Hi Rocketeer. Mine happened two days ago.
When the new downspout from the garage roof was installed, it was fixed so that the lower end abuts the drain cover face-on. The effect is that the drain cover pretty much caps the downspout – and so once you get leaves and moss off the roof going down the pipe, they catch on the draincover, and a plug forms in the pipe. And builds up.
I have inertia over these things. For months now the downspout has been blocked so that water overflows the guttering every time it rains. It rained heavily on Wednesday, so much that I was finally pissed off enough to actually do something about it. In the pouring rain and with the guttering overflowing all around me, armed with a hacksaw, I cut the bottom of the downspout off at 45 degrees; the back still reaches to the drain cover, but now I can get a screwdriver in from the front to remove the blockage.
Picking about, that plug of well-rotted moss and leaves moved really rather easily. And yes, I was congratulating myself on how well it was all working - I had even remembered to cover the drain so that big chunks of plug didn’t fall down it. What I had not accounted for was the fact that the ten foot long downspout was full of water pushing the plug out; that’s plenty of water pressure, not to mention the yards of full guttering also waiting to empty out. When the plug gave way – well, the water came out. Fast.
There was a lot of water. But it didn’t go everywhere, because I stopped most of it. Mrs Trep, who was present in her usual advisor capacity, was full of sympathy. You could tell because she eventually stopped laughing.
The downspout is working fine now, thanks for asking.
j
