# Odd situation



## peteo (Jan 8, 2011)

Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday weekend:thumbup:

I am spending my Labor Day in front of a calculator and trying to figure an estimate. I'm bidding a downspout job for a friend and its a tight area. There is no storm sewer in front or back of the house to tie into and there doesn't seem to be enough fall to make it to daylight. Maybe some others can give a little insight.

1) First problem is there are 6 downspouts on this house plus a sump line and a garage drain. There is no way all of that will be handled by a 4'' line so I figure I have to jump to 6'' which is no big deal. As always cost is a big factor so I thought maybe run twin 4'' lines in the same ditch. The difference in price is considerably cheaper than running one line with the 6'' pipe. 

2) The second and more important problem is there is only about 2' maximum of fall between the house and the street. I measured everything and figure I need almost 38'' of fall at 1/8'' per foot to make the pipe drain. My only other option is to run the pipes across the neighbors yard to the township catch basin at the corner which supposedly I have permission from the neighbor to do as long as we restore the yard. Maybe I figured it wrong but I ran the numbers again and again and kept coming up with 37.5''. 

.125''x300'=37.5'' of fall. 

3) In regards to the neighbor, do I need to have them sign the contract as well or get them to sign some sort of written permission? Typically in my town there are more than enough ways to drain water but this particular job is different and we don't ever come across this problem. 

Before anyone suggests it, there is no way a dry well is possible. It won't work with all the clay soil that the property sits on.


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## dayexco (Mar 4, 2006)

if you run 8" at 3 tenths per hundred, you're only using up less than a foot of slope. digging doesn't really change, labor changes a little...you add approx $350 in material costs in 8" vs. twin 4's.


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## Fargo03 (Aug 25, 2011)

With all the drainage litigation in CA I would NOT run the lines across the neighbor's yard!.

Can you create a swale on the property close to the street and fill it with rip-rap? then have an overflow that takes it to the street on heavy flow days?


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## rino1494 (Jan 31, 2006)

It is a downspout, you do not need pitch. Just as long as the end of the pipe is free and clear, there will no be backup. When doing that, make sure the stand up pipes where you connect to the downspout are high enough. If not, in a heavy rain, when the water travels down and hits the 90, it can splash back up and out of the pipe. You could use (2) 45's to help with this. 

Also, if there is alot of roof surface area, we will run multiple 4" lines. We rarely use 6".

Also, I noticed that you are in PA. Just so you know, you cannot legally direct any water in a pipe towards a Penndot right-of-way with out a permit. If you chose to do so, you need to hire an engineer and do a hydrology study. Penndot is getting strict on additional water on their roadways.


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## peteo (Jan 8, 2011)

Rino, 

If there is no pitch then I am relying on the stand pipes to create enough head pressure to push the water over 300'. I don't see how it will happen. Also fortunately for us the road and the storm sewer is a township system and not a PennDot system. I already talked to the township engineer and he said as long as the neighbor will comply there is no problems as far as he is concerned. After coming up with the final price I doubt the HO is going to go and actually do the job anyway.


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## rino1494 (Jan 31, 2006)

You are not relying on head pressure, merely gravity. It works the same way as a footer drain. Either way, you said that you have 2' of pitch. You have no worries.


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## greg24k (May 19, 2007)

You should not have any problems with a 4" pipe to handle one house run-off.


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## Cuda (Mar 16, 2009)

rino1494 said:


> You are not relying on head pressure, merely gravity. It works the same way as a footer drain. Either way, you said that you have 2' of pitch. You have no worries.


Problem with flat lines is the water runs out yea but after years of sand and dirt from the roof drain leaders the solids don't flow out and build up, Some grade makes the solids have more of a chance to make it through the system. And the choice of pipe plays a big role, if smoothwall 35 is used the solids will flow better even flat but with most guys cutting costs and using black corrugated then you get troubles.


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## glkirk (Nov 27, 2011)

rino1494 said:


> You are not relying on head pressure, merely gravity. It works the same way as a footer drain. Either way, you said that you have 2' of pitch. You have no worries.


What is a "Footer" drain?
Is it the same as a "Footing" drain?


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