How To Quiet A Gutter Downspout

[HawkinsHollow]

Help me out fellas. I have a downspout on the corner of my house that is 3 feet from my head when I am sleeping and it is noisy. The way the water drips down it must impact the bottom elbow just so and it makes a racket. I was thinking about using some of that cheap filter medium for an HVAC system or a scotchbrite pad glued to the inside of the elbow to see if that makes it more quiet. Any other ideas?

 

[arto98607]

I've read advice somewhere else to drop a piece of string or small rope (weather resistant) from up on top and make sure it reaches all the way down to the elbow.
Tie it up at the gutter somehow, so it stays there.

The water should run down along the rope.

I have not done it that way myself, instead I stuffed couple of feet piece of folded up old soaker hose up from below and it sort of works...

 

[HawkinsHollow]

I've read advice somewhere else to drop a piece of string or small rope (weather resistant) from up on top and make sure it reaches all the way down to the elbow.
Tie it up at the gutter somehow, so it stays there.

The water should run down along the rope.

Rope! Great idea, thanks!

 

[arto98607]

Let us know how you solved it please.

 

[Torvy]

Remove the elbow and put a catch basin in. Cover it with medium sized stones. Now it will sound like a babbling brook...unless there is a downpour it will sound like a small waterfall.

You could muffle the whole length. Wrap in in neoprene.

Redesign the gutters to move downspouts from that area.

Rearrange the house so your MBR isn't by downspouts.

Sometimes, I find it helpful to write out every wild idea. It tends to help the brain move on. It can also spur other ideas you may not have considered.

We have a single slope roof. The MBR is on the high side, so no downspouts near it. No BRs near downspouts. Building a new house may be a bit extreme, though.

 

[MossRoad]

Just for fun I googled "how to quiet a loud downspout" and first hit was this...

Amazon.com : downspout drip silencer

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Well look at that Google and Mossroad coming thru in the clutch! I wonder why my gutter guy didn't mention these when I asked him about my noisy gutter?

 

[JJT]

Use a length of small chain rather than rope or string.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Remove the elbow and put a catch basin in. Cover it with medium sized stones. Now it will sound like a babbling brook...unless there is a downpour it will sound like a small waterfall.

You could muffle the whole length. Wrap in in neoprene.

Redesign the gutters to move downspouts from that area.

Rearrange the house so your MBR isn't by downspouts.

Sometimes, I find it helpful to write out every wild idea. It tends to help the brain move on. It can also spur other ideas you may not have considered.

We have a single slope roof. The MBR is on the high side, so no downspouts near it. No BRs near downspouts. Building a new house may be a bit extreme, though.

Some great ideas there but none will work in this situation.

 

[arto98607]

Use a length of small chain rather than rope or string.

Our gutters and downspouts, including the screws are all made of aluminum and using string or soaker hose will not cause corrosion.

I know, aluminum is probably no so common for this application, but they should last a lifetime and then some...

Aluminum chain may be little hard to find?

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Use a length of small chain rather than rope or string.

I think those are cool looking. But for this application I need the water to go exactly where I need it to go.

 

[2manyrocks]

Looking at the Amazon mufflers, I'm guessing the principle of those is that the water must be free falling down the downspout and striking the aluminum elbow at the bottom. The noise from all this then resonates back up the entire downspout. As long as you don't do something that causes the water to backup in the downspout, would it hurt anything to try inserting something to dampen the water striking the elbow?

If this is a new elbow from your recent construction, you could buy a couple of elbows and experiment with dampening them pretty inexpensively. If the experiment doesn't work, then change them back out?

 

[Alan W.]

Our gutters and downspouts, including the screws are all made of aluminum and using string or soaker hose will not cause corrosion.

I know, aluminum is probably no so common for this application, but they should last a lifetime and then some...

Aluminum chain may be little hard to find?

There is plastic chain that they use for pedestrian barriers.

Amazon.com : plastic chain

 

[ponytug]

@HawkinsHollow sorry to hear about the annoying drip in your life!

Depending on your rainfall, rainfall rate, and roof material, I think what works may vary a bit.

I've used two things;
1) an old pot scrubber sponge (works fine for a while but if you have heavy rains, it can wash out) Just wedge it to catch the drip. It does wear out over time, and I just kept replacing the, over time. In hindsight, perhaps screwing them down might have helped, but in my experience sponges are a wear item.

2) Butyl sealant tape or sheets. The sheets are thicker, and can get the job done in one step, and I think that getting the piece warm before installing it helps. The most useful version to me was an aluminum gutter sealant tape, but you will probably need several layers.

The butyl sheets work pretty well to dampen the drip drip noise, but they aren't 100% silent, the sound is more like a dull thud, and I often don't hear it at all.

Good luck!

All the best, Peter

 

[2manyrocks]

If you buy a new elbow, you might try applying a thick rubberized coating to the interior to act as a dampener. I doubt it will stick to an elbow that is dirty/wet.

ponytug's suggestions also seem like good possibilities.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

@2manyrocks I think that is exactly what is happeing. The drop is falling from the top to he bottom and striking the elbow. It happens well after the rain has stopped. I never thought about the downspout acting as a resonance chamber, but that makes total sense. Might be good to isolate the metal downspount from the actual house. That is probably helping the sounds travel into the house more effeceintly. Maybe a rubber pad between the down spout and the house where it connects. Might be overkill but it is a pretty easy fix, I am only worried about this one downspout.

@ponytug Yeah that was the original plan, use scotch bright pads adhered with silicone to do the same thing.

 

[ponytug]

@2manyrocks I think that is exactly what is happeing. The drop is falling from the top to he bottom and striking the elbow. It happens well after the rain has stopped. I never thought about the downspout acting as a resonance chamber, but that makes total sense. Might be good to isolate the metal downspount from the actual house. That is probably helping the sounds travel into the house more effeceintly. Maybe a rubber pad between the down spout and the house where it connects. Might be overkill but it is a pretty easy fix, I am only worried about this one downspout.

@ponytug Yeah that was the original plan, use scotch bright pads adhered with silicone to do the same thing.

It probably depends on your roof, and gutter screening, but I found that for me, the scotchbrite mesh filled with sand, etc. and reduced the effectiveness, but it definitely works.

All the best, Peter

 

[HawkinsHollow]

I honestly think I will try to make something almost exactly like the thing MossRoad sent. seems like all it is in a piece of rubber attached to a piece of aluminum, of which I have both. I think the fact that the rubber piece is not adhered to the elbow will help the sound deadening.

 

[woody]

Can you simply move the elbow away from the house effectively changing the angle

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Can you simply move the elbow away from the house effectively changing the angle

I thought about that too. Asked the gutter guy about that one possibility too. I think that only works if the water is dripping from the back of the gutter. If the water is dripping from the front or side of the gutter that wouldn't work.