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HOW TO DRAIN RAINWATER AWAY FROM YOUR HOME

You can keep your home’s foundation strong if rainwater doesn’t seep into it.  Below are suggestions as to how to divert rainwater away from the house to secure your house foundations.  When rainwater collects all around the house, it may disturb walls, roofs, and landscaping.  It will seep into the wall’s base it can crumble your whole building within no time.

Your drainage system starts from the rain gutter.  If there are leaks, then your house won’t withstand a rainstorm.  If there are not large leaks, you can handle it with proper grading all around the house to slope away rainwater.

If the case gets worse, then you need additional drainage.  You need to install an underground drainage system.  It will be the permanent solution of rainwater to remove.  It is also a long-lasting step you can take.

Take a Look At Your Rain Gutter System

Invest in a gutter system.  If your home doesn’t have any gutters, consider investing in a gutter system—especially if you live in a rainy climate.  Gutters collect the rainwater that runs off the roof of your home and deposits it onto the ground.  A good gutter system will direct rainwater away from your home, which keeps it from leaking into the foundation and washing the foundation soil away.

• Most residential gutters are made from aluminum.  Aluminum gutters are affordable and will last a long time.
• Gutters made with vinyl, galvanized steel, or copper are also available.
• Unless you have previous experience installing gutter systems, have a professional install them.

Clean Your Gutters Regularly

To drain rainwater away from your house, you need to clean it after some time.  When you expect rain you take off debris and mud to clear it.  It turns dirty due when plants shed their leaves, especially in autumn.  It blocks the way to drain water.  You won’t invest a single penny to clean the rain gutter because it is a self-doing job.

Clean your gutters regularly.  Gutters should be routinely cleaned of debris at least once per year.  If your home is surrounded by a lot of trees, clean them out twice per year.  Inspect your gutters after big rainstorms, as well, since these can cause a significant buildup of debris.  Use a sturdy ladder to get up to the gutters.  Wear rubber gloves and clear the muck out of the system by hand.

• Follow up the debris removal with a good flushing of water from your garden hose.  Make sure the water is flowing freely out of the downspouts and remove and blockages that may be preventing this.

• If you prefer, you can hire a professional to clean your gutters.

Gutter Leaks

You may face gutter leakage when it is raining.  The first step to take against gutter leak is to check it well.  You need to point out the location where the sealant needs to stop the water leak.  Simply, you can apply any sticky material to handle gutter leaks.  The sealant you can pick according to the material of the rain gutter.

Invest in a New Gutter System if Needed

Invest in an adequate system, make sure it’s installed correctly and get a good warranty.  Your supports should be two feet apart, and the back of the gutter should be behind the roof flashing so that water doesn’t leak between the gutter and the fascia board. Finally, always use oversized downspouts.  Whether you have an old system or you’re buying a new system, the huge plus for gutters is oversized downspouts.  Even if your gutters are clean, you’ve got a lot of weight in them during the rain.  Excess weight can cause gutters to sag, pull away from the house, or become bent. Oversized downspouts drain much faster and don’t clog as easily.  Standard downspouts are two inches by three inches, and oversized downspouts are three by four.  They’re only an inch wider each way, but if you do the math, you’re doubling the square inches of outlet.

Take a Look at Downspout System

You can follow up to three downspout drainage options there.  Your gutter will be functional if there is a standard downspout.  You can drain rainwater away from your house with effective down water drainage.  The rain gutter functionality depends on the quality, structure, and material of the downspout.

Proper Inspection of Downspout

If you get sufficient knowledge on how to divert rainwater away from your home.  Check it from the gutter to the ground, if you notice any leakage or crack in the drainpipe.  You can apply adhesive material to stop leakage.  If it doesn’t work,  then replace it otherwise it may endanger your wall’s foundations.  If it is less than six feet, you must add an extension to the downspout. It will help to keep your house walls safe and there will be less possibility for resin water to seep into foundations. Anyhow you can get the downspout extension from any local hardware store.

Extending Downspouts 

For this, you need to measure its distance from the wall foundation.  Its distance from the wall is directly proportional to foundation safety . If it is less than 6 feet, you must add an extension to the downspout.   You can purchase downspout extensions with the required elbow, from any local hardware store.  It would cost an at a reasonable price.

Permanently Drain Rainwater Away From Home

If after improving rain gutters and downspout, you aren’t getting rid of rainwater away from your home, now it is the time to invest more budget.

Make a Trench Drain

You can manage to drain ground flood easily with trench drain terminology.  It is a trend to install trench drainage systems to manage wet weather.  It will collect rainwater while using the gravity force of the earth.  You can add filters within it to catch debris from waterflood.  Sometimes it comes with an outer cover to retain your house attraction.  It is the best option for concrete areas such as streets, parking lots, sidewalks, etc.  While using trench you can direct rain flood towards your desired location.

Make a French Drain

It was invented back in the 1800s by Henry Flagg French The president of Massachusetts (agricultural college).  You can adopt this best and costly technique to divert rainwater away from the house.  A French drain is a perforated pipe that acts to collects groundwater from all around.  When it catches water then it channels it away from the ground.  However, you can carry a French drain toward a septic tank or dry well to get rid of excess water.  You must cover it with gravel or rocks to keep water flow as a mystery.  This gravel will act as a filter to groundwater.

Increasing Ground Slope

Even after adding an extension still, your foundations are in danger.  You can handle it with a gentle ground slope.  The pack of soil wouldn’t let the water reach the building foundation.  Most of the building owner sows grass seed near the wall.  When it germinates, as a result, it provides sufficient blockage for rainwater penetration.

Proper Grading

If you aren’t satisfied with the french drain and trench drain, your ground would have a dire need of grading.  Most of the drainage issues arise from improper grading levels. It would encourage rainwater to drain effectively toward the drainage system.  If your ground needs a slight grade, then you can do it yourself within few hours. If it is impossible then you would a grader to grade the ground surface.  It will cost but it enables your lawn to well come downpour.

Extras To Divert Rainwater Away From House

You take some extra measures to fix the problem.  Your few presentation steps can subside major devastation in a rainstorm.  Some of them are as under.

Leak proof The Entire Building

You need to search frantically for leaks around the walls.  If you do so you can boost up your building safety from rain. Leak proofing can minimize rainwater to collect inside the home.  That way you can prevent your house interior from excess water.  You can apply caulk for small holes and hydraulic cement for larger gaps.  The same is the case with the roof and ceiling.  So, inspect all over for better results.  Your minute care can bring better results regarding rainstorms.

Rain Garden

You can adapt this technique to tackle harsh weather.  Your garden must contain plants that have the capability to absorb more water. In this way, you would have two major benefits.

• It would beautify your apartment besides proper shelter and the fragrance of flowers.

• Rain gardens would absorb much water while raining. If you divert groundwater towards the garden.

Summary

It isn’t just too scared of rain merely for drainage.  You can handle it with a little bit of knowledge.  As there are stages for the drainage system.  At the first stage, you need rain gutter care.  The next stage is downspout care.  If you search to divert rainwater away from your house surroundings, then you can install a Trench drain, French drain, or Sump pump.