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.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Using a rain barrel to water plantsDid this help you?
- 2Installing a rainchain into a basin away from the houseDid this help you?
- 3Elbowing the downspout away from the house towards the grassDid this help you?
- 4Running the downspout down the post and towards the streetDid this help you?
- 5Looking into alternative drainage options if digging a long, sloped trench is not feasible.Did this help you?
- 6Using underground SDR-35 pipe drainage systemsDid this help you?
- 7Replacing cheap corrugated pipes more frequentlyDid this help you?
- 8Using old fire hoses with adaptersDid this help you?
- 9Using PVC pipe without gluing the joints for easy disassemblyDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“During past rainstorms, I've used this flexible corrugated plastic pipe but its a pain in the ass to use and the plastic turns brittle and starts cracking after one season.”source ↗
“Dirt/debris/leaves and roof shingle sand always gets stuck in the bottom of the ridges and they always get clogged up too and get super heavy.”source ↗
“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 ↗
“when I go to compress it and un-bend it to put it in my shed, the entire pipe just snaps in half wherever the bends are.”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
- 4How to bury downspouts in a flat yard with no slope
- 5Why does the drain snake keep coming out the other drain?
- 3How to design a residential drain pipe layout
- 5How to stop roof runoff from missing the gutter and hitting the deck
- 3How to connect a second story gutter to a first story gutter cleanly
- 12Tree roots growing inside drain pipes