Downspout Flushing in Sanford: When to Add It

When to add it to your request

Ask for flushing if you have ever seen water spilling over the front of a gutter that looks clear, a downspout that gurgles or drips slowly, or muddy washouts at the base of a wall. Those are signs the vertical run or the underground connection is restricted.

Homes under big oaks are the usual candidates. Acorns and leaf bits are small enough to wash down from the gutter and then lodge in an elbow. We run water from the top and watch what comes out at the bottom, which tells you far more than a glance from the ground.

If your downspouts empty into buried drain pipe, mention that. Those lines are harder to check and we will tell you what we can and cannot do.

What to settle before the visit

Flushing is easy to describe and easy to misunderstand, so agree the details early.

• Does the quoted price include every downspout on the house?
• Will the downspouts be tested with a hose, a blower or another method?
• What happens if a downspout is crushed, disconnected or full of packed soil?
• Do you want the water directed somewhere specific, such as away from a slab edge?

We will tell you plainly when something is a repair and not a cleaning. We clean and flush; we do not do repairs or installation, so a crushed or disconnected downspout would be for you to have fixed elsewhere.

Why the wet season raises the stakes

Central Florida's wet season runs from about late May into mid-October, and per UF/IFAS most of the year's rain arrives in that stretch. Sanford's airport station averages 49.63 inches a year. A downspout that is restricted in April will show itself in the first heavy June storm, usually at the worst moment.

For that reason many homeowners book the flush with the pre-summer clean-out and not after problems appear. See the Sanford gutter guide for how the calendar lines up with local trees and storms, or read about the main gutter cleaning visit it pairs with.