A better solution is to have the downspouts discharge into yard drains, which most commonly consist of black corrugated 4″ tubing, shown at right. Dealing with the walkway can also be an issue the easy options are to create a trip hazard by running the downspout across the walkway, or a slip hazard by stopping the downspout short of the walkway, which will make for an icy mess in the winter. While the setup above is great for the house, some people prefer not to have the downspout extensions so visible. The photo below shows a nice example of a house with long downspout extensions carrying water a good distance away from the house. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: downspout extensions are important. When downspouts drain right next to the building, water gets concentrated to one location, which is usually worse than no gutters at all. Read on to learn how to expend your downspout in 10 steps.One of the main jobs of gutters is to direct water away from the building, which helps to prevent wet basements and foundation problems. It’s typically done in three phases: digging the trench, laying the pipe and backfilling with soil. Installing drainage pipe is a straightforward job that any homeowner can handle. Also, purchase a 16-ounce can of PVC primer and PVC cement for gluing together all the parts. What You Need for a Downspout ExtensionĪlong with the drainage pipe, you'll need an assortment of PVC elbows, T-fittings, couplings, adapters and other specialty fittings that allow you to connect together the pipe sections. For our installation, we used it to snake around a few large boulders we couldn't pry out. Some jobs will also require flexible drainpipe, which is invaluable for getting around obstacles or following uneven terrain.

The drainage pipe used for extending downspouts is non-perforated Schedule 40 PVC pipe with 4-inches-diameter. One surefire way to avoid such water-related problems is to connect the downspouts to a series of buried drainpipes that lead far from the house. But if the rain or melted snow channeled off the roof isn't carried far enough away from the house, it will collect against the foundation wall or footing and seep into your basement or crawl space. Rain gutters and downspouts provide an efficient first step in controlling roof runoff.

Downspout through sidewalk