travel through the gutter system to where it drains out of the bottoms of the downspouts.  Unless you have underground drains you will be able to see all of the draining water.  But what does it mean if no water is coming through the downspout?  As you might have guessed it means the downspout is clogged.  If there is moderate rain and little-to-no water is coming through the downspout then something is up.  And that something is a clog in your downspout. Same as above, you would remedy this issue with a gutter cleaning. 

Downspout Leaks

Water can leak from the downspouts in several locations.  The place where the gutter and downspout meet is called the gutter outlet.  Basically the gutter has a hole cut in it and an outlet is installed. Once the downspout is properly connected to the outlet with a couple screws the outlet is no longer visible.  Water leaking from the gutter outlet is very common and it mean’s only one thing.  There is a gutter clog in the downspout below.  Most clogs in the downspout occur in or near the elbows.  The debris tends to get caught up in the twists and turns. Therefore if the outlet is leaking and it’s near an elbow, there is a clog in that elbow.

Water Leaking From Downspout Seams

Sleeve style downspout sections tend to become thinner on one end and slide into the next section.  Water can leak from any of these seams.  Especially if any sections were sleeved the wrong direction.  When something is sleeved in the wrong direction, that means the thinner section is pointed up instead of down.

Water Leaking From Elbows

As you may have guessed water leaking from the elbows is also an indication of clogs in the downspout elbows.  However sometimes the elbows weren’t pushed back together tight enough last time they were cleaned.  If you can see any sort of gap or if the water is pouring through the elbows then it may be loose and need to be pushed back together or re-secured.

Downspout Splitting Open/Pulling Apart

Downspouts essentially are a single sheet of aluminum folder over and crimped together.  The crimp seal is always installed facing the home. therefore you never see it because it’s on the back side of the gutter.  When the downspouts become clogged and are left unchecked for a long time more and more debris stacks up in there. Overtime from more and more rain and debris everything gets compacted.  The gutters will be overflowing every time it rains at this point because absolutely no water gets through.