Extending Your Downspouts For Drainage

Downspout drainage is a very serious problem, many home owners do not realize that the water from your gutters is flooding your foundation. Gutters catch a tremendous amount of water during a storm, at the same time your downspouts have become a funnel for water. The need for draining that water away from your foundation is and should be a top priority.

One of the best ways to get the water away from your house is to install an underground drainage system. The extension of your downspout will then allow the forced water flow from your gutters to be dumped away from your foundation. Now any homeowner can do the installation themselves, it is really not that complicated.

The tools needed for your project will be a shovel, wheelbarrow, razor knife or small saw. You will also need a tape measure for the very first step. Take the time to look your property over real good locate all of your downspouts and look for the down hill slope away from each downspout, make sure you are not slopping into your neighbors yard. Once you have the direction in which you plan to run your downspout extensions you need to take a close look at the ground against your house, make sure the ground around your house is sloping away from your house a good rule of thumb is about 1 inch every 4 foot.Make a mental note of the areas that are not sloping away from your house, I prefer to mark them by sticking a stick in the ground. Next using your measuring tape, take a measurement from each downspout approximately 20 foot away.

Writing down all your measurements get a total, this is called your linear footage. Take a trip to your local home building supply store, you are going to buy some 4 inch black corrugated pipe these pipes are self interlocking, get a basin this will go at the end of your corrugated pipe 20 feet away, make sure you get a grate for the basin. For every downspout you will need a connector to go from your downspout to your 4 inch corrugated pipe. Keep in mind that if your downspouts are close together you can connect them together using a “Y” or a “T” and run them to the same basin eliminating a basin and grate.

Now you are ready to install your downspout extensions, digging a trench in the direction you have chosen,(THE LOW GROUND THAT SLOPES AWAY FROM YOUR HOUSE) being sure that the trench is sloping and without high spots. Once you reach your 20 foot mark you will dig your hole for your basin this is usually 18 inches in dept and 12 inches square, However you have your basin you can use your tape measure to get your dimensions. Connecting your downspout to the corrugated pipe using your connectors start at the downspout and lay your pipe in the trench connect to your basin and cover your trench. Take the extra dirt from your trench and use it against the house where you marked the low spots at earlier.

~WARNING IF YOU ARE NOT 100% SURE WHERE ALL OF YOUR UTILITY LINES ARE RAN CALL MISS. UTILITIES JUST ABOUT EVERY STATE HAS ONE AND THEY WILL MARK YOUR UTILITIES FOR YOU~

~TRIED AND TRUE BY THE WOOD BUTCHER~