Last week or so I posted a question about which type of PVC I should use to bury my downspouts. A lot of you are nice enough to reach out and help me. I apologize but I have another question. Should I lay the PVC in a bed of stone, pea gravel right in the dirt or????? This will not be buried below the frost line and I am in aWI. Like I mentioned in my other post, I always overthink projects like this. Thank you in advance, it is appreciated
Should I bury my PVC downspouts in stone dirt or???
- Thread starter mc1984ss
- Start date
back fill with the dirt you dug out & call it done
larry4406
Well-known member
Bury the piping in your native soils and monitor your pitch at 1/4" per foot.
If grade permits, we slice the discharge end at 45 degrees to try to blend it in with the yard for a daylit end.
Our house types use 6" gutters with 4x3" downspouts. We use 3" SCH40 PVC for up to 2 combined spout connections. When the run is piped to add in the flow from a 3rd or more downspout, we transition to 4" pipe before the 3rd or more spout joins the run.
Where the spout connects to the PVC rain leader, we are required to provide a method for overland relief. We do this by installing a wye with a bug screen. Should the rain leader become blocked or overwhelmed, it can discharge out the wye and run across the ground like it would without the piping.
Sometimes when the grade is not conducive to a baloney sliced end for daylight discharge, we use a pop-up drain with a small gravel drywell below it. In this picture below, you can see the rain leaders left and right of the stoop with the screen for overland relief. In the yard, you can see the green pop-up drains with the pit below which will be filled with gravel to the bottom of the popup elbow. We use NDS Pop-Up Emitter. There is a 3rd pop-up on the left which corresponds to the sump pump discharge under the window.
The pop-up has a small ~1/4" diameter weep hole at the bottom which allows it to fully empty. During rain event, the water flow pushes up the center disk allowing the water to then run along the surface.
We sometimes also use a leaf catcher arrangement at the connection to the downspout. These get used when the site plan requires us to discharge into large underground dissipation systems (drywells, Storm Tech Systems, etc) that are cost prohibitive to repair should they get plugged with organics.
If grade permits, we slice the discharge end at 45 degrees to try to blend it in with the yard for a daylit end.
Our house types use 6" gutters with 4x3" downspouts. We use 3" SCH40 PVC for up to 2 combined spout connections. When the run is piped to add in the flow from a 3rd or more downspout, we transition to 4" pipe before the 3rd or more spout joins the run.
Where the spout connects to the PVC rain leader, we are required to provide a method for overland relief. We do this by installing a wye with a bug screen. Should the rain leader become blocked or overwhelmed, it can discharge out the wye and run across the ground like it would without the piping.
Sometimes when the grade is not conducive to a baloney sliced end for daylight discharge, we use a pop-up drain with a small gravel drywell below it. In this picture below, you can see the rain leaders left and right of the stoop with the screen for overland relief. In the yard, you can see the green pop-up drains with the pit below which will be filled with gravel to the bottom of the popup elbow. We use NDS Pop-Up Emitter. There is a 3rd pop-up on the left which corresponds to the sump pump discharge under the window.
The pop-up has a small ~1/4" diameter weep hole at the bottom which allows it to fully empty. During rain event, the water flow pushes up the center disk allowing the water to then run along the surface.
We sometimes also use a leaf catcher arrangement at the connection to the downspout. These get used when the site plan requires us to discharge into large underground dissipation systems (drywells, Storm Tech Systems, etc) that are cost prohibitive to repair should they get plugged with organics.
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I was going to ask if these are going to be daylighted but, damn, Larry hit it pretty good.
75gmck25
Well-known member
I've seen some pipe in the area where they cut the end at a diagonal, and they had a green plastic end screen that was oval-shape so it fit into a 4" pipe, and blended into the grass. The end pieces appear to be something you can buy off-the-shelf, but I've not seen them in the local stores.
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rsanter
Well-known member
May people like to lay a bed of sand or pea gravel down as an easy way to set the slope of the pipe.
you can do this or you can just use the native soils
you can do this or you can just use the native soils
Mike65
Well-known member
At a previous hose we owned in northern NJ we buried the pvc drainpipe & used the popup emitters in the lawn. They worked great.
Since the OP seems to be resolved, any recommendations for a ground level grate/inlet that has a filter?
I have a French drain/basin with a 4" pipe, haven't decided if I want to cap it or use a grate to allow excessive surface water (which I've hopefully fixed) in.
I have a French drain/basin with a 4" pipe, haven't decided if I want to cap it or use a grate to allow excessive surface water (which I've hopefully fixed) in.
larry4406
Well-known member
Not ground level inlet, put I did a house ~6 years ago that used 2 crocks in series with removable lids as stilling basins for downspout discharge.Since the OP seems to be resolved, any recommendations for a ground level grate/inlet that has a filter?
I have a French drain/basin with a 4" pipe, haven't decided if I want to cap it or use a grate to allow excessive surface water (which I've hopefully fixed) in.
Maybe you could connect a catch basin to similar idea.
Basin inlets were ported downward while outlet per ported upwards.
As effluent enters, debris settles on bottom and level rises then spills out. Same for the 2nd stilling basin.
From there it went to an underground ginormous drywell.
Yeah, my pic is the "ginormous drywell". 4'-5' deep, at least 3x3' at the base. Geotextile lined and filled with 3/4 crushed.
I put a 5 gallon perforated crock in with an overflow to daylight, then brought the stone up level and capped with a 24"x4" concrete lid. From there I folded the fabric over and capped with gravel and then 2" topsoil.
Idea is everything should drain into the well, if it backs up the overflow kicks in. Any surface water (this was the ponding spot) should perc through. Just debating if I want a drain in the top in case the spot still tries to pond during a downpour.
BombShelter
Well-known member
Sorry if I already answered in your other thread, I can't remember? I look at hundreds of these every year, most don't work or quit working a handful of years after the install. Up here we get weather extremes so I recommend 6" dia Sch 40, smaller diameters freeze solid when you need them the most. Do not use DWV or the cheap corrugated black pipe, they fall apart and crush. Popups are mostly useless after a year or so, the grass grows over them and keeps them from fully opening plus they just aren't big enough for big rain storms, again, when you need them the most. Rocks are good if you have a slope near the home and need to channel grade-level water away as well as roof water.
Cisterns are illegal up here plus most roofs would fill one up quickly, a 20' x 50' roof will collect 623 gallons (per inch of rain) divided by the number of downspouts. Underground residential drainage used to be against code here, it might have changed a little, they definately don't want you to dump it on the sidewalk, especially during winter. It's usually not an issue when you own the home but if you go to sell, realtors or the city inspector will make you dig out the system.
This is just my experience, it might be different in other parts of the country.
Cisterns are illegal up here plus most roofs would fill one up quickly, a 20' x 50' roof will collect 623 gallons (per inch of rain) divided by the number of downspouts. Underground residential drainage used to be against code here, it might have changed a little, they definately don't want you to dump it on the sidewalk, especially during winter. It's usually not an issue when you own the home but if you go to sell, realtors or the city inspector will make you dig out the system.
This is just my experience, it might be different in other parts of the country.