Frozen downspouts?

Question

Is there anything I can do now (still below freezing here) to thaw my down spouts? They drain to an underground system and what little water has moved through them has spilled out next to the house and luckily, frozen.

Answer 1

they sell a long wire used to thaw gutters in the winter so they do not freeze with ice. I use it for the pipe on my sump pump tube that goes outside. you plug it in an outlet and run the waterproof heated wire wherever you want. works well! comes in 10-100' sizes!

Answer 2

Frozen Downspouts

Answer 3

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RE:
Frozen downspouts?
Is there anything I can do now (still below freezing here) to thaw my down spouts? They drain to an underground system and what little water has moved through them has spilled out next to the house and luckily, frozen.

Answer 4

My guess, your in ground system froze first and then the water backed up in your down spout. Think about it, water falling straight down will not freeze as fast as slow moving water.

I would suggest you use a torch, or a hair dryer, or hook you garden hose to a hot water picket, and melt the ice at the groound level, disconnect you down spout and let it drain on top of the ground. If your down spout is frozen from the bottom to the top, best you forget attempting to thaw it, not at below freezing temp. If the temp get up in the low 40`s you might be able to speed things up some with the hair dryer or the garden hose.

I just had another thought, you might ought to take the down spout loose at the gutter. Your gutter is probably full of ice too. If there is still snow on your roof, make every attempt to get the gutter open. Melting snow water loves to back up under your shingles, and all of sudden appear in your living room ceiling. This makes Mommy un happy, and you know what happens to the rest of the people when this happen. All of sudden you are talking about important money.

Answer 5

I would suggest redirecting the water that does come out. That would be my worry, when it starts thawing....! Proactive baby! Thaw with hot water or torch (carefully) small area of lower end of downspout and disconnect from underground so you are not liable for flooding the neighbor. Redirect.

Answer 6

I don't think there's anything you can do about it. Besides, when the weather is warm enough for water to be flowing, the ice will melt on it's own.

Answer 7

They're probably frozen at ground level. See if you can disconnect them at ground level for the winter.

Answer 8

drop a cup of ice melt in the down spout. it will melt it's way down. Don't get on a ladder.

Answer 9

use a common hair dryer, or a heat gun set on the lowest setting.