Gardenline Flexible Downspout Extender

Last Updated on March 29, 2024

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Aldi sold these again in April of 2024 for the same price of $6.99. The one we bought in 2023 is still going strong. 

Any home built in the last two hundred years — and many before even that — has gutters. These indispensable canals steer water off the roof, helping to prevent damage and keeping the house dry. Anyone who has ever lost a gutter or had one clogged up knows just how much of a problem you have when you don’t have gutters.

The water from gutters gets to the ground by way of downspouts. Unfortunately, downspouts don’t always make for the best of final destinations where water is concerned. A downspout, for example, might empty right next to a part of the lawn prone to flooding, or it might pool on a patio. The worst case scenario is for a downspout to channel the water off the roof, only for that water to pool and seep down into the basement or some other part of the house.

Downspout extenders can mitigate this problem. They help angle the flow of water farther from the house by adding a length of tunnel. Usually made of vinyl or some other plastic, extenders tend to be cheap, flexible, and reasonably durable. You can find them in virtually any hardware or big box store.

Aldi likes to do its hardware store impersonation on occasion, which is how we came to spot Aldi downspout extenders on the middle aisle shelves. We picked up one to try out.

The Gardenline Flexible Downspout Extender is a limited time Aldi Find. Each store gets a single shipment, so once it’s gone, it’s gone, and you won’t be able to order it online.

At the time of this post, the downspout costs $6.99. It’s the cheapest extension I can find online, including on Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot, or Lowes. In fairness, some of those downspout extenders are longer than the Aldi one, but it’s still a great price. Better yet: it’s $1 less than it was in 2022. (This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Aldi quietly drop prices on certain Aldi Finds this year.)

The fine print. (Click to enlarge.)

The Aldi extender fits downspouts 2 x 3 inches (5.08 x 7.62 cm) or 3 x 4 inches (7.62 x 10.16 cm). It fully extends to 55 inches (4 feet 7 inches), or 139.7 centimeters. It measures 4.65 inches (11.81 cm) wide and 4.05 inches (10.28 cm) tall.

According to the package, it’s made in China. Like most extensions I’ve seen, it does not come with any kind of warranty.

A view through the pipe.

This is a simple device to use. It’s an accordion-style extender, and it expands and bends to whatever angle and length it needs to be used for. I’ve had some extenders that have to be screwed in before using, but this one is already fully assembled, which is a small but nice perk.

I mentioned before that there are longer ones out there. On the other hand, the ones I’ve gotten from my local hardware store are about the same length, so this Aldi one doesn’t feel like a downgrade for me.

An old hardware store downspout at top, the Aldi downspout at bottom

All I had to do was fix it to my downspout, and I was done. It fit as expected.

The one question I won’t have answered for a while is durability. In my experience these plastic extenders start to crack and break after a few seasons. This one may be the same. For the price I paid, though, I think that’s a pretty good deal.

The Verdict:

What can you say? The Gardenline Flexible Downspout Extender is a simple product designed to perform a simple task. It is simple to put in place and seems to do the job like other downspouts. I don’t know how long it will last — it’s plastic and there’s no warranty — but for this price, that may not matter a lot.