Buried drains seem like a good idea at the time of installation, but they can cause serious water issues for your basement.
What’s a Buried Drain?
Any home with a gutter system has downspouts where the water from the roof is channeled down toward the ground. Once the water gets to ground level, you have several options. You can simply let the water drain onto the soil beside your house, or you can use some type of drainage system to transport the water further away from your home before releasing it.
Why Buried Drains Fail
A buried drain seems like a great idea, because it keeps the water away from your home’s foundation and releases it somewhere in your yard. When it works, it’s great. The problem is that it’s not very reliable. Most buried drains in Kansas are essentially built in a U shape
The downspout connects to a vertical section of drain pipe that goes into the ground. Next, there’s a section of horizontal pipe that moves the water away from your home, and then another vertical section that brings the water up to ground level where it can drain. Typically there is a pressure-activated valve at the drain opening.
In order for water to flow through the drain pipe, there must be more pressure from the gutter side (one side of the U shape) than from the drain side (the other side of the U shape), forcing water out through the valve. If the downspout from the gutter becomes a bit clogged, the gutter may no longer provide enough downward pressure to force water out through the release valve on the end of the drain.
If the water can’t move through the buried drain, it will find some other place to escape. Either it will overflow the gutters, or it will find a place where the downspout isn’t sealed properly and escape at that point.
Bottom line, these problems can result in water from your gutter draining right at your foundation, instead of away from your home.
What Should I Do If I Have a Buried Drain?
First of all, do not simply slice open the drain connection at the bottom of your downspout. Either fully clear your gutter and drain system so it works as intended, or completely bypass the buried drain.
If you decide to bypass your buried drain and allow the water to exit close to your home, make sure that the rainwater has a good path to move away from your home–what we call positive drainage. Positive drainage simply means that the grade around your home slopes downward, carrying water away from your home’s foundation.
If you’re concerned about rainwater damaging the landscaping around your home, you may want to put in a gutter splash block to help reduce erosion of the soil around your drain. Pavers can also work, but be careful about digging into the soil to install pavers, as this can actually create negative drainage.
Our Recommendation
Having worked with hundreds of basements, and having seen many buried drains, we recommend bypassing buried drains completely. They’re simply too prone to failure. Instead, we recommend some type of above ground drainage system, paired with a proper grade around your home.
Regardless of the gutter drainage system that you use, make sure you have positive drainage around your home. This is your best safety net against water entering your basement.