Facts on Underground Drains

Searching for ways to channel water away from your home efficiently? Underground drains can be an excellent option. An underground drain connects to your gutter system to allow water to flow from your gutters. Water flows through the downspout into the drain that is installed underground. The purpose is to keep water from dumping near your foundation, and to get the water away from the home. How effectively they work depends on how they are installed and maintained. As a result, poor installation or a clogged drain can cause significant issues. Further more, these issues can even lead to foundation problems if they go unresolved for a period of time, or possibly with just one heavy Kansas City rain storm.

How Gutter Cover Kansas City installs underground drains.

The goal for the drain is to come out far enough away from the home. As well as at an angle where it will not return water to the foundation. In most cases we connect to a pop up drain. To see how a pop up drain works, refer to our blog about the importance of downspouts. The underground drain with a pop up moves the water away from the foundation into the yard. The pop up location is chosen where the grade of the ground carries the water away from the house.

The material we use to install the drain can vary. We use black, solid, corrugated piping, or for longer lengths a white PVC sewer pipe.  We prefer to use the corrugated pipe on shorter runs (20-30 feet) since it is flexible and allows installation at any angle.  PVC sewer pipe is installed in straight lines with 90 degree turns. In addition, the PVC sewer pipe works better with long runs and larger volumes of water.

Maintaining underground drains.

When a homeowner has an underground drain with a pop up, they need to make sure debris from the gutter doesn’t clog the underground pipe.  Other maintenance includes making sure grass doesn’t grow over the drain and block the water from exiting quickly. All these efforts can be useless if the guttering system itself is in poor condition, not working properly, or clogged. If you’re unsure about your gutter condition, please refer to our tips on gutter replacement.

Having a proven gutter guard installed over your gutters will help protect against gutter clogs ending up in your underground drain. Gutter covers that work, will not only save you time from cleaning your gutters, but also provide assurance underground drains are working properly.

Are underground drains the right choice?

In conclusion, underground drains can benefit your home, but at the same time the phrase “out of sight, out of mind,” comes up. Since they are not visible on the surface, it’s important that they don’t have issues going on unnoticed. If you have underground drains, have you ever checked to see where they go or if they are clogged? If you’re unsure how your gutter system is performing, consider having a professional evaluation.