Forum Archive: Posts by: HDL

This past weekend we noticed a leak coming in from above the rear corner window molding on our top floor. When I got up on the roof. I discovered a partially frozen pond where the corner drain leading to the downspout is. I chopped up the ice, shoveled off the surrounding snow and baled the remaining water and the leaking stopped. When I poked my head over the roofs edge I noticed a waterfall of ice under the eave and surrounding the downspout all the way to the ground. When I went into the backyard and tapped on the downspout it was apparent that it was entirely filled and frozen solid with ice. So I’m guessing that there must be a clog, probably a clump of leaves at the junction where the downspout narrows and enters the cast Iron pipe that goes into the ground and ultimately connects to our sanitary drain inside our basement. How do I unfreeze the downspout so I can get to the clog. I don’t see a long enough break in the weather for thawing to occur naturally. Hauling hot water up to the roof is I guess a solution but not a desireable option. Does anyone know of someone that resolves this kind of thing. Additionally there must be a point near the transition from roof drain to downspout where the overflowing water was entering. How do you even get access to that at this time of year?

If I were to install a sump pump system in my brownstone basement where do I discharge the collected water? Could I use a check valve and combine it with the sanitary before the house trap. I know this is not allowed in some municipalities but my roof drain does this already. The house is a corner house so I could pump it up above grade and out through the foundation wall. There is about 4 feet of planted space before the sidewalk but I can’t imagine discharging it onto the sidewalk is allowed and dumping it into the planted zone probably doesn’t get it far enough from the house to do much good. Master plumber are you there?