Enough downspouts, in the right places, sized for your roof and carried far enough from the house to protect the foundation.
A gutter is only a trough; the downspout is the drain. Too few downspouts and the gutter overflows in a cloudburst. A downspout that ends at the foundation puts every gallon from that roof section against your basement wall, and in Utah’s clay soils that water has nowhere to go but in. Most of the foundation, window-well and basement moisture calls we get trace back to a downspout that is missing, undersized, crushed or dumping in the wrong spot.
SwiftHand Gutters installs and replaces downspouts as part of every gutter system and as a stand-alone service. We size them to the roof area (2×3 inch for most 5-inch gutters, 3×4 inch for 6-inch gutters and large roof sections), place them where the gutter naturally drains, and finish every one with an extension, splash block or underground line that moves water at least four to six feet from the house.
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The rule of thumb is one downspout for every 30 to 40 feet of gutter, and one 2×3 downspout for roughly 600 square feet of roof (about 1,200 square feet for a 3×4). A steep roof, a valley that concentrates water into one gutter section, or a bench-area home that sees heavy melt all push the number up. We calculate it run by run rather than guessing, and adding a downspout is one of the cheapest fixes in the gutter business.
A new or replacement downspout with elbows, straps and an extension typically costs $100 to $175 installed. Upsizing to 3×4 adds a little for the larger outlet. Extensions and splash blocks are $25 to $75 each, and underground drain lines are quoted by the foot.
Clay soil, walk-out basements and window wells make the Wasatch Front unusually sensitive to where roof water lands. We treat downspouts as drainage, not decoration.
We calculate roof area per downspout instead of copying whatever the last installer did.
Every downspout ends four to six feet out, in a splash block, an extension or a buried line.
Downspouts, elbows and straps in the same factory color as your gutters.
Downspout heat tape available so drains keep flowing through January.
Usually a clog at the elbow or in the underground line. We clear it and check that the outlet in the gutter is the right size.
Only into a proper buried line with a pop-up emitter or dry well. Downspouts pushed into a corrugated pipe that ends nowhere are a common source of foundation moisture.
Yes. We re-pitch the gutter toward the new location, install a new outlet and seal the old one.
A 3×4 carries nearly twice the water and clogs less. We use it on 6-inch gutters, large roof sections and homes that overflow during spring melt.
Yes, on covered porches and entries where the volume is modest. They are not a replacement for downspouts on main roof sections.
Buried lines with pop-up emitters keep the yard clean. Hinged extensions fold up for mowing.
