We can’t deny that there are a lot of really cool, creative options and downspout ideas out there.. We certainly understand the visual appeal, and the desire to place something special on the home.

However, we don’t install them. And we don’t recommend them.

First, decorative downspouts are typically only available through online artists. Most suppliers don’t carry them, which means most gutter companies won’t touch them. We’re not the only ones who say, “no way!”

So when you opt for a decorative downspout you are choosing to install this element yourself. There’s no guarantee that it will be particularly compatible with your system.

Second, decorative downspouts do not perform well in Florida’s summer torrential rains. They tend to get completely overwhelmed.

Instead of creating a system that sends water flowing nicely through the spout and away from the home the decorative downspout typically starts to leak in short order. The water then washes right back up to the foundation, where it begins doing its inevitable damage.

Ultimately, it’s your home. But our advice? In Brandon, Ocala or anywhere else in the Tampa Bay metro area, at least, gutters are the wrong place to express your creativity. You can, however, turn vinyl gutters into a variety of creative projects, or hanging gardens, instead.

You might also express your creativity in the form of a rain garden, which draws the eye away from the gutters entirely and towards beautiful, Florida-friendly native plants.

Hey, we didn’t want to burst your bubble without offering at least a few nice alternatives!