Quiet the rain, with Downspout Noise Mufflers

Downspout Noise Mufflers just might help you sleep better at night. While you might not be able to stop the rain, you can do something about the noise in those downspouts! From the DIY Homemade Household side of the blog!

"Hey Honey, can you hear that? It's raining again."

 "You know Hun, as soon as it stops raining again, we need to get those downspouts fixed."

But you know how it is, when the rain stops, it's outside to get a few chores done. Usually, the ones left from yesterday!

Later you stop for some lunch and a cup of something hot, to warm up your insides. Then just as you are taking that last swig from your mug, it starts raining again!

I think you get the idea. Days like that, are why some chores don't get done!

Truthfully noisy downspouts are not a problem during the day. Everyone is busy and the noise blends into all the other activities surrounding you...

But at night when it is late, and you can't sleep, that noise in the downspout is all you hear... and that my friends, is a completely different story!

Now being a somewhat creative do-it-yourselfer, I came up with this frugal solution, after a visit to my local home improvement store. 

When I walked up and down the aisles, there were lots of remedies. Some of which I believed would have worked. But one thing was clear, noisy downspouts are fairly common and not just a problem at my house.

Unfortunately, the price seemed way out of proportion for what was actually in the box. Others I felt would have never worked and might have actually added to the noise issue! 

One such product was nothing more than a sponge that you placed in the crook of the downspout where it would absorb the falling water and according to the manufacturer, all the noise.  

But have you ever heard the noise bouncing off a sponge laying in the sink under a drippy faucet? A sponge has the capacity to hold water and when the capacity is reached, essentially you have a noise reflecting mass. 

That product along with many others did not come home with me. 

So I thought and thought a little bit more and came up with this idea. The sponge product confirmed my suspicion that the crook of the downspout is where the trouble begins. It is the first flat surface raindrops come in contact with, after falling 20 to 30 feet. Plop, Plop, Plop! Disperse the rain and you can eliminate the noise. 

This bag of "scrubbies" from your local dollar or variety store does not have the capacity to hold water. They will not fill up with water. But what they can do is break the flow of the rain falling down the spout, and disperse it in the process. Dispersed water does not make noise...Let's get started!

Items needed for this project:

• plastic "scrubbies"
• plastic twine
• scissors
• crochet hook or large eyed needle

Now we are ready to begin!

This is how I made Downspout Noise Mufflers...

Remove the bottom section of the downspout. You will need to make sure of how many "scrubbies" you will need for a snug fit, to avoid a washout in heavy rain. But not so snug as to plug up the exit, preventing the rainwater from flowing out. 

Stack the required number of "scrubbies" to fit your downspout. 

Pull out and cut off a piece of twine long enough to thread through the stacked "scrubbies", and tie securely, remember you will need to leave a long enough tail to grasp and pull the muffler out for removal. 

Insert the tied "scrubbie" up to the 45ish degree bend, in the downspout piece. The tail should be hanging below the nested "scrubbies". Next, reattach the bottom section to the end of the downspout attached to your house. 

You need to know that this is not a once and done forever application. 

You will need to remove the "scrubbies" (and why you left a long-tail) in order to clean out any debris that may have fallen from the roof into the gutter and down the spout. Regular cleaning of the "scrubbies" will prevent water from baking up in the downspout because of a clog. 

Leaves will be your biggest challenge. But that 5 minutes of maintenance every week or so, is worth it for a better night's sleep! This inexpensive solution will not eliminate all the noise, but you will be sleeping a whole lot better the next time it rains!

#DIYHomemadeHousehold

 

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