Down Pipe Dilemmas We May Face

You must have a minimum number of down pipes on your house, so there are enough of them to drain your eaves trough system during heavy rain. The most logical places do not always suit us best, although at Valiant Exteriors we find ways to solve your down pipe dilemmas.

Dilemma # 1 – How Many Down Pipes Do You Need?

The short answer to this pressing question is that it depends on the size and layout of your roof. However, you also need to factor in the diameter of your down pipes, because thinner ones carry less water.

As a general rule of thumb you should need one down pipe for every thirty-to-forty-feet of gutter run. However, you also need to factor in your roof area, roof slope, and whether your location regularly receives heavy rain.

Dilemma # 2 – Where Should Those Drainage Points Be?

You have several factors to consider before deciding where to locate your down pipes:

Where are the logical places in terms of your roof design architecture?
Where will the water go when it exits the down pipes at ground level?
How will meeting these criteria affect the appearance of your home?

However, those factors are not the end of your down pipe dilemmas yet. You also need to think carefully where the water will go when it reaches ground level, especially given the slope of the land. Good neighborliness can complicate the situation further, because you don’t want to cause flooding next door.

So many questions, but we are not quite done yet! You need to avoid creating water flows where people will walk during heavy rain. Or near the outside wall of a basement if you want to avoid damp. Just when you are thinking to have worked out a compromise, Dilemma # 3 can pop up and challenge your day.

Down Pipe Dilemma # 3 – Finding A Workaround

A client came to us with a dilemma the other day. My garage is attached to the front of my house, they explained. It has a gable frontage which forces me to have a gutter reaching out over my driveway at that point.

But if I add a down pipe there, then it could flood my driveway right at the point where the steps rise to the front door. Make me a workable proposal, they promised, and we’ll give the the job to Valiant Exteriors. They were well-pleased with the quality of the solution in our header photo, and sent us several welcome referrals.

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