Categories: Roofing

The Importance of Proper Downspout Placement

A properly installed gutter system helps ensure your home’s protection from the damaging effects of moisture. However, there’s one crucial factor you shouldn’t overlook: proper downspout placement.

The Role of Downspouts

Downspouts play an essential role in diverting the rainwater or melted snow in your gutters away from your home. Proper placement of these features is imperative to prevent a slew of problems like foundation cracks, basement flooding, soil saturation and erosion, and damage to your home’s exterior components.

Downspout placement can also affect your home’s appearance. If they’re added without giving much thought, they can detract from your property’s curb appeal. Ideally, downspouts need to be placed in a discrete location. In other words, they shouldn’t be installed in areas where they may be visible like your home’s façade or next to the porch.

General Rules for Proper Downspout Placement

Contractors like us make sure to follow certain guidelines for proper downspout placement. For instance, one downspout should be installed every 40 feet of gutter trough to ensure adequate drainage and water runoff distribution to different channels. Multiple downspouts help prevent gutters from overflowing during a heavy downpour.

The endpoint of a downspout where water comes out shouldn’t be close to your home and its foundations. Walkways or paving stones should be properly pitched away from your home’s exterior walls to keep water from backing up and seeping through the soil. Otherwise, water can find its way into the cracks in your basement through hydrostatic pressure, causing flooding.

When installing a gutter system, talk to your contractor about adding extensions to the ends of your downspouts. These should be long enough to move the discharge point of water at least four feet away from your home. Alternatively, the end of the downspout can be attached to an underground pipe routed to your yard or storm sewer.

From replacing old gutters to a new installation, The Badger Company can work with you to implement a solution that meets your needs. We also offer commercial siding and residential roofing services. Call (608) 850-6282, or fill out our contact form to request a free estimate.

Kris Laufenberg

Recent Posts

What to Expect When You’re Having Your Siding Replaced

Deciding to replace the siding on your home is a significant investment that can dramatically…

2 weeks ago

The Importance of a Good Roofing Warranty

When it comes to protecting your home, there are few components as critical as your…

3 weeks ago

Ways Your Old Gutters Are Damaging Your Home

Gutters play a crucial role in protecting your Waunakee, WI, home from water damage. Their…

4 weeks ago

Is Winter-Related Roofing Damage Covered by Homeowners Insurance?

The cold winter months can be particularly harsh on your home's exterior, especially your roof.…

1 month ago

What Can Happen When You Choose DIY Roofing?

Choosing to take on a DIY roofing project in Waunakee, WI, or the surrounding areas…

1 month ago

How to Prevent Premature Gutter Failure

Gutters serve as the silent protectors of your home, directing water away from your foundation…

2 months ago