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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   908 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for April 19, 2026

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My one gutter downspout is clogged. My ladder isn't tall enough to reach that corner, and my usual gutter guy retired on short notice this year. The downspout connects directly to an old pipe and has concrete poured around it. Even with an extended pole I can't go in through the top because it has gutter guards. All the other services in the area either aren't calling back or are booked til mid summer.

I'd like to try and clean it out, but my only ideas right now are to buy a large and expensive ladder, or to try and find a point where I can take the downspout apart and come in from the bottom.

Do any of you have ideas?

or to try and find a point where I can take the downspout apart and come in from the bottom.

Cut the gutter downspout near the ground, feed a high pressure hose up to the top and clear it out, and then reattach the downspout with a downspout adapter or attachment kit to whatever is feeding into the cemented ground. At my house, I installed downspout to pipe adapters which feed into pipes cemented into the ground and then go out to drain away specifically for this purpose. I can unscrew the downspout and slightly bend it out, feed hoses up to the top, and then just reattach them.

It'll be like a plumbing cleanout going forward.

I had a similar project once, this makes sense to me. You can use heat shrink over the joint if you're having trouble getting it to seal.

This sounds like it has a lot of promise. Can you provide a link to what you mean when you say downspout adapter? I have a huge gap in my handyman skills when it comes to this kind of thing.

Something like this or this depending on what is going into the ground. Mine is a pipe so I used something like the first one.

I used wide tape and a hacksaw to make sure the cut was straight and not jagged (and not sharp). After the repair, spray water on your roof to make sure there isn't leaking near the ground around the adapter as keeping water away from the foundation is the entire reason gutters and downspouts exist in the first place.

Thanks!

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