
Protecting your eyes is a must, use safety glasses or a full-face shield.
#DOWN SPOUT PARTS SKIN#
Wear long sleeves and heavy pants to protect your skin from any metal splinters that may be generated during the cutting process. Check the path of your blade and make sure there is nothing in the cut path. You may want to ask a friend or helper to hold the downspout steady while you cut, as clamping this material can be a bit tricky. Prop or position the downspout so it is sturdy and supported parallel to the ground or floor. Wrap tape around the line on the waste side if you’d like a visual guide while cutting. Use a marker or carpenter’s pencil and a square to draw a straight, even line around the downspout.
#DOWN SPOUT PARTS INSTALL#
You’ll want to leave room to install the outlet and direct the flow of water once your gutters are up and functioning. If you’re installing a new downspout, measure from the insertion point at the eaves of your roof down to a few inches above the ground. If you’re replacing a broken or worn piece of gutter downspout, it’s easiest to remove the existing downspout and measure its length. Jigsaws make quick and accurate cuts, and are plenty powerful enough for the relatively soft materials that make up gutter downspouts. Continue on in this manner, rotating the downspout, until the section has been removed.Īlthough this project can be accomplished by hand, you can speed it up using a basic power tool like a budget jigsaw. Mirror this cut with the red-handled snips. Use the green-handled tin snips to cut another few inches. Then, switch to your red-handled tin snips and cut parallel to the cut line on the waste side of the material, releasing a few inches of downspout material. Using the green-handled tin snips, make a few cuts along the cut line. Cut an arc through the waste side of the downspout, circling back to your marked cut line. Insert green-handled tin snips at the far end of the diagonal cut made in the previous step. Position the knife at about a 45 degree angle and rock it back and forth to make a diagonal cut about two inches long. Place the blade of a utility knife on the waste side of your cut line. You should have a square, straight line all the way around the downspout when you finish with this step. Use a straightedge or carpenter’s square to extend a line through the four marks. Make a mark on all four sides of the gutter downspout to indicate how long you want the section to be. Avoid injuries and delays to your project by donning a pair of protective gloves before starting this project. Bending the unused gutter material out of the way is a good way to get a nasty cut.

When cutting out sections of downspout, it’s easy to trap or pinch your fingers. Rotate the gutter as you cut, pulling the waste material up and out of the cut path. Then, rotate the tin snips to cut along the pencil or permanent marker line. Use yellow or red handled tin snips to cut through the broken edge of the downspout, up to the mark you made in the previous step. Rotate the downspout to extend the line around the entire circumference.

Place a carpenter’s square aligned with the side of the gutter downspout, and draw a line along the other arm. A pair of tight-fitting cut resistant gloves makes this project easier and safer. Downspouts with jagged edges can easily cut your hands. The easiest recourse is to cut it off and attach a new bottom section. When the bottom of your gutter downspout gets torn and ragged, it ceases to function properly and can damage your home’s foundation. Here we’ll focus specifically on cutting the downspout.

Learn the entire process for cutting gutters in our comprehensive article. To avoid wasting material and accomplish the job more quickly, consider using a jigsaw instead. When you need to start the cut in the middle of the downspout, you can still use tin snips, but some of the material will be wasted. Tin snips are an easy way to cut through the broken material to trim away the excess. One is to trim away crushed, broken, rusted, or damaged pieces of the existing downspout. Cutting gutter downspouts is most easily accomplished using tin snips or a jigsaw. Downspouts are usually made from vinyl or aluminum.
