# In which Rocketeer feels pretty darn clever **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 15, 2019, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-rocketeer-feels-pretty-darn-clever/838710 "2019-08-15T20:48:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-rocketeer-feels-pretty-darn-clever/838710/1 "2019-08-15T20:48:31Z")
“Oh, by the way,” **Mrs R** said to me, with that tone she has when disclosing a minor disaster, “I was messing with the downspout at the back of the house and the lower part fell off and fell down the hole.” I went out to look over the situation. The downspouts at the back of the house are of unusual length, so the lowest two feet or so are a separate section, pushed over the end of the upper piece. The lower two-foot section had popped off and dropped into the footing drain, which runs vertically down into the ground for about four feet and tees into a horizontal section which collects all the downspout water and routes it off to places unknown. Poking a flashlight down the hole, I could just barely see the downspout section, down at the bottom. I didn’t want to leave it there, lest it block the flow of water to places unknown. But how to get it out? It wasn’t magnetic, so I couldn’t go fishing with a big magnet. Finally i had an inspiration. I got a piece of electrical conduit (well, actually, a defunct flagstaff made of conduit) long enough to reach the errant downspout section. Then I got out my butyl tape. I don’t know if you’re familiar with butyl tape, but it’s a sort of sticky rubber stuff, sold as a flat strip, coiled with paper between the turns, used to mount windows in RVs. I wrapped the end of the flagpole with butyl tape, kneading it into a sticky ball. Then I went fishing. I was able to insert the end of the flagpole into the errant bit of downspout, then press the sticky ball against its inner surface. A little gingerly hand-over-hand lifting, and voila! The downspout appeared. It’s back in place now, secured with a screw. And I’m feelin’ obnoxiously pleased with myself. Tomorrow I’m going to walk around the house with a handful of screws, and secure all the downspout lower sections. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-rocketeer-feels-pretty-darn-clever/838710/2 "2019-08-15T21:55:28Z")
Smart! ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-rocketeer-feels-pretty-darn-clever/838710/3 "2019-08-15T22:17:11Z")
Bravo for your ingenuity! Now you can come here and fix all the little things in our house. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-rocketeer-feels-pretty-darn-clever/838710/4 "2019-08-15T22:33:12Z")
Very smart! And the screws are a good idea. I have plastic accordion-style flexible attachments to my downspouts to direct water well away from the house, and though they’re supposed to be friction-fit, each is held in place with a single sheet-metal screw. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-rocketeer-feels-pretty-darn-clever/838710/5 "2019-08-15T22:37:17Z")
Well done! Now I’m curious how that stuff down below never gets clogged. Over the decades, wouldn’t all kinds of debris go around the sides of the downspout and eventually fill the underground secret drainage pipe? ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-rocketeer-feels-pretty-darn-clever/838710/6 "2019-08-15T23:11:28Z")
Well, yeah, but the tops of the downspouts have screens over them to keep debris out. Our joke is that every time it rains, I have to go up on the roof to clean them. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-rocketeer-feels-pretty-darn-clever/838710/7 "2019-08-16T00:33:11Z")
We had a well opened once and a feral stray cat jumped in. Long drop, small splash and then howling. Mr.Wrekker sent me running for a pillow and he tied it to a rope and put it down the well. That kitten jumped on with all claws and hung on all the way up. Best save I’ve ever seen. That is now our barn cat Sissy. She might be a boy. Were not sure. She’s almost 10yo. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-rocketeer-feels-pretty-darn-clever/838710/8 "2019-08-16T01:22:15Z")
OK \*\*Beckdawrek \*\*I love all your stories esp the ones about cats but this is the BEST YET. **Rocketeer** ’s story is pretty good, too. Thanks both of you. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-rocketeer-feels-pretty-darn-clever/838710/9 "2019-08-16T01:42:08Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > OK \*\*Beckdawrek \*\*I love all your stories esp the ones about cats but this is the BEST YET. **Rocketeer** ’s story is pretty good, too. Thanks both of you. It is legend among the country folk around here. Around deer camp fires it is told and appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Jumpbass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jumpbass/32/147_2.png) [@Jumpbass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jumpbass)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-rocketeer-feels-pretty-darn-clever/838710/10 "2019-08-16T15:52:17Z")
I just discovered butyl tape. It wasn’t labeled as such, but that’s what it is. Great stuff, super sticky. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-rocketeer-feels-pretty-darn-clever/838710/11 "2019-08-16T16:30:52Z")
A followup: I walked around the house today, and all the downspouts’ lower sections were secured already; the roofing company must’ve missed just the one **Mrs R** was messin’ with. So I feel better about their competence. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-rocketeer-feels-pretty-darn-clever/838710/12 "2019-08-16T17:03:43Z")
I went around and checked mine too. They all have clips holding them on. My down spouts are just directing water away from the foundation. Not down to an underground place. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-rocketeer-feels-pretty-darn-clever/838710/13 "2019-08-16T17:56:16Z")
_Along came a Rocketeer to retrieve a water spout, It had fallen down the drain and didn’t want to come out He stuck it with a pointy stick and brought it out the drain He attached it to the pipe and never had to do it again._