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Homeowners and oftentimes even builders are unaware of
the damage done to houses by rain where there isn't a
sensible disposal system in place. Too many houses have
a downspout coming off the roof, and a concrete or
plastic splash block underneath the spout. The rainwater
comes out of the pipe, hits the splash block located
right next to the foundation, and continues on its
way—into the foundation, into the basement, in rivulets
running through the landscaping—everywhere, in fact,
that rainwater shouldn't go. The fact is that even a
moderate rain on the roof of an average sized house
creates thousands and thousands of gallons of water.
When all you have to divert the storm water from your
roof is a splash block, you're effectively channeling
the water right where you don't want it to be—to the
base of your house.
The answer to the problem of rain on the roof making
its way into the basement or crawl space is to extend
your downspout piping to the ground, run it out away
from the house, and pipe runoff either to a collection
area for your own use or to a low lying place on your
property where it can drain without putting you or your
neighbors in danger of flooding. Before you decide where
to lay the underground pipes, first take a look around
your home and think about where the rainwater would
naturally go if your house wasn't standing there. Keep
in mind that water flows down slope, so that's the most
practical place to pipe the water, since it would fall
there anyway. (If you have a neighbor down the slope,
you may need to work with that person to make sure you
aren't piping your storm water into his yard). Next,
contact the power, gas and water companies to make sure
there are no buried cables or gas lines in the place
where you plan to dig. This is a vital step—every year,
people are killed because they cut into electric or gas
lines they forget to check for. If your house is on a
septic system, make sure you know where the drains and
the leach field are: you don't want to create yet more
drainage problems by digging through a pipe!
One of the tools you'll want to use whenever
installing underground piping is your camera. Take
pictures of the trench and pipes before they're covered
up, and show parts of the house in the picture, along
with tools or even people. You're creating a scale you
can use when you decide to have your electric lines
buried five years from now, and can't remember for the
life of you where the drainage pipes were placed. With a
complete set of photos, you'll be able to figure out
where your pipes are in case you ever need to replace a
section or do some other work that might otherwise
damage your storm water drainage. Keep the photos in the
same place as your wiring panel photos, instructions for
restarting your well pump, and the warranty on the
refrigerator. If you keep all your household maintenance
papers in one place, you'll save a lot of time an energy
looking for things whenever you need to take care of
things that go wrong around the house.
Drains and pipe materials have come a long way in the
past 20 years. Use smooth 4 inch plastic sewer pipe
instead of the black, corrugated flexible pipe: it
doesn't crush as easily and you can use PVC cement or
buy fittings that use rubber gaskets instead of
adhesives. Professional drain cleaners can work on the
sewer pipe without damaging it—the corrugated pipe
doesn't make that possible.
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