Draining water away from your home begins with a sound gutter system to carry water away from your home's foundation. However, other tips include adding extension downspouts or a rain barrel to keep your yard and home dry all year round.
You can dig a French drain around the foundation to carry water away from the house. That's just a trench with weeping tile (4'' corrugated plastic pipe with holes in it), backfilled with gravel, tied in to a storm drain. You can sod or seed over the top, so it doesn't interfere with landscaping.
For those without gutters, consider artistic solutions like rain chains. These decorative chains attach to your roof and channel rainwater down each link, creating a visually appealing water feature while effectively directing the flow away from your house.
Gravel can help if it is part of a coordinated strategy for drainage around the house. Placing gravel against the foundation could work if the water is piped away from the house at the bottom of the gravel bed. Otherwise it can conduct water TO the foundation, which is what you DON'T want.
Use the screwdriver or stop tap key to lift the cover. Lift out the frost pad. You may see your water meter with the stop tap beside it or just the stop tap. Turn the stop tap CLOCKWISE or to the right to turn the water OFF and ANTI-CLOCKWISE or to the left to turn it ON.
This can be done using swales, French drains, catch basins or downspout and sump pump extensions. These methods of rerouting can be combined together with capture and storage practices (see below). Whenever you are redirecting runoff, you must send it to a suitable outlet.
Drip Path
Looking to replace the traditional gutter system at your place? Enter the concept of a drip path. Drip paths, simply put, are a smart method that directs rainwater away from the foundation of your home without using gutters. It's essentially a narrow strip filled with gravel or rock bordering your home.
In a home the inside stop tap is usually located under the kitchen sink, but can also be in an airing cupboard or under the floorboards near the front door. You should be able to operate the valve yourself. Turning the valve clockwise will close it, reducing the amount of water passing through.
Create an outline of your berm and then dig out all sod and topsoil within the outline. Place a fill such as gravel or rubble in the hole and build up the berm to desired size, slope and shape. Keep fill about a foot or so away from the border of your berm as this area will be filled with topsoil.
Water is diverted using instream barriers such as dams , weirs, culverts, canals, and pipes that are used in the construction process. Water may either be diverted into or away from a waterway. This can significantly change flow and water levels.
Make sure you achieve the minimum grade (see above) and place 4-6 mil plastic sheeting on top of the ground and under landscape rock. This accomplishes two objectives: keeps water from penetrating into the ground and prevents weeds from growing.
Install a drain tile system – When it comes to controlling groundwater, a drain tile system is a gold standard. A drain tile system – which includes a sump pit and sump pump – prevents excess water from accumulating in the soil around the foundation.
The swale needs to slope at least 1 - 2% grade (1 - 2 inches for every 8 feet of length) to direct water. Create a depression to correctly direct water. – Use a v- or u-shaped slope from the center depth to the outside edges creating a depression. Place rocks, gravel, mulch, and/or plants within the swale.
Louvered Systems. Lourvered systems attach directly to the fascia board, providing a sleeker solution. This method breaks up rainwater into small droplets, sheds water away from the building, and removes the need for traditional gutters.
Vinyl is the least expensive material for rain gutters, usually costing around $2 per linear foot.
Yankee gutters are a type of gutter system that is built into the roof itself, rather than being attached to the edge. They are typically constructed from wood and lined with metal, such as lead or tin, to ensure they are watertight.
One way to ensure that water drains away from your home is by landscaping in a strategic manner. By utilizing rocks for drainage, you can keep water away from your foundation and your home.
Dig a Swale
A swale, a shallow trench, redirects water to a safe release area like a dry well, arid forest or pond. Digging a swale is an ideal way to direct excess water when it causes erosion on a hill or slope. A swale should slope downhill, and the trench should gradually get deeper.
This valve is typically located where the water line comes into the house, usually on an outside wall near the front of the house. This shutoff valve can usually be turned off by hand. Just turn the valve handle clockwise to turn off all water to the house. The other valve is located near your water meter.