Frozen Gutters And Downspouts

While frozen gutters and downspouts may lead to water damage from ice dams or from gutters pulling away from the roof the solution can be as bad as the potential problems.

Frozen gutters and downspouts.

Before winter strikes adjust the slope of your gutters if needed. If there is a large amount of snow on the ground that is covering the bottom mouth of the downspout. Highly rated gutter pros tell our team that they see lots of damage in spring from homeowners who tried to remove winter ice with picks shovels or axes. Rain gutters should slope 1 2 inch for every 10 feet.

Before winter fully sets in it s important to ensure that your gutters and downspouts can handle melting snow and ice. Some say just leave it alone. If your gutters sit flat water will just sit in the gutter and freeze. Although calgary has already had a taste of winter there s still time to clear your gutters and downspouts of fall leaves to that they can do their job of moving water runoff away from your home properly.

First resist the urge to go after the ice with a hammer or axe. Yet another recommends running electrical heat tape to prevent melting. That allows water to easily flow to the downspout. The downspout is responsible for taking the water collected by the gutters and dispersing it out and away from the home s foundation.

Over time the ice may back up into your gutters themselves thereby creating extra weight on your entire guttering system. It will cause your downspouts to freeze. Others recommend taking ice melt to the gutters see below a few say heat the gutters to clear them. Frozen downspouts can cause costly damage however consistently frozen or frozen solid downspouts may require immediate attention especially if weather conditions will be less than ideal for the foreseeable future.

On line advice about frozen downspouts varies. In order to thaw your frozen downspout you must do the following. One recommends whacking the gutter from an upstairs window with a baseball bat. Frozen downspouts occur during the winter during or after winter weather occurs.

Make sure your gutters are properly sloped. Unfortunately dealing with frozen gutters is rarely simple or inexpensive. Use heat tape or a heating panel system. There are a few likely scenarios that can cause ice accumulation in downspouts.

Here are some things you can do to prevent ice in gutters and downspouts.