Drainage!!! Where Does All That Water Go?

We care about your house and will give you the best gutter system available, but we want to be sure you’re doing everything you can to keep your foundation secure. Did you know that an inch of rain on 1,000 square feet of roof amounts to about 623 gallons of water?! Your gutters are an important line of defense to keep this water from wreaking havoc on your home. They will collect the run-off from your roof and from there, the water flows out through the downspouts to the ground. But then what? Allowing water to puddle at the base of your home can cause serious structural damage.
We can offer extensions and splash blocks to help with this problem and get the water out farther from your house! Splash blocks are lightweight enough to move easily, yet sturdy enough to stay in place. Placing one beneath your downspout’s opening helps disperse the water away from your foundation. There are different styles and colors to choose from. A splash block does help quite a bit, but it won’t solve all your problems if your home has some more serious sloping issues.
Just as the roof is sloped to shed water, the ground around your home should be sloped, too. The soil next to the house frequently settles, so water runs toward the house rather than away from it. A slope away from the house of about 1 inch per foot near the walls usually is adequate. Slope the ground to carry water away from the downspout discharge, as well, and make sure the soil on the surface next to the house has low permeability to reduce infiltration.
There are many different types of home drainage systems available. French drains, for example, are basically trenches that prevent water from entering certain areas of the property. Channel drains are long, narrow grates that are often used in driveways. Area drains, atrium drains, and swales are other possibilities.
A drainage system below ground is another option and important step to keeping your home dry. A properly installed drainage system at the house foundation and under the basement floor will ensure a dry basement and eliminate saturated soil conditions next to the walls. A study of leakage problems showed that more than 90 percent were due to improperly installed drainage systems.
When an underground system is installed, many times there are drains above ground that can work with your gutters! We can be sure that the downspouts deposit the water from your roof directly to the drains and the foundation of your house stays nice and dry.
Call us at Prestigious Raingutters to take the first step and get some great gutters up and running. We give free estimates and service the Los Angeles and Ventura County areas.