Your downspouts are the part of your gutter system that funnel water from your gutters (the part that hang on the edge of your roof) down to the ground. They assist in moving water from your rooftop away from your house’s foundation, and out into the yard where it can drain properly and be absorbed by the grass, trees, and other plants in your yard and garden.
All too often, though, these downspouts can freeze. If this happens, the water stops moving properly through the downspouts, and can either back up all the way to the gutters, spilling over the edge and falling along the foundation of your home, or the backed up water can leak or burst through the seams in your downspouts, causing damage that can render your downspouts useless, even during non-frozen times. None of this is due to faulty design or installation of the downspout, usually. This is a natural occurrence. Water can collect in the joints (or elbows) of the downspouts, and if that water sits, it can easily ice over into compacted, frozen blockages. If there is any debris at all (especially partly decomposed leaves) inside the drainpipe, it can prevent the water from draining properly, and this too can freeze up.
Clogged Downspouts?
Much like a hardened artery in a human, these pipes can have their effective diameter shrink over time, especially and quickly during very cold times. As ice collects on the interior of the pipe, less water can pass through. Eventually, the pipe can clog entirely. Water cannot flow, and then you may get the gutter-drainage equivalent of a heart attack.
Another cause of these freezes is accumulated snow on the ground. At the point where the water reaches the end of the drainpipe and drains out onto the soil (or concrete), snow or slush may build up. When this happens, the rainwater cannot escape the downspout as easily. It freezes up, and the downspout backs up with trapped, still water. If you can keep that area below the downspout clear of accumulated snow, slush, leaves, and other debris, you will be doing yourself a favor.
If you have larger debris clogging your downspouts (such as branches, nuts, tennis balls, etc.) then the entire process is accelerated (and harder to clear).
How to Handle a Frozen Downspout
Resist the urge to climb up on a ladder and pour boiling water down your downspouts. Although there’s some logic to this approach, and it may even work every so often, it’s not the best plan. First of all, getting up on a ladder on an icy day with a bucket of boiling water is an idea so bad that we hope we don’t need to explain to you why. Secondly, it’s unlikely that your water will stay hot enough for long enough to actually free up the clog (which probably originates down near the bottom). You may be dealing with dozens of feet of ice in those downspouts, and it’s likely that you’re only going to melt the first few inches before it cools and starts to refreeze. Third, if your problem is more complex than just ice (if there’s something solid stuck down in there, for example) your hot water trick isn’t going to do anything. And finally, your gutters and downspouts aren’t designed to handle boiling water, so you can cause damage by exposing them to super hot water.
What you CAN do is to call your trusted local home exteriors company. A reputable, reliable company in your area that specializes in roofs, gutters, siding, etc. We know how to clear your frozen downspouts properly, without damage or injury. We’re here to help.
If you’re here in the Cincinnati area, call us. We’re your roofing, siding and gutter specialists at Harper Siding & Roofing. We can help with any of these issues. Our services are very affordable, we provide estimates to homeowners, and we’ve been providing top-notch gutter repair and service throughout the area for decades. We can help get your downspouts unstuck.