Downspout Drainage Pipes

Thank you for writing about this, as this is exactly what I will be doing this weekend. Coincidentally, a lot of what you had to say about materials and installation is the way I went when planning this project and buying the materials.

Do you have any suggestions for distribution of the water? Some seem to advise a French drain type of system (which seems like a potential mess to me, especially living in Florida), while others advise a bubbler solution. I went with a bubbler, but would be interested to hear your thoughts.

Chris,
Do what Mother Nature does. Distribute it on the ground. Perhaps try to send some to a rain garden.

What size/type fitting would you use to capture the 4" downspout? I have 7 downspouts to connect to a drain pipe I must burry. I plan on using 8"pipe. The ends can use a 90 elbow for the two outside d/s, with tee on the other 5 d/p. Do these tees have to be the wye type? I also need a tee between the last tee and elbow to direct the water underground to the retention pond. Should that be special or regular with water coming from both sides, but only one d/p on one side, while 6 on the other side. Your advice welcomed. Thanks. Pierre

Pierre,
That is too big. You can have each downspout go into a 4-inch round pipe. Then these can connect to a 6-inch pipe that eventually daylights.

Thanks.

I have a 5 year old home in the Columbus Ohio area. A few years ago, after the builder warrenty expired, I started having a small stream of water run down my basement wall from the main water pipe running into my basement from the street. It rarely stops leaking during the year, except for very dry summer months. What might be causing this and how do I fix it without tearing up my landscaping?

Nick,
Simple. You need to go read all of the columns in the Drainage category of my website. All the answers and more are waiting for you. You will discover quickly exactly what is causing the problem and how to stop the leak permanently.

How many downspouts can I run into a single 4' PVC pipe?

Brian,
Many. I did this calculation years ago for a job. A single 4-inch pipe can handle about 3 - 4,000 square feet of roof area. This assumes the pipe has a slope of 1/4 inch per foot and it discharges in the open.

Tim,

We have a house in Oakley that developed seepage into the basement. We've traced it to the cast iron (I assume) drain into which our gutters drain. It runs straight down (we're digging now). Where is it draining to? Storm sewer like the driveway drain? How would this leak into the house? What can we do to fix it?

Thanks for your advice! Great site!

I live in Ma. How deep should the pipes be installed? Also, the way my home is set up my gutters have to run to the center of the house otherwise they make the roof look way off, i also have problems with water coming through the front of my basement. I wanted to install a channel drain in front of my house. It would be covered by my bushes. Does this seem reasonable to catch water from winter thawing and spring rain? Could this also be a substitute for my downspouts?

thanks!

I found a really interesting splash block and a box that fits over the end of the 4" landscape pipe here: http://www.aquabarrel.com

dear sir,I have a bad neighbor who
plugged my house drainage with a backhoe.water used to flow in good size
gushes.This guy plugged my drainage system I get no water flow.His wife did not want her kids playing with
the water.he ripped out a 3 inch pipe
from my foundation to the back of my house.i got water in the basement this
year.How can I find out how much damage
he did.David

Tim,

Thank you so very much for this article! You've saved us thousands of dollars, literally; we've been told to expect to pay between $16,000 and 30,000.00 to have our (7) downspouts directed away from our home. Needless to say, we didn't panic and jump at the offered 'solutions'.

Thankfully, our 48 y/o home has never had water in the basement, but we can see a problem brewing with the massive amount of water that drains right next to the house. I'll be getting to work on this ASAP.

Thanks again!

I just put in a bubbler type system but my concerns are two:

1) should I have put stones under the and around the bubbler then put about 3" of topsoil on top for best drainage? currently I just back filled it with soil.

2)After reading some articles, I have a concern about freezing water that remains in the pipes and the bubbler, anything I should do here, such as drilling a hole in the bubbler?

Thank yo.

hi,
as long as i maintain the the 1/8" to 1/4" pitch of the 4" dia pipe, what is a minimum distance for the end of this pipe? do i need to be a certain distance from the house ?
is 8' ok??

i read most of your articles but didn't see a minimum distance

thanks
joe

I have a window well that fills up with water and then makes it's way into the basement. I have had someone come out to clean down to the weeping tile but the problem still persists. I am assuming that there is a clog somewhere in the weeping tile. As well one of my downspouts is backing up...I wanted to know if the downspout is connected to the weeping tile and also is it possible to find where the clog is so that it can be fixed without tearing up around the whole foundation of the house. Would a plumber be able to use a snake to unclog it?

Tim,
I plan to install 2 additional downspouts to the existing drainage 6" pvc pipe buried in the ground. The pipe is about 100' long where both ends already have downspouts. So the new downspouts are to be added somewhere in the middle.
The question is this, when I dig open the pipe at where I want to install the new T connector, I would out the length of pipe where the T will fit in, but how to squeeze the T into the space since you can NOT move the pipe? Or do you cut a 30" length of pipe out, glue in the T at one end and then glue the other end with a short pipe to fill the gap and connect with a rubber connector with stainless steel clamps. Would the stainless last buried in the groud?
You advise is appreciated.

Tim,

I live in Kalamazoo Mi and have sub-surface daylight windows on the side of my house that are surrounded by a railroad tie retaining wall. During heavy rains (we've had over 7 inches in less that 2 hours) the water cascades down the ties and fills up in the daylight windows until the water has no where to go but through my windows and into the basement. I am fixing the grading around the house this week as it actually has a negative slope towards the house but I am wondering if a French drain running along the side of the ties would help as well. I will also be runing drainage for the downspouts to help eliminate the collection of water around that side of the house. Thank you for all of your help.

When I take the guttering downspouts into the 4" PVC pipe, what do you use to seal the guttering downspout to the PVC? I am running an existing downspout under a slab.

Thanks!