downspout drainage question

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bgaviator

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Hello,
My house, which sits atop a steep hill, needs to have some of the downspout drainage fixed. One of my downspouts, the previous owners installed just a small section of corrugated pipe, but didn't run it all the way to the side of the hill. Now there is a small sinkhole developing where the water dumps out. The other downspout just off to the side of this one just had some rubber dispersion thing that is now all torn up. I had a foundation company tell me they could link the two downspouts with corrugated pipe, then run the pipe out to the side of the hill and install a pop-up drain. They want close to $700 to do this.

I am not very handy, but part of me feels i can easily do what they were talking about doing for much cheaper. I would just like some advice on what I need to use. Also, if I do install a popup drain on the side of the hill, I'm worried about the amount of water that might flow out. My neighbor's house/yard sits at the base of this hill. The foundation company was going to run the pipe a much longer length and have it flow out the backside of my hill so all the water would stay on my property, but that's probably going to be more time and skill than I want to mess with. I'm just wondering if I could get away with running a pipe straight out from the downspout, and install that pop-up drain on the side of the hill. But I don't want to piss my neighbor off! Any advice is appreciated. I am including some pictures so everyone can see what I'm working with.

downspout 1.jpg

downspout 2.jpg

downspout 3.jpg

downspout 4.jpg
 
In that first picture is that the front left of the house corner where looking at?
If so what's at the back of the lot?
Reason I ask is, is it possible to run that drain in that direction and have it drain to daylight instead of down that hill?
I see some possible issues.
By having that mulch and landscaping timbers up against the foundation like that it's holding in moisture right up against the foundation. First place I used to look when inspecting for termites and mortar damage.
Not a big fan of pop up drains, there likely to stick at some point and cause the whole line to back up.
No idea why in your case they wasted there money on that cheap plastic piece at the bottom of the down spout.
Down spout should have been longer running into a drain adaptor screwed into corrugated pipe.
 
Hey BG, I'm with you. It's just a matter of manual labor and how much you can handle. The bigger problem as was already stated, is finding a good place to send the water. You have a neighbor downhill on one side; what's on the other three sides?
 
This is from the front of my house looking back. The hill on the side all steeply slopes towards my neighbor. If I run the pipe all the way to the back corner, the water would stay in my yard. I worry about dumping it out onto the hill though as I'm afraid it could erode away the hill.....and since my house sits on top of that, I don't want any possible instability! I already fret enough about it! The foundation company wanted to run it down the hill, but towards the back so the water would stay on my property and not flow towards my neighbor. I think that's why it was going to cost so much cause of the length they would have to run.
 
Is there anything I could add at the end of the corrugated pipe once I got it more off to the side to where it would disperse the water more slowly and gently over a greater area, rather than dumping it in one place at a high rate? I would be worried no matter where the pop-up drain would be, that it would possibly erode away the dirt after awhile. If there would be something that would disperse the water and allow it to trickle out slowly maybe that would work?
 
You can always run the cheap corrugated pipe using a perforated/slotted type once you are away from your house (a reverse french drain). In doing this, you are dissipating the water over large area slowly.

If you are in a cold climate, I would use the superior rigid pvc pipe (solid and perforated) depending on the location since it drains better/faster on your property and is not subject to the ridges that allow fines to collect and does not have the usual "bellies" common in most installations.

Dick
 
That's what I was kind of thinking, running a solid pipe out, and once I got to the hill, transitioning to a perforated one. Do you think I should run the perforated section straight out, or right angle it so it's lengthwise across the hill? I thought if it was lengthwise, the water would more slowly flow out over a wider area. I'm concerned about washing away the ground if I have the water flow out too fast in any one area.
 
Despersing it on top of the grass may be the better idea.
It is hard to say what to do do without knowing the stability of the hill.
Are you on a city sewer system or a septic tank?
 
I finally got around to filling in the huge hole left by the previous owners not running the downspout away from the house. I bought a flexible solid corrugated pipe. I need to attach in another downspout with another pipe and use a y connector.

I am still not sure what the best way to go about dispersing the water after this.
Our ground is extremely soft, especially right now in the winter when it's been so wet. I had to fill in a really deep hole that formed where the downspout stopped by the house, then I found another deep house on this hill, just below these landscaping timbers.

I could either a), transition to a french drain and run it under ground......maybe run it perpindicular to the across the hill so the water flow slows down and disperses underground.
b) dig a dry well.....I've seen videos on this......it looks like a real pain, as I don't want to have to dig down that deep, especially on my hill and not fully knowing how stable the dirt is.
c).....just run the solid pipe underground, and then put in a pop-up drain and have the water gush out down the side of the hill. I'm afraid the force of the water will create erosion issues though. Do they make any pop up drains that slow down the speed of the water on exit? I'm open to all of your ideas. Thanks.

drain 1.jpg

drain 2.jpg

drain 3.jpg

drain 4.jpg
 
I'd be shy about anything that would slow down the dispersal- except for a properly installed dry well. If you restrict the flow, the water stays in the pipe and will backup to a seam...or blow it's own opening. The water has to flow out at the same rate that it enters or be stored someplace. have you considered rain barrels? Or possibly running the water out to the street?
 
On a side note, have you protected that little wood garden wall? With the pipe going under the corner, I suspect that it might get undermined if there isn't stone or fabric behind it.
 
I have not done anything to that wall....I'm just trying to get the big issues fixed first.
 

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