I am Trying to repair a downspout and pipe. Started to dig up the gravel walk to find the abandon white corrugated pipe that was put in 40+ years ago. I found it, but it packed with mud and appeared to be breaking down (becoming brittle and breaking). The drainage pipe runs approximately 50' from the house and empties into a ravine behind the house.
Question's:
1.) Should the total length of white corrugated pipe be replaced ?
2.) Should a cleanout be added so that debree and clogs and be cleared ?
I'd suggest replacing it if it's collapsing. Get it over and done with. Make a mess once. Look for solid PVC pipe maybe schedule 40 or 80 depending on traffic over it. Look around for hand move aluminum if you're in a rural area. There might be some of that in the trees doing nothing.
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. This is probably overkill for the application but it might be the best money wise.
"blaster nozzle up from the ravine.": When I was a kid I use to know where the pipe came out into the ravine. Too many leaves, bushes and trees to try and find it now.
There might be some of that in the trees doing nothing. <-- Don't get it ?
No one answered about the clean-out, are those installed on drainage clean-outs ?
Mine doesn't have a cleanout. One side of the house has underground drainage, the other 3 sides have downspouts, splashblocks or extensions. And I did have downspouts plug with leaves and especially the oak catkins. This past year I upgraded the size of gutters and downspouts but haven't done anything about the underground ones.
I am uncomfortable with not being able to clean out easily or even check but I have yet to add either filter or cleanout.
I found this "review" (actually sales pitch for their product) interesting. The problems they find with everybody else's products are exactly what I was worried about. I just don't know if their own product works better.
Nice Video, Yes they are really bias toward there product. Looks like they almost set it up all the others to fail ?! I would buy if it wasn't so expensive. I am thinking about buying the $10 version at Menards and adding my own door.
It's not a whole lot more expensive than some of the others, and my time is worth something too, especially if I have to do something twice. I'm still thinking about it though, wish I could find some reviews, or they would sell on Amazon. And once I've cut the downspout shorter to fit one of these, I can't go back easily.
That would work. I have two concerns about it though.
It's not always easy to retrofit that. My downspouts tie into the underground right at ground level with an adapter. There isn't room to easily add the sewer type cleanout. On a new installation that would be a great solution. I really don't know why they don't do it.
Second, when a big clump of oak catkins does make it down the downspout, I'd really rather catch it before going underground. I can take the downspout down if necessary, though it's a pain, but the underground section is harder.
Second and a half, I don't know when either the underground section or the downspout gets a clog right away, because I can't see anything happening. With the other three sides of the house if no rainwater is flowing out the discharge, or even worse if a gutter is overflowing, I know I have something to fix.
A filter cleanout that wouldn't leak would solve both problems.
Update, I have changed my mind, twice. Sorry this is a long story. Bottom line up front, I need a filter. We had a severe thunderstorm, lots of damage in the neighborhood, and I saw that one of my downspouts was leaking at the top, obviously stopped up. On that end of the house, 30 feet wide, there are two 3x4 downspouts that go underground with no cleanout. So I took that downspout down and cleaned it, the elbow was completely jammed up. But I ran water down the underground pipe and it seemed okay. So, my mind changed, the clog is going to happen in the elbow and protect the smooth 4 inch pipe that runs to the street. There is no need for a filter.
But today I noticed some erosion at the bottom of the other downspout. The downspout was not clogged, but the underground pipe overflowed from a garden hose. I got to work with a snake, chipping away an inch at a time. After a couple of hours I had a gallon of debris - twigs, leaves, sprouted acorns, tangled roots from all of the above. It's not completely clear but it will pass water for today's thunderstorm.
So my conclusion: it isn't just oak tassels, even acorns are a problem, and so I need a filter and a way to clean the pipe. The elbows won't catch everything.
My filter and cleanout design is a 50 round ammo box. Walmart sells a steel one for $13 and Harbor Freight has a plastic one for $10. Plastic is easier to cut, but it may degrade from UV. When I get them built I'll share details and photos if anyone is interested.
The rest of the story. After my progress with a snake stopped, I called a commercial firm. One whose name you would know. They quoted me $1200 to jet and camera my lines. The blocked portion is in the 30 foot section between downspouts and then it's 60 feet to the road. So I went back to work with the snake, getting a little bit at a time and occasionally a big slug, and after about three more hours work I got it clear.
So to prevent this from happening again, I built and installed filter cleanouts on both downspouts. I used the plastic 50 cal ammo can on one and the steel on the other. The steel was much harder to cut, and harder to seal because of the dip in the bottom for stacking. But neither is all that hard to make, and painted white they look as good as the commercial ones at my church. For the screen I used pieces of the mesh gutter guards from Home Depot; a 3 foot piece was $4. I was going to go with half inch mesh but some of the acorns I dug out looked like they might have passed through. The filters have made it through a couple of downpours without spilling (like that rainman guy showed) Until fall they won't get a real test for catching debris, and then there's the oak tassel season in the spring. For cleaning I remove the covers. On the plastic one I removed a bit of the hinge from the cover so it still holds but comes out easily. The steel had pins in the hinge that I took out, and use a short removable rod to hold it together.
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