Frozen Downspout
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…
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?
I just dealt with this exact problem last night. Ice dam in the downspout off a two story extension had backed up into the ceiling of the bedroom below. Total nightmare. I opened it back up by carefully hammering the ice out of the downspout and then running hot water via hose from the upstairs sink. Not an easy job at all. Once the pipe opened up, the water on the roof was able to drain, and then I just broke up the ice and shoveled it into the back yard. It had occurred once before, when a big snowfall melted and then froze into an ice dam. Best method for the future is preventative: shovel the snow off the roof as soon as it falls.
This happens on my roof and depending on conditions can create an ice dam that backs up and comes through the ceiling in my bath and master bedroom.
I bungie a MAPP torch to a stick and lean out the bathroom window for half an hour or so. Get the flame close but don’t let it hit one place for very long–it can burn through the gutter/leader.
I usually start on the leader below where I think the ice is solid, and heat it moving up, filling the leader with steam from the melted water. I don’t get it all melted, but if you can free up a gap at the gutter/leader intersection it helps alot.
Electric blankets?
Your probably don’t need to thaw all the ice in the leader, just enough to get the water flowing (particularly on a day like today).
Thanks jock, sounds like a good option but just getting the wire wrapped tightly enough is going to be one scary operation anywhere above the 17′ ladder I have.
Steve, I been asking my wife to allow me to buy an arc welder for a while, this may just be the arguement. She just took out a big insurance policy on me and high voltage electricity and water together might just get her that house in france she’s after.
Goatcrapp: Sections are too long and and they’re frozen solid inside (so they are real heavy) with about another 1/2″ of ice coating the outside.
how big are the sections? They are usually thin-walled aluminum and should be pretty easy to separate. A hair dryer will work, but if its a lot of ice, it might be easier just to separate the sections and sit them inside your tub for a while… this would also allow you access to the clog so the problem can be avoided.
Tomorrow’s temps are supposed to rise above freezing, but you’ll be dealing with a wintry mix of snow and rain, so there’ll be some new puddling to worry about.
this is going to sound off-the-wall, but if you can find someone with an arc welder, they can connect one electrode to one end and one to the other, and it will heat that downspout, thawing the ice fast. I’ve seen this done with exposed water pipes in the southeastern US, where they don’t ever worry about pipes freezing until it is too late.
Steve
Go to Home Depot, they sell a heating wire to wrap around frozen pipes. The problem is that it sounds like the entire pipe is filled with frozen water. For future use, there are companies that sell a heated line to run down the inside of the pipe to keep it from freezing like that.
Thanks, I might try a heat gun or hairdryer. But looking at the length of leader x area of the pipe = a lot of ice. I figured I’ll be standing out there until spring. I might try rigging up a hose from the basement slop sink to run hot water on it. The downside of course is that all this water will eventually freeze on the ground.
Sticker: If you dont have any water coming in you can probably wait until it thaws until you fix the problem.
I used ask myself these very questions everytime it snowed. I’ve concluded that pouring hot water is probably not the answer because if the spout is frozen, then there is probably a good chance some of the water would flow back into the house. In my house water sometimes comes in if the temperature rises too quickjy and the ice melts faster on the top of the roof than in the leader.
I have easy access to the middle of the leader from a 2nd floor window and have considered using a hairdryer to thaw a section of the leader. I’ve never done it because the leader continues along 20 feet along a flat roof and I figure the mted water would only get stuck somewhere else along the frozen leader.
In the end the water in the leaders always melt and.98 percent of the time no water enters the house.
Don’t be tempted to pour rock salt down the leader. A friend did that and ruined his leader.
BTW it took me a winter to not stress the frozen leaders.