On Feb 12, 5:40 pm, Dan_Musicant wrote:
One of the downspouts from a roof job done a year ago drains right into
the soil next to my foundation. I was thinking of making a drain-away
out of concrete (a bit of concrete work needs to be done right there,
anyway), but I got the idea of routing the downspout out away from the
foundation horizontally.

When the roofers did the job a year ago, I salvaged a couple of extra
10' or so lengths of aluminum downspouting and stashed them in my
garage. I figure I can run a 4' or so length of this from the end of the
downspout coming from the gutter above and route the flow out a few feet
from the foundation and onto my concrete patio where the water won't
sink into the ground at the foundation.

How can I cut the aluminum? I guess I can work it with a box cutter, but
I wonder if that's best. The metal is sure to deform if I cut it that
way. What do the pros use? TIA.

Dan

Sheet metal pros use double cut tin snips, either hand type or
electric depending on work at hand. For cutting any kind of sheet
metal tubing, the weapon of choice. There is simply no other way to
make a nice clean cut in the middle of a 4" water heater vent, for
example, or the downspout tubing in your case. For a one time use, the
price may not justify the tool, so alternatives in this thread might
be adequate. If you're curious about what a double cut snip is, check
out the tools like that at Amazon.com or HarborFreight.com. HTH

Joe