How to route roof drainage without underground pipes
Without an underground pipe system, you have to find an alternative layout to move rainwater away from your foundation and driveway. However, figuring out where to discharge the water is difficult due to the slope of your yard and a lack of clear places to run it.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Using a rain barrel to water plants
- 2Installing a rainchain into a basin away from the house
- 3Elbowing the downspout away from the house towards the grass
- 4Running the downspout down the post and towards the street
- 5Looking into alternative drainage options if digging a long, sloped trench is not feasible.
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Planning to bury my downspouts to get water away from the foundation and driveway, but I'm struggling with the layout due to the slope of my yard.”source ↗
“I'm putting up section of gutter here and wondering what I should do with the downspout. I don't really have anywhere to put an underground pipe in or anywhere to run it to.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 3Why does the drain snake keep coming out the other drain?
- 3How to stop roof runoff from missing the gutter and hitting the deck
- 2How to connect a second story gutter to a first story gutter cleanly
- 4Tree roots growing inside drain pipes
- 3How to vent a plumbing system or attic without cutting into a roof
- 6Why are my new gutters leaking from behind?