Loading…

Shoutout to the inspector who pointed out my downspouts were dumping water right at the foundation | Atlanta Homeowners - Vivisector

brooket43•1mo ago

Shoutout to the inspector who pointed out my downspouts were dumping water right at the foundation

I noticed a damp spot on my basement wall near the back of the house in Decatur for maybe 4 months and kept telling myself it was just Georgia humidity. Finally had a guy come out for something unrelated and he walked the yard and asked me where my downspouts emptied. Turns out both back ones were dumping water about 8 inches from the foundation, so every rainstorm was basically watering my crawlspace. I had lived here 6 years and never once thought about it. He told me to add 6 foot extensions and re-grade that side since the dirt sloped back toward the house. Cost me about $40 in parts and a Saturday with a shovel. That damp spot has been dry since March. Anybody else find out something simple was causing a big problem for ages?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_alice22d ago

My dad spent two summers fighting a wet spot in his garage in Macon before figuring out his neighbor's gutter downspout was pointed at his wall, not even his own. The neighbor had redone their roof and just let the water fly wherever. Dad ended up buying the guy a $12 flex pipe and they joked about it over beers. @charlies37 is right that the grade matters too, my dad's yard sloped in and that water just sat there against the slab. Six years is a long time to ignore a damp spot though, you got lucky it was only $40 and not a new floor.

charlies3722d ago

My back downspouts were dumping about a foot from the foundation too and I kept blaming the rain. What got me was the gutter slope, the water was sitting in the channel and overflowing right at the seam instead of running to the outlet. I ran 8 foot flex extensions underground and popped the water out past the yard slope, plus I added a splash block at each end so it doesn't just dig a hole. That crawlspace has been dry for two summers now. The regrading part matters just as much as the extensions, dirt should drop about an inch per foot away from the house. Cheap fix that saves thousands later.