Frozen Gutter Downspout

In the recent storm the heavy wet snow was enough to block water flow at the bottom if the ends weren t shoveled clear.

Frozen gutter downspout.

Because of the thawing and refreezing this week downspouts also froze up at the elbows. Unfortunately dealing with frozen gutters is rarely simple or inexpensive. If your spouts are underground you will want to detach the portion of the above grade downspout with a screwdriver first otherwise the ice will just sink below grade and you will have to dig it up. Once the ice has melted it will drop the remaining ice through the spout.

If the frozen portion of your downspout is on the ground level and if it is near an outlet you can simply plug in your hairdryer to an extension cord and warm up the portion of the downspout that has become frozen. Downspouts freeze quickly if the water flow is stopped somewhere along the way. When winter storms hit gutters and downspouts sometimes freeze into solid blocks of ice and homeowners understandably worry about gutters pulling away from the roofs or ice dams forming. If you get a slug of ice or water to suddenly drop in it.

This can lead to your gutter and downspout tearing away from your roof or siding leading to more costly and larger problems such as water leaks and improper drainage. However consistently frozen or frozen solid downspouts may require immediate attention especially if weather conditions will be less than ideal for the foreseeable future. Over time the ice can back up into your gutters creating additional weight on your entire gutter system. Over time the ice may back up into your gutters themselves thereby creating extra weight on your entire guttering system.

First resist the urge to go after the ice with a hammer or axe. 1 pour hot water full hot from the tap in the gutter and to get the downspout started if frozen solid at any point fill top with hot water to full then pour hot water on one side of outside of downspout to melt a small channel inside the pipe for the water from the top to start running down usually will only take 1 2 gallons of hot water dribbled down the outside to thaw enough interior channel to start flow then you can add hot water from top to melt out the rest. Personally i would leave it if it s already frozen. Frozen downspouts can cause costly damage.

Frozen downspouts occur during the winter during or after winter weather occurs. If there is a large amount of snow on the ground that is covering the bottom mouth of the downspout. There are a few likely scenarios that can cause ice accumulation in downspouts.