Where should your downspouts drain?
Away from the house, out through the yard, to a spot where the water can leave. How you get it there depends on the yard.
The best way to disperse water from a downspout is to carry it away from the house instead of letting it drop at the foundation. When a downspout is the main source of water in the yard, we run 4 inch PVC pipe from it out through the yard, so the water passes through with ease. The line usually starts at a catch basin at the downspout, 6 to 8 inches deep.
A downspout takes everything that lands on its part of the roof and lets it out in one place. Where that place is decides where the water goes next.
If it lets out right beside the house, the water sits against the foundation. If it lets out into a low part of the yard, that spot stays soggy. Either way, the fix is the same idea: give the water a path away.
Why it matters
What happens when a downspout drains in the wrong place
- Water pools at the corner of the house after every rain.
- The ground under the downspout is a muddy dip instead of grass.
- A bed next to the downspout stays wet or washes out.
- A low spot out in the yard fills up soon after the gutters start running.
- The basement gets damp on the same side as a downspout.
How we run it
How we carry downspout water out through the yard
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Look at every downspout
Where each one lets out, where the water goes from there, and where it can leave the yard.
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Set a catch basin
A catch basin goes in under the downspout. That is why the line starts 6 to 8 inches down.
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Dig the trench by hand
From the basin out through the yard. No machines on the lawn and no ruts. Roots get dug around, not torn out.
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Give it fall
Starting at the highest end, the pipe drops 1/8 inch for each foot, so the water keeps going.
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Lay the pipe and put the grass back
The same grass we cut gets folded back over the pipe. It is placed back, not grown back, so the before and after are minutes apart.
Best system
What is the best drainage system for downspouts?
For downspouts, we use pipe. In PVC, roof water moves through easily and comes out away from the house, and once the grass is back over it you will not see it.
Rock is for the rest of the yard. If water is also collecting in a low spot or along a bed, a rock and fabric trench or a trench drain handles that. Some yards need both, with pipe for the downspouts and rock for everything else. Here is when a yard needs pipe, rock, or both.
If water is also sitting along the house, a foundation swale leads it away from the foundation. We will tell you what fits after we have walked the yard with you.
Recent work
Downspout lines we have run
BeforeAfter
BeforeAfter
What homeowners say
Downspout questions
Answers before you call
Pipe. We run PVC from the downspout out across the yard, so roof water has a clear path away from the house.
About 6 to 8 inches down, because the line usually begins at a catch basin under the downspout. From there it drops 1/8 inch per foot as it heads out.
No. The strip of grass we lift comes right back down over the pipe, so there is nothing to wait on.
Downspouts get pipe unless the job is a hybrid. Rock trenches are for water that pools in the lawn or next to a bed.
We quote it after a free visit, as one fixed number in writing for a defined scope. Half books your date and the rest is due once you have walked the finished line. No financing.
Where to next?
Free estimate
Let us send your downspout water somewhere better.
Send the form and we will reply within about 30 minutes during business hours. The visit and the written quote are free.
- Dug by hand, no machine ruts in the yard
- The same grass folded back over the pipe
- Fixed written price for a defined scope
- Serving all of Indiana from Kokomo and Bloomington