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We are soon closing on a house built in the 50s that has beautiful landscaping and has downspouts which nestle into openings for underground drains. The look is very attractive--we wish to keep it this way and have the clogged downspout drains cleared.
We are first-time homeowners, moving from out of town, so we are not familiar with what sort of contractor to call and who that might be in the Chapel Hill area. Do we call a Roto Rooter type service or are they only for indoor plumbing? I imagine we want a licensed/certified professional to do this.
Can anyone please help with advice or recommendations as to who to call? I have tried this forum's search as well as Google, but I am doing poorly.
Thank you for your help!
Lana
PS, the sellers will not take care of this. We tried. Their solution was to divert the downspout onto the sidewalks around the house. Ick!
What about just taking a water hose and place it in the top end where the gutter meets the down spout and just flush it out?
It's not the gutters but the underground drains that are the problem.
The underground drains around the house run downhill probably 30 feet or more to get to the city storm drains. I would not be surprised if they have been clogged for years. I think some sort of snaking or roto-clearing needs to happen. There is probably a combination of pine needles from the roof/gutters and tree roots along the way of the drain pipe that are clogging the lines.
Im not sure the cost of labor to find the problem would be more than just laying a new flexible drain pipe but it could be an alternative.
I have seen some flexible pipes with holes down the pipe to let some of the water seep to ground and provide water. http://img2.timeinc.net/toh/i/a/plum...wnspout-10.jpg
I bought several sections of PVC, attached them and rodded out my drain to the back yard - that worked for me. Depending on the size, PVC is fairly flexible and cheap. A child's ball was stuck in the drain line. However I didn't have to make any right angles.
It's not the gutters but the underground drains that are the problem.
The underground drains around the house run downhill probably 30 feet or more to get to the city storm drains. I would not be surprised if they have been clogged for years. I think some sort of snaking or roto-clearing needs to happen. There is probably a combination of pine needles from the roof/gutters and tree roots along the way of the drain pipe that are clogging the lines.
Lana
So is it an underground drain that runs to the city storm drain? Or does it run to a french drain in your yard?
And given updated codes and concerns regarding storm water run off can your current drain still run into the city storm drain? I'm not familar w/ codes around here. But since storm water run off is a concern sometimes cities grandfather in these sort of set ups. But once repair is needed the drain has to be brought up to current code, which sometimes means installing a french drain or some other means to disconnect your storm water run off from the sewer system. Installing a french drain is not hard... digging the whole is the hardest part.
Scaredgrooves (C.D. resident home inspector) would be a good person to run this by.
PS Congrats on the house!!!
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