Downspout - help!

14 years ago

20 years ago when we bought this house, the pipes that the downspouts go into were all old clay tiles and had collaped in the yard. The first project we did was to have a guy come out and dig trenches, lay PVC pipe & connect the downspouts. It was wonderful for a few years, but now:

1. The three downspouts in the back all run into one central point underground and are tied into one pipe, then that pipe goes to the back of my property. Behind the fence is a ravine that is "wild" - not mowed, etc. Sometime over the years a mulberry bush took root right over the outlet to that drain pipe. The roots are now completely blocking the pipe.

2. The three downspouts in the front also run into a central point and tie into one pipe, that has an outlet at the curb. That pipe is blocked by roots from the silver maple trees.

I had a plumber come out and look at the situation. He wanted $400 to roto-root the entire system, and he said he'd have to come every year to keep the system cleaned out. The guy was honest and said with the ravine and trees, it's a losing battle.

I am considering just getting splash blocks and not even trying to fight the losing battle.

What do you think? Are splash blocks effective in routing water away from the house?

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Comments (5)

azzalea
14 years ago
No, that's not going to take the water that far from the house. There are a couple of less-expensive alternatives.

Note: we had a similar situation--the downspouts on our 90 year old home connected into terracotta pipe that supposedly went to the street (but as you can imagine, didn't work).

We found a VERY inexpensive solution--that had other advantages as well. We installed rain barrels. That way, the water didn't go down the blocked pipes, didn't sit along our foundation, and we could save it to water our garden later. When we got a lot of rain (and knew the barrels would fill), we had hoses connected to the rain barrels, which we pulled out to the back of the property and opened the faucets so the barrels wouldn't overflow, or divert the water into the non-working drainage system. Pretty effective solution--especially since we bought the barrels at the end of the season and were able to get $89 rain barrels for only $25 each!!!!! You couldn't make them for that!

There's another interesting alternative we were looking at. A little more expensive than rain barrels. Wish I could recall the name of it (DH would know, but he's out). It's a system of extentions you put on your downspouts, they're sort of flattish (cross section would be a trapezoid), brown, so they aren't overly noticeable, and you route them through your garden--they channel the water away from the house, but they're perforrated so they distribute the water where it will water your lawn or garden.
mommabird
Original Author
14 years ago
I've been wanting rain barrels. I live in Ohio where it rains a lot so I would need robust overflow set-ups. Thanks for the idea. Can you ask DH what that other thing is called?
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colleenoz
14 years ago
We have found that if you regularly dissolve some copper sulphate in water and pour it down the drain (say once a month) it discourages root growth.
azzalea
14 years ago
Try searching for Invisaflow--we saw the product a while ago, and DH was having trouble recalling the brand name, too. Lowe's has Invisaflow, and it really looks like an interesting product that we may consider at some point in the future, even though our new house doens't have those underground pipes, nor a wet basement problem. They just look like a great way to distribute water away from the house.
dkenny
14 years ago
or more barrels in series..helps to store more water..

if you get way too much water..a pump and a nozzle to spray the water else were...

-dkenny