Dealing with runoff rain water is an important part of home maintenance and safety since basement flooding can occur if you don’t take it seriously. While there are guidelines you should follow to ensure that water is pushed away from your home’s foundation you also have to ensure it isn’t put into your neighbor’s house instead.
Downspouts should extend at least 4′ and preferably 6′ away from a home’s foundation when possible although the distance between houses may limit this. Ensure that there is a downward slope of 1″ per foot at least 6′ away from your home. You can also reduce water runoff with a rain barrel.
How do you redirect water runoff?
In the picture above, you see a concrete down splash for a water downspout. While this particular down splash only moves water away from the home by 2′ it does move the water away from the foundation of the home into lawn that is graded downwards. This downward grading ensures water continues away from the home into the lowest part of the grading and then down the lawn to the road and sewer.
This concrete down splash also has small directional bumps built the tray to slow the water flow down which helps to avoid damaging the grass with a heavy stream of water.
You can also used an aluminum downspout of various lengths or a plastic extendable downspout that can be pulled in and out for various lengths and twisted left and right to account for desired directional changes. With an extendable downspout, you can decide how far the water travels and in which direction.
How can storm water runoff be reduced around the home?
A rain barrel like the one shown above will collect rainwater to help prevent water from pooling around the foundation of your house and can also be used to water your lawn and garden, saving on watering costs. You can pay $120 – $180 for an actual commercial rain barrel such as this one or you could make one yourself with a large plastic barrel for less. Some local governments provide rain barrels for free to encourage water conservation.
A reasonably-sized rain barrel can hold 50 – 60 gallons (189 – 227 L) and larger units hold upwards of 90 gallons (340 L). Each will have a hose attachment like the one above at the very bottom of the barrel or some other emptying mechanism. You open the valve and gravity forces the water out so you can fill a watering can or simply use the hose to water your garden and lawn.
How much rainfall fills a rain barrel?
Every inch of rain that falls on one square foot of your roof will produce around 0.6 gallons of water. If your rain barrel collects every drop of rain from a 100 square feet section of your roof, a rainfall that produces 1 inch of rain would be enough to fill your 60 gallon rain barrel.
A 1/4″ rain storm on an average sized roof can produce enough runoff water to fill 3 decent sized rain barrels. In that regard, you can ideally place a rain barrel at the foot of each downspout or could attach a second barrel next to the first one to act as an overflow during a heavy storm if you find you easily fill one barrel but only have one downspout.
Rain water is healthy for plants and grass and rain barrel usage promotes water conservation, something that can be helpful in areas that have watering bans and water shortages.
Who is responsible for storm water runoff?
Each house is responsible for their own runoff water. Each home is entitled to not having their neighbor’s water running onto their property and you are also entitled to get rid of water from your property as long as it doesn’t land on theirs.
In general terms, a homeowner can be held liable for the flow of water from one home to another that results in damage. If the water flow was a deliberate act – the homeowner moved their downspouts in a way to promote this water flow onto their neighbor’s property – a further charge of trespassing may be leveled and liability for the damage could be further proven.
Keep your gutters clean and free
Another way to ensure proper water drainage from rainfall is to give your gutters the attention they deserve. This is particularly true if you live in an area with large trees. The leaves and twigs make their way into the gutters as is shown above and can block water flow down the spouts. Water overflows over the gutters and down near your home’s foundation.
Other than inspecting gutters in the fall before winter and in the spring as weather is warming up, you may consider investing in gutter covers as in the photo above to keep debris out. If you have a shingle roof, over time asphalt from the shingles will come loose from roof tiles and land in the gutter. It accumulates over time along with the leaves and twigs either from the wind or birds.
I once removed a tennis-ball sized lump of asphalt shingle debris that was clogging the downspout.
Summary
- Position downspouts so they drain well away from your home’s foundation – 4′ minimum but 6′ ideally – so long as they don’t interfere with your neighbor’s property or direct water flow towards their foundation. Speak with your neighbor if needed to coordinate.
- If you don’t have 4′ – 6′ of space between you and your neighbor’s house, consider draining your downspouts into a concrete down splash like the ones shown in the photo above.
- Make sure that your property grades downwards by 1″ per foot when moving away from the home. This ensure water runs away from the home’s foundation. A new(er) home should have had this grading done professionally when built but land can settle over time.
- Use a water barrel ideally at the foot of each downspout to catch rain water which can then be used for lawn and garden watering thus reducing your water bill.
- Water barrels can be a big benefit in areas with watering bans and with water shortages to take advantage of rain water when it does occur.