We might think snow is pretty when it first falls, but once it melts, it can be a real nuisance.
Equipment
- Make sure to keep your gutters clean to avoid clogs. This allows water to flow freely to your downspout and be directed away from your home.
- Have your downspout drain extend at least six feet away from your foundation.
- Add extensions to the end of your downspouts to make them more effective. These can be easily and inexpensively purchased at a hardware store or installed professionally if you desire. Usually, -the piece is just an elbow with several feet of straight pipe extending away from your home.
Direction
- The ideal place for water to come out of the extension is on a sloped part of the ground so it continues flowing away from the house.
- Avoid having the downspout pointed toward a driveway. The water can freeze and cause a multitude of problems.
- Most importantly, make sure the water doesn’t empty onto an incline that slopes back toward your home. It will drain straight back to your foundation, potentially damaging it ad costing you thousands of dollars.
Grounding
- Overflowing gutters and insufficient downspouts can gradually destroy the ground near the foundation of your home and create soil trenches that trap water.
- If you find trenches like these, pack them tightly with granular soil that has a high sand content as these drain best.
- When packing the soil, add slightly less as you go farther from the house to create a slope at least three feet from your home.
In conjunction with your regular gutters, proper downspout draining helps drive water away from your home, keeping it safe from damage. At Keystone Gutter Helmet, we offer gutter helmets to stop leaves and debris from getting into your gutter in the first place, saving you half the maintenance.
Located in Reading, PA, Keystone Gutter Helmet provides the very best gutter protection system in the world today. For more information, call 610-372-4383.
