Hello,
Given the recent snowfall over the weekend, I was walking around my home clearing away some of the snow from the window sills, etc and I noticed this about the neighbors down-spout. My question pertains to, how would one look at this from the point of view of performing a Home Inspection. Please correct me if I have this wrong.
I know that downspouts do freeze up at times. Either something is blocking the flow of water down the sprout (leaves etc) - there are no trees near the house here. Or the water at the bottom had no-where to flow out due to the accumulation of snow. Hence the water froze in the downspout. I do not think this is a defect.
I would probably state it as follows:
Downspout at rear of house (right side) frozen.
Action: Clear any obstructions around base of downspout to ease water flow.
Status: Monitor
I would then suggest that if after thawing out, if there is still a problem with water flow, then the buyer would need to get a professional to clean out the gutters and downspouts and repair/replace as needed.
Secondary question:
Could there be the risk of damage or cracking of the downspout/gutter?
Is this point of view correct? If not, why?
I am just trying to learn. Thank you in advance for your comments.
