Go to the FDM Canada SiteWe’re going to show you tips to keep water away from the house, utilize a catch basin for downspouts, and everything you need to look out for when building your roof runoff system.
We are going to cover:
- The importance of having an inline catch basin for downspouts
- Burying downspouts without bellies
- Maintaining your inline catch basin for your roof runoff system
What is a Belly in the Drainage World?
To better understand what a belly is when you’re building an underground roof runoff system, we’re going to pull a pipe out of the ground and show you. Here’s a downspout pipe that goes underneath the walkway and then comes back up. It’s shaped like a horseshoe, and it has no inline catch basin. That means it’s holding all the shingle gravel. You can see how much shingle gravel ends up trapped in the pipe when you build them with bellies in it and with no catch basin. This is the number one thing that takes out a good roof runoff system.
Look at the anatomy of the downspout pipe. You can see on the right side where it was connected to the gutter, how it goes down underground, and what it looks like now that it’s been pulled up. This pipe held that belly shape for the past number of years.
We’re going to show you how you can extend your downspout system when you have a belly in it like this. You need to have an inline catch basin to grab up all the shingle gravel. We’re going to go into great detail about how to set this up the right way.
Make sure you dig the trench low enough to lay the pipe out and have just a slight slope. This way, debris won’t be held up in the pipe.
We attached some of the royal blue, high octane armor pipe through the existing drainage pipe and connected it at the house so that we could get a garden hose in to clean it out.
We’re running water through the pipe, and immediately, there’s shingle gravel coming out. For the best results, you’ll want to use a leaf blower in addition to the garden hose. Putting a leaf blower into the pipe with the hose simultaneously running, the water and the 200-mile-per-hour air from the leaf blower, accelerates the turbulence. The turbulence becomes so violent that it picks up and suspends all the leaves, shingle gravel, and organic material that built up in the belly and was trapped in there for years.
Once you see clear water without shingle gravel, you know that your downspout pipe is 100% perfect. This is one of the tricks that the drainage pros use.
Buried Downspouts Need Inline Catch Basins
As a roof ages and starts to deteriorate, you’ll find that you need to clean out the catch basins more frequently. We’re going to show you why cleaning them doesn’t have to be a difficult process.
Our technicians put in an inline catch basin right at the end of the pipe to help prevent a buildup of debris. They also glued on a riser for the catch basin to ensure that it was level. While you can add as many as you need, we only needed one riser in this instance.
Easily Maintain Your Catch Basin for Downspouts
Now that the inline catch basin has been installed, let me show you how easy it is to take care of the shingle gravel problem. You just pop the four-inch drain grate off. You take your wet/dry vacuum and suck all the shingle gravel out. Then just snap that grate drain right back on. It’s the easiest catch basin for downspouts to install and the easiest inline catch basin to access for maintenance.
Why is this basin so easy to maintain? Because it was built by contractors, the drainage pros who know what you need to have a great system.
French Drain Man developed these inline catch basins and pop-up emitters to provide that great a downspout system for clients. We took matters into our own hands. It’s time that the drainage industry had better parts to work with and we’re supplying them to the world. We have an inline catch basin that all the shingle gravel falls in. We also have a hybrid pop-up emitter catch basin. During hard rains all the leaves and debris ends up in the catch basin. It’s also super easy to access the catch basin, making it a low-maintenance solution for homeowners.
Order Your Catch Basin for Downspouts
Shop the FDM store for catch basins for downspouts and several other drainage supplies including our DIY Drainage Kits
Inline Catch Basins and Drainage Kits
To learn more about how to install a catch basin to your downspouts and other outdoor drainage needs subscribe to the French Drain Man YouTube Channel. French Drain Man provides yard drainage services using purpose-build parts designed to be quality and low-maintenance. If you’re looking for the service in Southeastern Michigan, give us a call at 248-505-3065.
