Connecting to a Downspout
Canale Catcher Blog, January 2020
Face it, for a Canale Catcher to work well, it needs to be connected to a downspout.
I have a confession to make: I hate working with downspouts, or at least I used to. They’re a hassle to join together, and it took me all kinds of effort, occasional cuts, and plenty of bad language to fit them together. But now I’m using a tool that makes it a breeze to fit downspout sections together: a hand crimper. I found mine at Home Depot, and Amazon carries a number of different brands. Other places may carry them, although I suspect they’re kind of a specialty item. I got a Malco Redline 5-blade crimper, and it works great, but other brands look they’d work as well. They’re a bit pricey (~$35) for just a few uses, but it makes the job go a lot easier. To use them, place the two-blade jaw inside the downspout section you want to put inside (the male piece), centered over the corner, so one of the three-bladed jaw sections contacts the center of the corner. Crimp the corner, and fully insert the crimper and use the full jaw to crimp again. Repeat on all four corners. It looks great, and more importantly: it works great! There’s a YouTube video (of course!) that shows the process as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVNkVoX-fP0 .