Roseville Downspout Cleaning for Clogged Elbows, Backups and Soggy Yards

What's included

What does downspout cleaning include?

Downspout cleaning means clearing the pipe, the elbows at the top and bottom, and any buried line it drains into. Then each one is hose-tested to prove it runs at full flow. Above-ground downspouts are included with every gutter cleaning we do in Roseville, CA. Underground lines are a separate, quoted add-on.

Clogs follow the trees and the roofs. Homes near Dry Creek, Linda Creek and Miners Ravine sit under oaks. So do the older streets of Diamond Oaks and Old Roseville, and their elbows fill with leaves and acorns. On lots along the Diamond Oaks and Woodcreek golf courses, we even find golf balls. On concrete tile roofs, grit washes down and settles into a heavy sludge.

Here is what a downspout visit covers on a Placer County home:

• The outlet where the gutter drains into the downspout, or the leader head box on homes that have one, cleared of leaves and grit.
• The upper elbows under the eave and the lower elbow at the bottom, cleared by hand or with a plumber's snake.
• A hose flow test on every downspout, top to bottom.
• Extensions and splash blocks checked, so water lands away from the wall.
• Underground drain lines tested, and snaked or jetted if they back up.
• Pop-up emitters at the end of the line opened and cleared.
• Debris bagged and hauled, with nothing left on walkways or in the flower beds.
• Photos and a note on each downspout in your report.

You get a real person on the phone and a price before any line work starts. If you only need the gutters cleaned, see our gutter cleaning visit. This page is for the pipes below them. For the order we work in, read how a visit runs, step by step.

Downspout sizes

2×3 or 3×4: which downspouts does your home have?

Most homes have one of two rectangular sizes. A 2×3 inch downspout (actual size about 1.75 x 2.75 inches) usually pairs with 5-inch K-style gutters. A 3×4 inch downspout pairs with 6-inch gutters, according to LeafFilter's downspout size guide. The 3×4 carries noticeably more water and clogs less often.

That difference matters in Roseville. Many tract homes built in the 1990s and 2000s have 5-inch gutters with the smaller 2×3 downspouts. A 2×3 handles normal rain on a modest roof. But a single London plane leaf or a few acorns can close most of its opening. When a big storm dumps water fast, a 2×3 that is even half blocked can't keep up, and the gutter spills over.

	2×3 downspout	3×4 downspout
Usually paired with	5-inch gutters	6-inch gutters
Water it carries	Less	Noticeably more
How easily it clogs	Easily, at the elbows	Less often
What we suggest	Clean before the rain season and check after big storms	Clean on the same schedule as the gutters

If a downspout keeps clogging after every cleaning, the fix may be a larger downspout or an extra one on a long run. That's a repair job for the gutter itself, quoted on site.

Where clogs start

Why do most downspout clogs start at the elbows?

Most clogs start at a bend, not in the straight pipe. Water drops fast down the straight section, then slows at the elbow, and leaves, acorns and sludge stop there. A typical downspout has two elbows at the top, where it steps back toward the wall. It has one more at the bottom, where it turns out toward the yard.

What we pull out of Roseville elbows most often:

• Acorns and oak tassels from valley, blue and live oaks along Dry Creek and Linda Creek.
• Matted plane and pistache leaves that fold over and wedge in the bend.
• Redwood needles that pack into a dense plug.
• Tile grit and dirt that turn into sludge after the first storm.
• Odd things: tennis balls, nests, and on golf-course lots, the odd golf ball.

The tree species come from the City of Roseville's own street tree count in its Urban Forest Master Plan. For a full list of what falls here, by season, read what clogs Roseville gutters.

Underground blockage

How do you know a downspout is blocked underground?

If water backs up out of the downspout while the pop-up emitter at the far end of the yard stays dry, the buried line is probably blocked. Gurgling, water bubbling out of a joint at ground level, or a soggy strip of lawn along the line are other signs. You can check most of this from the ground.

Five signs to check in the rain

1. The emitter is dry while the downspout is full.
2. Water spills over the gutter right above the downspout, but not along the rest of the run.
3. The downspout gurgles or burps instead of running steady.
4. Water seeps out where the downspout meets the ground pipe.
5. A strip of lawn stays soggy for days, or a small sinkhole forms along the line.

The hose test

Unhook the downspout from the ground pipe if it has a coupling. Run a garden hose into the ground pipe for a couple of minutes. If water comes back up instead of flowing away, the line is blocked. On the downspout itself, water from a hose at the top should run down and out of the bottom in a steady stream.

The penny test

On an above-ground downspout, drop a penny or a small stone in the top from a safe ladder spot and listen. A clear downspout lets it fall straight through and out the bottom. If it stops partway, there's a clog at an elbow.

When to stop and call

Don't climb in wet or windy weather to try any of this. Leave two-story downspouts and anything buried to a crew. More warning signs, including the ones on the gutter itself, are in our guide to signs your gutters are clogged.