It all started during a heavy rainstorm. As the rain poured down the roof and filled the rain gutter in the front of the house, the water started to cascade over the gutters. Even though it was a 100-year rainfall, it was amazing how much water the gutter system could not handle.
We had the same problem in the back of the house about 10 years ago. This issue was prior to replacing our brick patio. The water flowed over the gutters and landed on the patio and ran down into the basement. The gutters could not handle the rain from half of the second story roof and half of the first story roof.
The builder had set up a drainage system so most of the rain gutter downspouts were connected to an underground piping that flowed to the sewer. I am not sure it was required by the city to minimize rain flowing to the backyard which sloped towards the house from the back of the lot. Nonetheless, I liked the system since I did not need any downspout extensions to remove when you cut the grass. There is one downspout that does not go into the drain system, as it handles about a quarter of the second story roof. There is a downspout extension, but fortunately it does not need to be removed to mow the lawn.
During this massive rainstorm, I went upstairs to a bedroom in front of the house and looked out the window to see why the gutters were overflowing. There were two mounds of granules from the shingles in the gutter. The mounds lined up with where the second story downspouts were located. The mounds created a dam that blocked the water from flowing towards the downspout on the other end of the gutter.
The following weekend, I got up on a ladder to remove these mounds of granules. In fact, I cleaned up the gutters in the front and back on the first floor. I should have done the second story, but I was done climbing extension ladders. And so far, those gutters were not the problem. The bottom of these gutters was full of these granules, and I was concerned I might be needing a new roof soon. That would definitely not be a DIY project.
I was fortunate to have had another downpour that week and I got to view the front gutter from the bedroom window. The gutters filled up and the water again poured over the gutter. Was the downspout clogged? Or was it the underground system?
Eventually, one weekend I took apart the downspout and it was clear. I ran a garden hose into the inlet of the underground system. Regrettably, I was unable to push the hose deeper into the pipe as there was a 90-degree connection about three feet down. I then turned on the water to the hose and ran it for over 15 minutes to see if the system would back up. And it did not. I do believe there are granules in the pipes, and it might restrict the flow of the water. I might need a plumber for that job.
I decided I needed to add another downspout to the rain gutter. About 10 years ago, I installed an additional downspout to the second story gutter to minimize the amount of rain flowing from the second floor to the first-floor roof. Especially since we were having water problems in the basement after a heavy rain, I thought this would help, and I believe it did. I did not immediately go out to get the supplies to add the downspout, but finally one weekend, I went to save big money and purchased what items I needed.
The following day, I was ready to tackle my next DIY project, adding a downspout. I collected all the pieces I needed to put together the downspout plus some caulking to seal up the outlet. I got up on the ladder and did some measurements to make sure the downspout would run down along the outside of the corner post on the front porch.
Once I had my location of the outlet from the gutter, I placed the outlet into the gutter, and guess what? It was too big. Since I was running the downspout along the side of the post and not in front, I needed to use the 3-inch side, not the four-inch side.
Because the helpful hardware folks had the one I needed, I went there to buy it. I would return the other one later.
Once I returned home, I dry-fitted the outlet, I had another dilemma. How was I going to make the hole in the rain gutter? I could not remember how I did it with the second story gutter. I think I had a 3-inch hole saw. But it was lost when my drill bag fell out of the car 2 years ago. I had tinsnips I could use, but I needed to get a starter hole first. I decided I would use my spade drill bits to put holes on the outer edges where the outlet would go.
Using the outlet as a template, I penciled an outline on the inside of the gutter. Taking in consideration of the 3/8” flange around the outlet, I started drilling several holes close to the edge of the outline. The bit worked great, and eventually I had removed most of the gutter. I took my tinsnips and cleaned up the edges, tried a couple of test fits, and the outlet was ready to be screwed down and caulked.
I put about six screws in and a good layer of caulk underneath, and the outlet was in place. I put a piece of the downspout over the outlet to check the fit, and I noticed that all the screws could be seen underneath the gutter. Out came the screws, and I installed them from the bottom. (Only the heads of these screws are painted white, so the thread part was a shiny aluminum.)
I dryfitted the pieces of the downspout. I needed a piece of the downspout to run from the gutter to the post connected by the angled pieces. The short piece of downspout I purchased was too short, so that would be returned. I cut a piece off the ten-foot downspout, and after multiple corrections, I finally got the size right. Fortunately, I did not cut it too short.
I need about a six-foot piece of the downspout to complete it. I cut it slightly oversized so I could line everything up, and make sure the downspout was plumb. I would trim it when I had everything in its place and screwed down. I dropped a few screws, which I knew were in short supply. Off the ladder I would go to hunt down the screws I dropped. Unfortunately, I ran out of screws, so I needed to go back to the store. I was able to get the downspout in place along with the plastic extension I purchased to have the water run away from the house. I was done, except for the screws.
After I returned from the store, I installed the remaining nine screws. (I bought 2 packs of 10 screws, just in case I lost any.) The project was done. I did lose a nut driver in the bushes, but besides a cut on my finger from the sharp edge of the rain gutter, the job went as well as I expected. Now I needed some rain to see if this new downspout would work.
