My neighbor swore I should bury my downspout extensions instead of leaving them above ground - was he right?

So last spring my neighbor Bob told me to bury those plastic downspout extensions about 2 feet deep so the yard looked cleaner. I did it for the front two downspouts, cost me maybe $40 in materials and a Saturday afternoon. Now 8 months later I had a heavy rain last week and one of them totally clogged with roots and mud, and I had to dig it all back up to fix it. The above ground ones I left on the back of the house still work fine and I can just pop them off to clean. Is underground always better or did I just get bad advice?

3 comments

3 Comments

dakota_miller9314d ago

Bob might mean well but I've read a few home maintenance articles that say buried downspouts need special drainage pipe or gravel to work right. Just burying the plastic extensions in dirt is asking for trouble with clogs and roots. The soil settles and water doesn't drain away fast enough. If you want them underground it takes a proper system with a pop up drain or dry well, not just shoving pipe in a hole.

brooke_murray14d ago

Dig a trench, throw in some gravel, actually do it right.

the_robin14d ago

Wait, @dakota_miller93, are you saying people actually just shove pipes in a hole and hope for the best?

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