Frozen Gutter Downspout

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.

Frozen gutter downspout.

Frozen downspouts can cause costly damage. Unfortunately dealing with frozen gutters is rarely simple or inexpensive. First resist the urge to go after the ice with a hammer or axe. Once the ice has melted it will drop the remaining ice through the spout.

There is a chance of ruining the downspout no matter what method you use to thaw it. In the recent storm the heavy wet snow was enough to block water flow at the bottom if the ends weren t shoveled clear. Because of the thawing and refreezing this week downspouts also froze up at the elbows. However consistently frozen or frozen solid downspouts may require immediate attention especially if weather conditions will be less than ideal for the foreseeable future.

Consistently frozen downspouts require immediate attention. If there is a large amount of snow on the ground that is covering the bottom mouth of the downspout. 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.

Downspouts freeze quickly if the water flow is stopped somewhere along the way. Over time the ice can back up into your gutters creating additional weight on your entire gutter system. 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. It will cause your downspouts to freeze.

Frozen downspouts occur during the winter during or after winter weather occurs. There are a few likely scenarios that can cause ice accumulation in downspouts. Personally i would leave it if it s already frozen.