Install downpipe to gutter

You need to ensure that you provide enough steep to enable the water to move smoothly, releasing its gathered water to the downpipe.

Moreover, you need to be careful with your angle. If your steep is too high, it might rush the water to flow down the downpipe and cause it to overflow, especially with heavy rains. You need to ensure that the gutter is at the right angle where the water runs in an adequate flow. When it comes to placing your downpipes, you should put them where the water on your gutter reaches its end. When you allow it to run straight down, the water flow might be too intense, and people might bump into the pipe, which can cause further damage.

You should avoid having gaps that can provide leaks. However, you can choose to allow the downpipe to be connected directly to a rain barrel for water harvesting.

Installing gutters requires precision and accuracy. You should ensure that you place them correctly and avoid any possibilities of leaks and blockage for a smoother flow. Elina is a passionate blogger. Take one strap and hold it against your gutter on the side that is closest to your peak or opening where runoff goes into the downspout. Use screws along with washers and tighten them as much as possible using a screwdriver.

If you do not have a drill, you can use screws with a screwdriver. An alternate way to tighten is by using some pliers usually used for electrical wires and gripping the strap and turning until it is secure. You may need to use one hand on the pliers, while your other holds onto the strap.

You will need to know the length of each downspout. Add one foot to this total length and mark it on a piece of drywall or cardboard with tape. This will serve as your cutting guide for the gutter downspout straps.

Use a hack saw or jigsaw to cut along the marked line you drew on your piece of cardboard. The easiest way to measure for the strap is to use your tape measure as a guide from one end of the downspout to the other, then add 2 inches to this total measurement and cut the piece of straps to this length.

The 2 extra inches are for attaching the strap to the downspout with screws. The gutter downspout strap is attached directly onto a lapped seam where two pieces of metal are overlapping each other. Make sure that where you attach it, there is already a small gap between the two pieces.

On the ends of the strap, you will find a small loop and opening. Take the loose end of the strap and thread it through the eyelet at one end of the loop. If you are having trouble getting this part done, put a large washer over each side of one eyelet before trying again. Slide both ends of the downspout strap off your workbench and place them around the pipe. The strap should be snug, but not too tight. You will need to push down on it to get the eyelet to slide through both of the pipe edges around it.

If you run into trouble getting the loop end back onto itself with a large washer in place, take off one side of the washers and give it another go. Once the loop end of the strap is threaded onto itself, tighten a screw into one side of your downspout strap so that it holds everything in place. When you are finished with one strap, do the same thing on the other side, and then move on to installing gutter downspout straps at various spots along the length of the downspout and pipe.

To install gutter downspout straps at corners, measure out the length of your strap. It should be long enough to wrap all the way around each piece of metal from one end to another with a nice big gap left in between them.

Lay it out on a workbench so that you can use it as a guide while you cut. Starting from the highest point on the downpipe, fix the clips to the wall using rawlplugs and screws. Space these around 4 to 5 ft to mm apart.

Use your spirit level to ensure the downpipe is straight. The bottom of the downpipe may need one or two offset bends fitting to reach over the drain. If the downpipe does not push fit together, you may need to use a pvc adhesive designed specifically for joining lengths of pipe together. Make sure your pipe is cut to the correct length before applying any of the adhesive as it bonds joints very quickly.

Currently, you probably venture up the ladders once a year to clear out all the dead leaves, moss and whatever else has found its way into your gutter.