I run a gutter installation company and this is great advice for a homeowner. Couple things that may help. 1. Screws if you are on the coast or just want more corrosion resistance get the stainless or ceramic screws, also screw size on these are #8x1/2 hex head although #6 will work. 2. Tools they make down spout crimpers and double cut shears thst make the job easier however you can use regular tin snips and a pair of needle nose pliers to roll in each corner of down spout to make the male end. 3. Elbows, the basics are there you can find online flip elbows, hinges, clips to hold the down spout up, A to B transition elbows and a plethora of other stuff to make your down spout go where you want it to go(they even make decorative extensions that look like fish or gargoyles to fit on the end of thr elbow). 4. Other options, frost king makes a roll out down spout extension then rolls itself out and then back up depending on if there's water pressure on it. They suck and eventually break down and the spring pops through them but sometimes are the best option for a down spout thet you want to cross a traffic area like a sidewalk and you can't afford anything more serious. Also there's a product called stealth flow, it's a low profile drain if you just want to get past your planter and don't want to dig it's great. Lay it out and cover it with landscape rock or mulch. Splash block/guards/ ext. Check with your local block supplier they often have pallets of cement splash blocks they sell for a similar price as the plastic home store ones, the wind doesnt blow them away they shrug off a weedeater and you can will them to your grandchildren they last so long. 5. Pipe selection. If you can afford it do at least thin walled landscape pvc Pipe. The corrugated stuff will let roots go through it. If you are on a budget then at least use the pvc near any bushes or trees thst may grow through. Lastly if there's any chance at all someone is going to drive some type of equipment through your yard at some point just jump on up to schedule 40 Pipe. I've seen so many pipes crushed after the tree trimmers, septic installer, or porch builders have left. It's well work the schedule 40 in my opinion. Great video and if any home owners feel overwhelmed feel free to call a pro. I know I have given out countless free advise through the years.
@@HoosierRallyMaster Really? That's crazy literally all but one of my suppliers sell #8x1/2 and #10x1 high-hex ive never even seen a #7 from my suppliers. The only one that doesn't do #8 is leaf proof who sends #6x1/2 with their products. I wonder if that is a regional thing? I Order most of my screws from Indianapolis and middle Tennessee with some screws coming from Peoria Illinois. Where are you located?
Maybe they figure if the pros are using #6, then the DIYer will need a #7 to re-use an over-torqued screw hole. I notice that flooring and hinge screws are available in odd-numbered sizes too - I always assumed to rescue a hinge on a century old door frame.
Thank you for your additional comments!! I have this problem from a home built in the 50’s and the ONLY place to run an extension is ACROSS my newly blacktop DRIVEWAY!! ☹️☹️. I didn’t know of the leaking in the basement corner until after my purchase 2 years ago!! I am going to see if someone can help me with the information you added! Thank you so much!!
Gutter contractor here, those black ribbed pipes are a waste! Only use smooth walled pvc. I work 6 days a week re trenching and removing that junk due to them failing due to roots or freezing then collapsing.
As a professional gutter installer, BRAVO!!! Get the water away! Some homeowners dont like downspouts cut higher up but it helps to make sure water gets away from the home and nothing clogs up. Nice job!
I've used method #3 for our house. Instead of using corrugated tube, I went with white PVC pipe. Easy to work with, comes in 10' lengths, cuts easy with a hacksaw or recip saw. The smooth bore ensures little or no debris build -up. Working great for the past 3 yrs.
I really appreciate you men and thank you for taking the time off your busy schedule to teach people like us how to do and finish this project, is quit amazing.
I’ve done a few drainage trenches. A few tips: grade needs to be at least 2 inches per 10 feet. Do yourself a favor and rent a ditch witch if over 40-50 feet. And make sure you check with the town where drainage for a bubbler is allowed. Some areas are not for drainage and if it’s all clay water won’t permeate through it.
As a trouble shooter for a gas utility "IF" you choose to dig on your property anywhere especially that close to a gas service, underground electric service, water or sewer always get a mark-out. They're free.
Long time ago my neighbor’s husband put in a fence. Cut those roots out of the way. Turned out the “roots” were buried electric lines. Not sure why he wasn’t electrocuted. He managed to knock out the whole neighborhood. Took the workers a week to fix. Every day he came home from work they would all just stare at him. 🤣🤣. He later ended up working for FPL. 😳
In my experience, they often do not mark on private property, but rather mark where the utility hits the property line. The home/land owner has to guess between the property line and final service connection.
@@clsanchez77 two weeks ago an FPL worker came out and marked my sons back yard with flags and paint. 🤷♀️. We’re having to move their flags out of the way. They are out side of their right of way. They aren’t even accessing his property to replace the pole.
@@clsanchez77 I know in Jersey they mark public and private property as long as its a utility company's service line. anything after the meter, electric or gas is up to the home owner or business. for instance if you had a gas line and electric going to a pool heater and pool house.
for the record, I watch too many drainage/water/foundation type youtube videos (I know... bad hobby) but yours are one of the few that don't give cheap BS advice... good stuff man, cheers from the people and thanks for keeping it to the good folks!
GREAT resource walking me thru downspout install. FIRST time doing this so I have more questions than knowledge. What type of screw to attach downspout bracket to siding? THANKS!!!!
My house has trenched downspouts when I bought it from the previous owners. They ended up clogging and no matter what I did, I could not unclog them. I ended up buying comigrated pipe and leaving them above ground on my yard connected to the downspouts. It's easier to maintain, it's not the prettiest, but functional and easy to maintain.
When doing this sort of project, I'd suggest the very first thing to consider is the composition of your soil and the actual grade change of your yard. If your soil is similar to mine (dense clay that you could probably use for pottery), running a perforated pipe under ground expecting the water to diffuse into the soil is a mistake. Use solid wall pipe instead, it will also help reduce clogging. If the grade is such that you have a long slope running down toward the house, it might make more sense to just have the lot regraded to create a swale or trough and french drain approximately ten feet or more from the house. No issue with frozen inground pipe, clogged inground pipe, etc. If the grade is ridiculous, with a neighbors lot sitting well above yours such that all the neighbors runoff winds up against the side of your house, you should first kick yourself for buying such a house, then consider building a wall and swale/drain to divert that water at the property line. Btw, in most places I've lived the developers were required to create swales along the property lines to help divert and manage runoff from neighboring properties. JMHO.
I've got several of the problems you mention. The soil behind my house is so hard that it behaves more like rock. It is only somewhat squishy right after snow melt and then dries out rock hard. Moss is the only thing that grows on that soil. The house is placed on a rather steep hill. There's at difference of at least a meter or two between each lot. City bylaw prevents us from dumping roof water into the storm drain, or on the street. It needs to be managed on our land. Being on a hill with rock hard ground, you can guess what happens. It runs downhill into the neighbors yard, and into the next and so on. The best that we can realistically do is keep it away from the house. We dump our water into the backyard as that is the least inconvenient place for downhill neighbors. If I dumped water in my front yard, it would run straight into my neighbor's driveway which is sloped toward is backyard and against his foundation. That's a big nono.
@@ffighter6932 I would argue against that advice. Clay expands quite a bit when absorbing water and the problems that can cause can be just as severe as those created by water. I've got a retaining wall that got pushed out by clay because of a failed drain pipe.
Your step-by-step tutorial is so helpful. I am also reading fellow commenters below for more insight. I am not a DIYer, but it is good to know how to go about replacing the gutter system of my home, if I do plan on doing this myself.
Great channel! (pun not intended) 😉 The comments are great too! Here's to men ladies...where would we be without them. We need you guys. Thanks for being stellar!
You are such a great teacher/instructor with much detail which is so helpful to people like me that may not be super handy! 😂 You are just awesome! Subscribed! 🥰👏🏻☀️
I built a new nice one story home 14 years ago. I did not put under ground gutter channels because I feared leaks. Our tile guy who does our farm fields simply installed 6” round tile next to our house footings on each end of the house and that system runs way out into our fields. Never a leaky crawl space! But the downspouts out at least 5-10 feet away from the house I did above ground. Similar to your third drainage as we simply put a sleeve wrapped many times around the black tile and we put pretty River rock over it and covered the end with rap. It works good.
Awesome n helpful vid for downspout installation. As a suggestion when drilling, cutting, altering downspout etc close up shots of activity for most DIYs would be greatly appreciated. For example: screwing downspout or brackets. Kudos for upload. Anticipating ur next upload. Peace
I've done gutters and downspouts for over 10 years, the absolute best solution is to have hard plastic pipe installed, (preferably when the house is being built) also the ground sinks down over time so you'll want the pipe lower to the ground (about 6"). Usually the downspout is up that high because of a mistake and people don't wanna spend money on a new downspout or so the can "check for clogs later on" but that very rarely happens lol, thanks and have a good day.
Yeah, probably 20 years ago the city made us disconnect from the sewer system. We was under the assumption all downspouts had to be done. It wasn't until a year later, downspouts draining to sidewalks or neighbor's yards wasn't required to be done. 2 places pass over a sidewalk if the proper length was done. In winter I have rain running on my front sidewalk. The one on the left side only has 25' of buried pipe. That one can fill up on heavy rain days and seep around the adapter. I use gutter screens, so it's not trash being the problem. I need to saw the sidewalk in half, bury more pipe, then cover it to fix my situation. 🐀🐾
Great explanations of re routing the water! I just bought a home and found out the underground gutter drain pipe is busted causing water to get in the basement 😡🤦🏼♂️. For now I’ll go with option #1. I’ll reroute the water down to the drive way and plug up the drain opening.
I appreciate the videos you do Scott. I cannot dig where my 3 downspouts come out, so I have to use a 4 foot aluminum gutter extension to get it away from the house. What I would really like is for companies to make 48 splash blocks. I am tempted to make my own out of concrete to use. It has to be low enough so that I can still cut the grass with a lawnmower, and a longer one would be the answer because it could go into the ground that extra 1 or two inches at the end to allow the mower to go over them, So then it the pipe ever disconnects (kids, dogs, etc. stepping on it) the splash block would still divert the water.
Setup #2 contradicts the point you made about setup #1 about making sure you have the downspouts interlocked to prevent splashing. That second setup encourages splashing and worse yet sticks, leaves or animals to get inside and clog your system. I do like the mechanism how it folds up into the house I thought that was quite cool! I also agree burying that black pipe is not a good idea it is none where near strong enough, you would need pvc for sure.
I used corrugated pipe and did it all wrong my first time. Then I put in PVC with a cleanout I'll probably never have to even use and it made a huge difference.
About 10 years ago, the french drain or whatever it is, at one of my home's downspout, got clogged. The rain in that location would sometimes flood the side of that house by about an inch of water. There was no way for me to figure out how to unclog it. I did not even know which way it ran, underground, at least not without some sort of stick-camera, like what some of those plumbing services have. I don't have that luxury. So instead, I got a 20-foot flexible pipe that I attached to the bottom of that downspout so as to divert the water out 20 feet into our empty lot, which we own. I have not since tested if that underground pipe/drain is still clogged. But eventually we need to figure that out in case we have to sell that adjacent empty lot & then I would not be able to use the 20 foot water diversion into that area if someone else was to build a house there in the future.
I love your videos! They are clear, well thought out and totally helps a single mom like myself, who likes to work on these home improvement projects by myself at low cost... Thank you for all you do for us!!!
I'll be digging a trench with some schedule 40 pvc to get the water away. Shout out to Gate City! But for a temp solution I may try option 2 while prices are high.
Where I live it's common for homes to have pipes that connect to the main sewer line which goes out to the city street sewer pipe. So I have all my downspouts going directly into those underground pipes and out to the street. I keep the debris out of them by using a strainer with a tee so every once in a while I will open up the tee and pull any leaves off the strainer that otherwise would have gone into the pipe.
Superior #1 4" PVC! I ran 200 ft with three downspouts with 4" wyes & a 12" catch basin out to daylight dug down 14" used a 6 in beastly ditch witch. Corrugated 4" is second best.
You could just add dirt along the house to change the slop and put in an extension with splash pad. Unless you live in an area where you get a ton of rain , that usually is enough.
Permaculture solution: set up a rain garden near the downspout to put that rainwater to use growing food and other beneficial plants. Channel additional overflow to other such garden(s) set up along a path depending on the typical amount of rainfall. There's lots of online help for that.
yeah untill it rains for three days in a row and everything gets washed out or floods. The whole fucking purpose of the video is to NOT have water gather AT THE BASE OF YOUR HOUSE.
Awesome channel! You really do a great job covering projects in detail that help us get past uncertainty and into getting things done right. Thank you.
Your video's rock! so my issue was I have 6 inch roof gutters so when it was pouring out, the water was pouring back up from the bottom of the ground. I first thought there was a clog but after checking with a hose it was totally clear. I noticed your comment on making the connection inside the gutter vs outside so I will switch to that (makes sense) then I will also duct tape seal it and see if the water will now clear. If not, I may need a sump pump to push the water down the underground pipes.
Sir William here from Sir Williams Drainage and Waterproofing. As a professional Drainage contractor with 45 years of drainage experience, I would reccomend to not use splash blocks or 3 to 5 foot runners. Just a cheap fix that does not solve eliminating water around your foundation. Using corrugated drain pipe is also a poor way of addressing water coming off the roof. Poor design flaws is why corrugated pipe is cheap and fails after it becomes full of roof gravel. Tree roots will penetrate corrugated tile as well along with being blocked with leaves. Some love to talk corrugated cause they sell it. Truth is, corrugated drain tile is flexible and also bellies underground where water can freeze and damage it. Sure, it's cheap, but tree roots love corrugated tile as it's easy to penetrate with roots looking for water. PVC schedule 40 is the only product that should be installed and that's only after you install a 12" open grate catch basin designed to collect asphalt roof gravel before it has a chance to enter the drain pipe system. It can also be snaked with a metal blade, unlike corrugated pipe. Last, what most people forget to talk about is having a separation between the end of your downspout and where it empties into your catch basin. If your reading this and need a installation done right the first time, look us up in Michigan online. sirwilliamsgardens.com/?y_source=1_Njc0MzE2NzUtNzE1LWxvY2F0aW9uLndlYnNpdGU%3D
I think you missed option 4, which is better than anything you list in this video - correct the grading of the ground immediately around the house. I've found aggressive grading in as small as 3 feet distances is enough to keep water away from the foundation. I had a house where it was practically a swamp next to the foundation. The house next door was on a hill and the hill went all the way down to the foundation of my house. The ground was so saturated that it was permanently water-logged 24/7. Bought a lot of dirt and made an aggressive grade over the 3-5 feet I had between my foundation and the yard's fence, and it has made a world of difference. Since the grading I've had zero water issues.
3 ft isn't enough if you have a basement or crawl space. When such a house is built they dig a hole perhaps 6 or 8 feet wider than the basement footer. When they are done with the basement level they backfill. This means there is zone of soil around your house which is much less compacted than the rest of your yard. You need to to get the rain water at least a foot or two past this zone and let the grading (hopefully) do the rest.
If you use the pop up put it on a T with pea gravel in a hole underneath so it can drain the pipe out, or else it will sit full of water and not work properly.
Henri DeClercq, you are not the only person to notice the bag job done on the gas meter installation. Apparently the installer forgot to bring his tape measure or was too lazy to use it. You could also include the lack of using a level. Those deficiencies are just cosmetic issues to draw your attention away from the apparent lack of a mounting bracket to hold the meter to the house. That, I am certain. is a code violation.
I am thinking of doing a French drain around my home (very old and gets some efflorescence from the brick even with new gutters) I want to catch some of the water in barrels and have the downspouts go into the French drain and all end in a 50 or 2 50 gallon tanks like you have. I plan to put a small rock pond above it so overflow can have a place to go and dry out and give the birds and such some water too.
Thank you for sharing. Always helpful info! I am using extensions on all three of my downspouts, but one gets most of the water and it drains in a not ideal place. I'm planning on calling a gutter man to see if he can re-route more of the water to the back downspout that drains away from the house. Hopefully that will work. Thanks again! :-)
Excellent. #2 until I can get to 3. Before I a). Wash more driveway out. Or b.) End up with more craters in my elevated yard. Thank you. P.s. why not use a garden tiller instead of hand digging? It's too hard where I live to had dig even with a shovel!. Clay rocks
Im sure someone else has said this but I would never directly pipe gutters into anything, rather use an elbow to direct it to a catch basin. Even with gutter guards. Just as a precaution. Its easier to clean out a catch basin grate than it is to clean out pipes or gutters. Also as with what someone else mentioned, never use corrugated pipe. It crushes too easily and just ends up garbage when someone has to replace it.
@@simboy1984 no. Not in this context. An apostrophe shows possession. For example, if you said, “this construction company’s employees are the best”, that would be correct.
Son buenas ideas para alejar el agua de la casa. Donde yo vivo (Ibiza, España) todas las casas independientes recogen el agua de lluvia en cisternas, tanto para el consumo de la casa (con desinfección) como para riego
I bought a house with the larger-capacity gutter system and option 2 extended spouts. Each side of my house has swales to direct the water away. Great! The first time I lifted the extended guards in order to mow, they all broke off except one. I was so pissed. Have never known how to repair it and won't spend the money to have a gutter guy come out. I really wish you home maintenance or improvement YTers would share your location or USDA Hardiness zone in all your videos to help your viewers with context. I was with you and following along until you mention burying PVC - which I've read will freeze and crack in cold areas and may be a poor solution for those viewers. I need to be able to interpret these tips appropriately for my area/situation. I guess I should probably just assume you're in non-freezing zones. The Canadian YTers tend to mention that they're in Canada and the southern YTers don't seem to think of northerns at all. 😅 Thanks for the video.
Just a note! I noticed that your gas meter is not bonded and needs to be done by driving a ground rod and then bonding with a bare ground wire, an acorn clamp, and a pipe type ground clamp.
@George From down the hall but a professional should be aware of all things in the work area! Then suggest that to the customer!. An opportunity for a repair or installation to bring things up to the current codes.
We are senior citizens. Just bought a new house that has option #2. But when i raise the extension for the mower, it wont stay up, but falls back down right away. Can you recommend a way to secure it up temporarily? Thank you so much for your help and your very informative videos.😅😢
Would a Velcro fastener work? You can get small circle or square shaped fastener sets that have adhesive on them to stick on something - maybe the “hook” side on the downspout and the “loop” side on the extension. Then just pull the extension away from the downspout to lower it into position.
For option 2 that you did with the extension piece, I would attach a mesh metal screen over that hole you cut out. You don't want insects, bugs, squirrels, mice, rats or birds going inside and up into your roof line in any way. Other than that you did a great job!
My only issue with that corregated tubing is that it allows water to stand in the ridges, which can be a breeding place for mosquitoes. I have 2 downspouts like this in my backyard and the mosquitoes get pretty bad.
@@vhill4594 Thanks for letting me know. I was beginning to look because I have a portion of my roof, (too high for roof gutters) that is draining into one spot that I want to take care of. All of the “gutter” companies I had looked at so far seemed to be specialized to the roof. Best wishes on your project.
I am finishing up option 3. I have 3 down spouts with 4 inch PVC for each connecting into a 6 inch PVC to carry the water down hill for about 60 feet. I like your idea of a drain barrel at the end. What kind of material is your drain barrel?
I recently discovered that the accordion pipe connected to my down spout is buried but instead of running away from the house the previous owners had it running back towards the house. I'm new to home ownership but right away I figured that accordion pipe should not run back towards the house. I have moisture issues in my crawl space, could that be a contributing factor?
All of our downspouts are inside a large round metal looking pipe with cement formed around them. The house is brick built in 1936. I never see the water so I’m guessing it must be underground somewhere. Very dry garage and rec room so it must work well.
I would think water would gush or splash out of the pivot point in the gutter in heavy down pours as I would just put plastic and rock under the extended gutter run so no need to cut any grass under it.
I dug a trench out from my downspout and I throw organic debris in it. Mostly leaves. Hasn't rained all summer since I dug it. Waiting it for it to rain good, then figure out the next step. The house is below grade, on a hillside. I was just tired of the mess the downspout was making.
This is a great video. But I have a problem at the outside back wall of my garage that gets too wet, too often from gutter overflows during heavy rains and also a exterior water faucet with hose attached located on the same wall. This creates a situation where soil at foundation is constantly wet. Please advise what I can do to keep water away from my foundation. Thanks!!
Most people that have underground have issues with them down the line. Seriously I do gutters and at least 3/4 of the houses I do have roots clogging the pipe underground, I know because I clean them as well. I tell people just go with a normal kick out, it won’t get clogged in 10 years and then you won’t have to pay a ton of money to me to clean them
@@slatsgrobneck7515 yeah that’s the problem though, guys just want to get the job done and forget about it, people more and more are doing just crap work not thinking about the long run or what the home owner doesn’t see it doesn’t matter...
This production is mainly a showcase of the ''Instructor" and his oratory--not to mention his flawless good looks. His impleadings are all non-sequitur, of course, for house foundations seep because they are constructed improperly. In his case here, the use of thousands of masonry units--red clay brick--begets thousands of mortar joints, be one or be all that may fail, admitting rainfall and groundwater. His breathless dissertation of a simple subject is interspersed with cinematically sped-up motion attempting to illustrate the methods of solution. Amusing, though, as are all of the other machismo-handyman movies we're reeled into viewing. Tom Victory
I note what you say regarding fitting the downspout into any extension or elbow, and not outside, which makes perfect sense. But I am not from this country, so please excuse my ignorance. What I want to know is, is one end of the the downspout or extension bigger than the other ? I am just puzzled as to how one would fit over the other if they are both the same size ? You understand my question ? Or do you just squish it in somehow?
just the best channel ever! how do i manage the rain water off the motorhome roof next to the garage about onto clay soil 5' x 25. the slope is up hill to the back yard. i am adding a gravel pad but do i need a channel system or just sump pump the rain water away?
