Here’s the scene: A light drizzly rain sets in overnight in Orlando. You settled into bed hours ago and are sleeping soundly, snuggled into your blankets dreaming pleasant dreams. Then, from the outside corner of your house, you hear it: a slow but steady plonk-plonk-plonk. A drip in your gutter! You try to go back to sleep, but the rain persists. So does the plonk-plonk-plonk. It’s enough to drive a drowsy home-owner to distraction!
If this scenario seems familiar to you, then you have known the madness-inducing sound of a gutter that isn’t draining quite right. It’s as if the gutter itself is calling out. “Fix. Me. Fix. Me. Fix. Me.” What is a silence-seeking homeowner to do with a dripping gutter?
Clear the Clogs
If you are experiencing a dripping gutter, a clog may be the ultimate culprit. When the gutter downspouts get clogged with leaves sticks or other debris, water cannot flow properly down to the ground. The same clog that causes the deafening drip will probably be causing a back-up in the gutter itself. That situation spells bad news for the edge of your roof. Eventually the clogged and dripping gutter will become an overflowing gutter, potentially damaging the fascia and the foundation. You can find tips for gutter cleaning here.
Adjust the Angle
A dripping gutter isn’t always the result of a clog, though. Sometimes the water flows slowly because there isn’t that much water to flow. In that case, the problem might be one of angles. If the drip from the gutter can fall straight down the spout, it will collide with the bend at the bottom of the spout. Thus, the plonk. By slightly adjusting the angle of the downspout, you can change the point of impact to a softer angle that will divert the drop without much sound at all. That slight adjustment will not adversely affect the performance of the gutter.
Embrace the Chain
One option for eliminating a dripping gutter is to eliminate the possibility of a drip altogether by installing a rain chain. Instead of a downspout tube (which increases the resonance of the drip like a speaker box), you’ll have a chain or a series of cups that channel the water to the ground or to a rain water collection feature. In that way, you embrace a more pleasant sound of trickling water and you enhance the aesthetics of your Orlando home’s exterior.
Contact Us
If gutter problems are getting you down or if they have caused damage to your roof, contact us at J. A. Edwards of America. Find out more about gutters here.