How to Quiet Gutters and Downspouts

Use this rope trick to silence the drips.

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Introduction

Gutter downspouts with elbows can sometimes amplify the sound of water dripping through them. If the gutter is close to a bedroom window, this can get annoying. Contractors have tried fixes like installing a lead plate in the elbow, then a magnetic cushioned plate, but those fixes usually just change the tone from a metallic drip, drip, drip to a thud, thud, thud sound. Here’s a better way to solve the problem.

Tools Required

  • Caulk gun

Materials Required

  • 3/8-in.-diameter nylon rope
  • Caulk

Project step-by-step (2)

Step 1

Caulk Around the Drain Opening

  • Squirt a bead of gutter seaming caulk around the drain opening, leaving a 1/4-in. gap.
Step 2

Run the Rope from the Gap to the Elbow

  • Use the same caulk to glue a 3/8-in.-diameter nylon rope next to the gap and drop it down the gutter and out the opening.
  • Then glue it to the bend in the elbow.
    • The water will wick down the rope instead of free-falling and hitting the elbow.

Diagram of the rope in the gutterFamily Handyman