Downspout and Drainage Services from Keys Roofing
A roof's whole job is to move water off the house. The shingles shed it, the drip edge kicks it into the gutter, the gutter slopes it toward the downspout outlet, and the downspout decides where it finally lands. Keys Roofing treats that last step as its own service, because where the water lands matters as much as how it gets there.
- Downspout installation: new downspouts on new or existing gutters.
- Rerouting and extensions: moving the discharge point, or carrying the water farther from the wall before it lets go.
- Repair and replacement: reconnecting and realigning downspouts that have come apart, and replacing the ones too far gone.
- Underground drainage solutions: carrying the water below the yard and away from the house.
- Foundation protection: keeping roof water away from the foundation, basement and landscaping. It is not foundation repair or basement waterproofing.
For the gutters themselves, including seamless installation, pitch, hangers and guards, see our gutters and downspouts page.
Why Water Pools Next to Your Foundation
Downspouts are supposed to carry water from your gutters down and away from your foundation. When one discharges at the base of the wall, or has come apart partway down, all the water your gutters collect lands right next to the house, the worst place for it. Water sitting against a foundation is a slow, patient way to cause expensive damage, and the same water finds its way into basements and landscaping. More in Gutters and Downspouts: The Part Everyone Ignores.
Signs your downspouts are not doing their job:
- Water pooling at the base of a downspout
- A downspout that is disconnected or misaligned
- Basement moisture or foundation cracks
- Erosion or washout near a discharge point
- Ice building up at the bottom of a downspout in winter
Sometimes the problem starts higher up. A gutter that is clogged, mispitched or both sends water over its front edge in a heavy rain, so the water never reaches the downspout at all. On wooded lots, gutter guards stretch the time between cleanings and stop the kind of blockage that causes overflow.
Downspout Extensions and Rerouting
A gutter system is only as good as its exit. An extension carries the water farther from the wall before it lets go. Rerouting moves the discharge point itself, so the water is carried away from the house instead of ending up against the foundation, in the landscaping or across a walkway. Which one a downspout needs depends on where it comes down and where the water can go.
The test for either is the same, and you can do it yourself: run water down each downspout, or watch during the next rain, and see where it actually goes. If it is being carried away from the house, good. If it is just being moved a few feet and left to pool, it is not fixed yet. Extensions and splash blocks are cheap. Foundation and basement water problems are not.
If an extension we installed needs adjusting after the install, that is a callback, not a new invoice.
Underground Downspout Drainage
An above-ground extension works, but it sits on top of the yard. It can get kicked out of line, and its discharge can freeze across a walkway in winter. Underground drainage carries the same water below the surface and away from the foundation, so nothing lies across the lawn or the walk. It is one of the downspout services Keys Roofing installs across St. Louis County.
Whether a downspout needs an extension, a reroute or underground drainage depends on the house. We look at where each downspout comes down and where its water is going now, photograph what we find, and tell you plainly what actually needs doing before we talk about price.
Downspout Installation, Repair and Replacement
A gutter can be pitched correctly toward its outlet and still fail you if the downspout below it is undersized, disconnected or clogged. Our crews treat seams, hanger spacing, pitch and discharge points as their own craft, and Kaleb, who owns Keys Roofing, is directly involved in material selection and installation standards on every project.
- New downspouts on new or existing gutters. Sometimes the fix is adding a downspout where a gutter has been holding standing water.
- Repair: reconnecting and realigning downspouts that have pulled apart or lost their line.
- Replacement of downspouts that are too far gone to repair.
After hail, check the downspouts too. They are soft metal and hold dents at hail sizes shingles can shrug off, which is why adjusters look at them. See our storm damage page.
Get Your Downspouts Ready Before Winter
Our fall gutter checklist for St. Louis homes ends at the downspout on purpose. It is the half of the system everyone forgets, and where it puts the water is the most skipped item on the list. Leaves fill the gutters in October and November, winter arrives while they are still full, and a clogged gutter in a freeze becomes a heavy block of ice.
A St. Louis winter rarely freezes and stays frozen. It freezes, thaws, rains and freezes again, sometimes inside the same week (see what a small leak does to decking in one Missouri winter). That is why ice at the bottom of a downspout is a warning sign, and why the checklist says to make sure the discharge path will not turn into an ice sheet across a walkway.
If your gutters are above the first story or you are not comfortable on a ladder, hand it off. We clean, refasten and reseal gutters, check where the downspouts discharge, and document the whole system with photos.
How We Check Where Your Water Goes
Every Keys roof inspection runs from the ridge down to the gutter line, and it does not stop at the gutter. At the downspouts we check the discharge points, the condition of any extensions, and whether water is actually being carried away from the house or just moved a few feet and left to pool. Here is how we inspect a roof.
Downspouts also tell us about the roof. A sudden, heavy dose of granules in the downspout discharge or splash block right after a hailstorm is a sign the hail did real work on the shingles up top. More in reading your roof after a storm.
We go through the photos with you before we talk about scope or price. Estimates and roof inspections are free, and if nothing needs work, we say so.
Where We Do Downspout and Drainage Work
Keys Roofing installs, reroutes and repairs downspouts and puts in underground drainage throughout St. Louis County, including Chesterfield, Ladue, Frontenac, Town and Country, Clayton, Kirkwood, Webster Groves, Creve Coeur, Wildwood, Ballwin, Olivette, Brentwood, Richmond Heights and University City. We also cover Sunset Hills, Crestwood, Maryland Heights, Valley Park, Eureka, Fenton, Oakville, Sappington, Affton and Overland, and beyond the county line in St. Charles, O'Fallon, Wentzville and Arnold, all within a 50-mile service radius. The full list of towns and zip codes is on our service areas page.
We respond to every inquiry within 24 hours, and the company is fully licensed and insured. Call (314) 220-2333, Monday through Saturday, 7am to 7pm.