How to connect a second story gutter to a first story gutter cleanly
Running a second-story downspout directly onto a first-story roof looks awkward, sticks out, and can cause shingle damage over time. Without a clean connection method, homeowners are left choosing between an eyesore that hovers above the roof or letting water pour directly onto the shingles.
Overview
People affected3 accounts across 2 forums
Workarounds found6 items attempted
Community agreement17 total upvotes
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
6 items+ Contribute
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Using a flexible downspout extension to bridge the upper and lower guttersDid this help you?
- 2Letting water pour directly from the second-story roof onto the first-story shingles like the rest of the neighborhoodDid this help you?
- 3Trimming the elbow to let the downspout sit flushDid this help you?
- 4Running the upper downspout all the way to ground levelDid this help you?
- 5Ignoring the aesthetic issueDid this help you?
- 6Notching and lapping the gutter pieces towards the downspout, then sealing them.Did this help you?
Tried another approach not listed above?+ Share your workaround ↑
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
r/HomeMaintenance1 person · September 2026
r/Roofing2 people · September 2026 – October 2026
Where this came up
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- 4Why are my roof shingles lifting near the gutters?