Outdoor Drain Maintenance

Water is a powerful source around the home, both, above and below ground. We often want to downplay this source, but it plays a huge roll to our homes over time.

This is one reason gutters and grading is important because you want as much water away from your home as possible. Keeping water away from the home helps prevent foundation problems and basement water intrusion. Today we will focus on drainage grates, but more importantly regular maintenance of them. I'll write later on different ways to keep water away from your home and the importance of doing so.

If you have a new build, older home, or recently purchased home. You may have discovered water may pool in undesirable locations, which is usually from the flow of water towards your home, or maybe your yard that isn't flowing away. One fix for this, may be a drainage system or grate to collect water and get it away from the home. Look at your landscape next time you are out... see which way the yard slopes in all directions of your home.....So great! You get that fixed with a grate system or something else... problem solved, right?

Well... yes and no... every so often you need to unscrew the grate and clean out the leaves and debri that collects inside... you guessed it just like the gutters... somehow those little grates seem to be out of sight out of mind when they are working right. This photo does not show it quite as well as real life but ours was full and water was headed towards the garage. So yes! It solves the problem, but along with all the other things to clean... do not forget the drain systems too.

Here is your friendly reminder to check those out this week. We have one on our driveway bc it used to collect water in one spot. Grate and drain works like a charm... yep until it clogs. Life gets busy... kids, grandkids, sports, holidays... all the other to dos... so if you have any drainage systems double check those to make sure they are flowing efficiently.. leaves and dirt do eventually clog them up. Friendly inspector reminder for the week.

Have a great week!

Adam