Need help with rain drainage

9 years ago

Hi – looking for any thoughts regarding a rain drainage
situation. I bought a house 3 years ago
that I have been slowly restoring after it had fallen into moderate disrepair. This summer I had the roof done and put up
new rain gutters. All working well. Except for a few issues in the actual disposal
of the runoff water. There are 9 “pipes”
that disappear into the ground at various points around the house. Three of these pipes I have cleared/snaked
and found they run underground and resurface about 10 yards downhill away from
the house, and the water from those runs off to the lawn in a visible fashion. Easy
peasy. Four of the pipes are black corrugated plastic, head straight down, and
the water that comes from the gutters flows down the leaders and into these
pipes never to return – very clean; no overflow even in a downpour. I’ve searched for an outflow somewhere
downhill to no avail. I have no idea where
they go, but the basement is dry as a bone so I don’t worry. The last two downspouts also disappear into
the ground. And in a slow to modest rain
they work fine – water disappears. But iIn heavier rain they overflow, sometime
shooting jets of water around the gutter downspout back up into the air. They appear to lead to the same mystery
destination as the other pipes (ie there is no evidence they resurface
somewhere down the lawn), but seem to be partially blocked. I kind of assume I have some sort of underground
storm drain leading away from the property (the house is at the top end of an
uphill cul-de-sac). But I don’t know for sure, and don’t know how to find out.

I called roto-rooter to see about getting the two slow
drains professionally snaked (and possible traced). The guy who showed up said (without stepping
out of his van) it would be $1,300 minimum to do the job. I thanked him and declined. Is there anything I can do on my own to try
and figure out what is going on? I
realize this is very circumstance dependent and without writing a novel, I’m
not giving much info to go on. But just
wondering if anyone had any thoughts or leads I could pursue.

Thanks for any help!

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Comments (8)

klem1
9 years ago
Punt???? Just kidding. Chances are the disappearing pipes terminate in one or more beds of gravel,french drains of sorts. Being at the top of a hill lend's itself to "day lighting"all the drains unless something like a building or swimming pool is in the way of some. The options as I see them are. A. Stand where pipe in question disappears then decide which direction it look's to be headed ( might even dig up a few feet). Decide if there's a clear path to low ground nearby then search that area. A T shaped probe desighned to locate sewer lines is available. Just push it into earth feeling for resistance of underground pipe. You might dig up a few rocks and old shoes before finding pipe but success awaits. B. If grade look's to make day lighting unlikly,probe nearby for french drain. C. Out of necessity irrigation/lawn sprinkler companies are pretty good at tracing plastic water pipe,a 4" pipe should be easy. If there's a wire wrapped around pipe,that's to assist location of non-matalic pipe under ground. D. Install drain new lines and/or french drains.
roof35
9 years ago
Rent a drain camera. Just rented one from big box store. It goes for $137 for 4 hours, or $195 a day. They also price it per week or month.

In my case it was money well spent to find out exactly where a break was.
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klem1
9 years ago
Rent a camera? Holy smokes,I had no idea. That could save some digging for sure.
aztec123
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks very much. These are all helpful ideas. Did the camera rental come with the locator attachment? I'm concerned I may get a good video of the blockage/issue, but not know where on the property it is. I see the big orange box store near me rents the Gen-Eye equipment, but I can't tell if it comes with the locator.

Thanks again
klem1
9 years ago
If they don't offer locator device,contact an irrigation company. They can use metal cable sleeve same as they generally use tracer wires buried with pvc pipe.
roof35
9 years ago
On the fourth big box store, they finally had the locator. My stubbornness clouded my vision instead of just calling tool/equipment rental store.
klem1
9 years ago
It's known as "getting the bit between your teeth". *_*
schreibdave
9 years ago
Have you tested whether all the pipes are connected and empyt in the same place?