Discharge at the wall
One downspout, one wet corner
Every storm, the same corner of the house takes the water from a whole run of roof, right beside the slab or the crawlspace wall.
Drainage for Southeast Georgia & the Lowcountry
Underground Downspout Drainage and French Drains
Gutter Solutions LLC installs underground downspout drainage, solid pipe that carries roof water to a proper outlet, and French drains for ground that stays wet, on the flat, sandy lots common from Savannah down to St. Marys.
- Solid pipe for roof water
- Pop-up or daylight outlets
- French drains for wet ground
- Utilities located before digging
- Lawn put back afterward
Get Your FREE Drainage Estimate
We look at where the water goes now before we quote.
- Roof water in solid pipeNo perforations near the slab
- Laid with steady fallChecked along the trench
- Locate request firstUtility lines marked before digging
- Cleanouts built inSo a line can be flushed
The problem
What happens when roof water lands at the foundation
A downspout that empties at the wall concentrates the runoff from a whole section of roof on a patch of ground not much bigger than a doormat. On a sloping lot, some of it runs off. On a flat coastal lot, most of it stays.
Erosion and washouts
Soil and mulch wash out of the beds, leaving a trench along the drip line and hollows under walks.
Standing water by the slab
Puddles that sit against the foundation for days soften the soil the house bears on.
A damp crawlspace
Water soaking in at the wall finds its way under raised homes, feeding mildew and wood rot.
Splash-back and stains
Rain bouncing off bare ground spatters mud up the siding and the brick.
Roof water stays in pipeCarried past the beds to the outlet
From our job photos: a downspout piped into a drain line, with the trench still open.
Underground downspout drains
Underground downspout drainage: solid pipe to a proper outlet
Short answer
An underground downspout drain is a buried, solid pipe that connects to the bottom of a downspout and carries roof water well away from the house to an outlet, either a daylight opening on lower ground or a pop-up emitter set in the lawn.
The downspout drops into an adapter at ground level, and the line runs in smooth-wall PVC with a steady fall to the outlet. We prefer smooth pipe to the black corrugated kind: it holds its slope, it does not crush under a mower wheel, and there are no ridges inside for grit and roof granules to settle in.
Where the lot falls away, the pipe can daylight into a swale or a low corner. Where it does not, a pop-up emitter sits flush with the grass: water in the line lifts the cap and spills out, and the cap drops closed when the flow stops. A cleanout near the house lets the line be flushed if it ever slows, and regular gutter cleaning and repair keeps grit and needles out of it in the first place.
Planning the lines alongside gutters roll-formed on site lets downspout positions and drain routes be chosen together, and a basin at the foot of an entry chain can feed the same buried line when you are swapping a downspout for a rain chain.
- Smooth-wall PVC, not corrugated
- Fall kept along the whole run
- Daylight or pop-up outlets
- Cleanouts for flushing
French drains
French drain installation for ground that stays wet
A French drain is a gravel-filled trench with a perforated pipe in it, usually wrapped in filter fabric. Water in the surrounding soil seeps into the gravel, enters the pipe through its holes and runs off to an outlet. It is built for groundwater and surface water: the soggy strip of lawn, the low side yard, the patio that floods after every storm.
That makes it a different job from a downspout line. Roof water arrives fast and in volume, and a perforated pipe running beside the house would let it back out into the soil exactly where you do not want it, so we keep the two systems apart. Which drain your yard needs goes into the difference in more depth.
Where a yard gathers surface water in one spot, a catch basin, a grated box set at the low point, can feed it into the right kind of line.
- Gravel trench, perforated pipe
- Filter fabric against silt
- Outlet lower than the trench
- Kept apart from roof water
Compare the options
Splash block, extension, buried line or French drain?
They are not interchangeable. The first three deal with roof water coming off the downspout; the last deals with water that is already in the ground.
| Compared on | Splash block | Extension | Buried downspout line | French drain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it handles | Roof water, at the wall | Roof water, a few feet out | Roof water, piped well away | Groundwater and surface water |
| Where water ends up | Just beyond the foundation | At the end of the extension | At a daylight outlet or pop-up emitter | At an outlet lower than the trench |
| Suits | Ground that slopes away steeply | Short-term fixes and sloped yards | Flat lots, beds and walks beside the house | Soggy lawns, low side yards, seep areas |
| Watch for | Water soaking back toward the slab on flat ground | Mowers, trip hazards, pieces knocked off | Needs fall and a lawful place to discharge | Never the place to send roof water |
| Upkeep | Re-setting it when it gets knocked aside | Re-attaching it after mowing | Keep the outlet clear; flush via the cleanout | Fabric and gravel can silt up over time |
A general guide. Which one your lot needs depends on its fall, its soil and where the water is allowed to go, and that is what the estimate visit works out. Before storm season, clearing every outlet belongs on any hurricane season gutter checklist.
Coastal conditions
Flat lots, sandy soil and a high water table
Across the coastal counties, plenty of houses sit on ground that barely falls at all. With only a few inches of drop across a whole yard, every length of pipe has to be laid to keep the water moving, and the outlet has to sit lower than the downspout it serves, sometimes at the far edge of the lot.
Sandy soil drains quickly until the water meets a harder layer or the water table itself. In the pine flatwoods near the coast that can be a short way down, and after a wet week the ground simply has nowhere to put more water. That is when an emitter sits full, and when a daylight outlet or a longer run earns its keep.
Where the water may go matters as well. It cannot be turned onto a neighbor’s lot, and tying into a street drain, curb or roadside ditch is a question for the city or county. We tell you at the estimate when that applies rather than guess.
- Fall measured before we quote
- Outlet set below the inlet
- No discharge onto neighbors
- Public drains: local rules first
The dig
What installing a drain line actually involves
The order the work goes in, from the first walk around the yard to the last strip of sod.
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01
Walk the water
We look at where each downspout empties now, where the yard holds water, which way the ground falls and where an outlet can go, then put the route, pipe and outlets in writing.
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02
Locate the utilities
Georgia law requires a locate request through Georgia 811 ahead of any mechanized digging, and the utility companies mark their lines before a trench is cut. SC811 does the same job in South Carolina. Private lines such as irrigation, landscape lighting or pool plumbing are not marked, so we ask where yours run.
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03
Cut and trench
Sod is cut and set aside in strips, and the trench is dug to carry the pipe at a steady fall, checked with a level along its length rather than judged by eye.
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04
Lay, connect and test
Pipe is laid and joined, the downspout adapter, any cleanouts and the outlet are fitted, and water is run through from the top to prove it flows before anything is buried.
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05
Backfill and restore
The trench is backfilled and firmed in layers and the sod goes back down. Expect a faint line in the lawn for a few weeks while the grass knits back together.
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Where the ground is flattest
Drainage work along the coastal plain
Somewhere else?
Drainage work covers all 27 Georgia counties we serve plus the SC Lowcountry. Find your county, or see all our gutter services.
Questions
Underground drainage and French drain questions
Still have a question? The quickest answer is a phone call, and we will talk it through with you.
(912) 202-0537Often, yes. Two or three downspouts along the same side of the house can join a main line, as long as that line is big enough for their combined flow and keeps its fall all the way to the outlet. A downspout that drains a large roof area, or one on the far side of the house, usually gets a line of its own.
Yes. The line connects to the bottom of an existing downspout with an adapter, so the gutters themselves stay as they are. If a downspout sits in the wrong place for a sensible route, it can be moved to a better corner as part of the job.
It has to sit lower than the downspout it serves, on your own property, somewhere the water can spread out and soak in without running back toward a house. On rural lots we also keep outlets well away from wells and septic drain fields. Where no spot on the lot meets all of that, a longer run or a different kind of outlet is the answer, and we explain the options at the estimate.
Only where the city or county allows it. Tying private drainage into a curb, street drain or roadside ditch is a local-authority question, and the answer differs from place to place. We will tell you at the estimate whether it needs permission, and plan an outlet on your own lot if it does not work out.
It can intercept water moving across or through the ground along your side of the line, as long as there is an outlet lower than the trench to carry it away. What it cannot do is send the water back where it came from or on to someone else, so the route and the outlet are planned together.
Yes. Gutter Solutions LLC plans drainage for commercial roofs as well: a large commercial roof pushes far more water through each downspout than a house does, so discharge is planned with the gutter system rather than left for later. See how we handle gutters for commercial buildings.
Free drainage estimate
Show us where the water sits after a storm
Call or text to book a visit. We walk the lot with you, work out where the water should go, and put the route, pipe and outlets in writing. A photo of the yard after heavy rain helps.
Call or text(912) 202-0537Photo credits: ArmchairBuilder.com, CC BY 2.0 · Red Moon Sanctuary, CC BY 2.0.