Downspout runoff
Window Wells
Foundation Drains
Low Spots
Driveway Culverts
Installation Guidelines
Downspout run-off
To carry rainwater away from the house and avoid water seeping down basement walls and creating wet basement problems, use the Non-Perforated Pipe from downspout to storm drain inlet, street curb, or other disposal area. Or you can run it through a perforated pipe after it gets away from the house to leach into the ground.
Place an downspout adapter on the end of the downspout, and run non-perforated pipe to the disposal area. If a shallow line is needed from the downspout, a 90 Ell can be used. There are "TEE's", "Y's" and other fittings available for connecting two or more downspouts to the same line.
Window Wells
Basement window wells should be drained to prevent water from seeping down to the foundation wall and entering the basement.
The window well can be easily drained by running a line of non-perforated pipe from a drain in the bottom of the well to a disposal area. The use of flexibile pipemay be helpful in making grade changes and curves away from the well. 90 ells are available for extremely sharp curves. Using hard PVC pipe, you can use 90 ells and 45 degree connections to change the pipe's direction.
Foundation Drains
Wet basements are generally caused by ground water being either adjacent to or higher than the basement floor. To prevent the water from entering either the basement wall or at the footings, install perforated pipe in a gravel envelope completely around the house. The bottom of the line should be as low as the bottom of the wall or footing course BELOW the elevation of the floor, with a minimum slope. It should run to a storm sewer or other disposal area. Use 90 Ells to go around the corners. A "TEE" will tie together the ends of the foundation drain at the line leading to the disposal area.
For extremely wet areas or if you are extra cautious, fill the area inside the footer with crushed stone to a depth of 8 inches and have a hole for a pipe to pass through at one point in the footer. This will allow any water inside the footer to drain to the drain system outside the footer.
Low Spots
Use the perforated pipe installed in gravel to collect and carry water away. Drains like this installed up hill from the house can keep significant water from running down hill to the foundation, which in turn would have lead to a wet basement. In heavy clay soils, several lines of perforated pipe may be needed to speed drainage.
Driveway Culverts
To carry water beneath your driveway, use non-perforated pipe in 10"-36" diameters. Crushed stone, gravel or compacted soil backfill material should be used as the bedding material around the culvert, with aggregate size not exceeding one inch. The minimum heights of cover for these installations are as listed in the table below.
