Most Homeowners Think the Downspout Solved the Problem

When water reaches the bottom of a downspout, most homeowners assume the gutter system has finished its job. Sometimes it has. But after decades of working around Denver homes, we can tell you the downspout is often only the halfway point. The real question is what happens to the water once it reaches the ground.

A downspout takes runoff collected across a large section of roof and concentrates all of it into one relatively small discharge area. During a fast Denver thunderstorm or a heavy snowmelt, that can be a surprising amount of water reaching the same corner of the property.

If the water moves away from the house, the system may be working correctly. If it sits beside the foundation, crosses concrete, washes through landscaping, reaches a window well, or enters a buried pipe that cannot discharge properly, the drainage system is incomplete.

If this is your first time hearing this, think of the entire system as one water path. The roof collects water. The gutter receives it. The downspout concentrates it. The ground-level drainage determines where it finally goes.

Page Guide

• Why gutter drainage systems fail
• Underground downspout drainage
• What poor drainage does around a home
• Drainage problems we see every week
• How Ernie’s Gutter follows the water
• Signs a drainage system is failing

Why Gutter Drainage Systems Fail

Gutter drainage systems fail when one part of the water path is overlooked. The gutter, downspout, underground pipe, property grade, and outlet all affect each other. Fixing one piece while ignoring the others can simply move the same water problem from one part of the yard to another.

Poor Drainage Usually Means a Bigger Water-Control Problem

A wet area near a downspout should not automatically be treated as a landscaping problem. The water may have started two stories above the wet spot. A roof valley may be concentrating runoff. A gutter may be undersized. One downspout may be receiving too much roof area. The extension may be too short. Or an underground line may simply be unable to discharge the water being sent into it.

That is why we diagnose the system before deciding what to install. If the gutter is causing the problem, burying more pipe will not fix it. If a simple extension moves the water far enough away, there may be no reason to excavate. If underground drainage is needed, the inlet, route, slope, service access, and final outlet should be planned together.

Gutter Drainage Problems We See Every Week

After serving Denver homeowners since 1978, certain drainage problems show up again and again. They are rarely caused by one dramatic event. Most develop because roof water has been discharged into the same bad location for years, an underground line was never planned correctly, or a simple gutter problem was allowed to become a ground-level drainage problem.

We see short extensions dumping water beside foundations, buried lines with no known outlet, downspouts feeding pipe that is too flat, water discharging across concrete, and gutter systems concentrating too much roof runoff into one downspout.

This is why a proper inspection matters. A quick trench estimate may only look at where pipe can be buried. A gutter and drainage inspection looks at the roof, gutter, outlet, downspout, property grade, and final discharge point so the correction addresses why the problem started.

How We Fix Gutter Drainage Problems

The correct repair depends on where the water problem actually starts. Sometimes a homeowner needs underground drainage. Sometimes a simple extension solves the problem. Sometimes the gutter itself needs correction before anything should be installed below ground.

1. Inspect the roof-water source: We identify which roof areas and valleys are producing the runoff reaching the problem location.
2. Inspect the gutter system: We check gutter condition, pitch, capacity, outlet locations, sagging sections, and overflow areas.
3. Inspect the downspouts: We look at downspout size, placement, elbows, extensions, and existing underground connections.
4. Read the property: We look at grade, lawns, landscaping, sidewalks, driveways, patios, window wells, and possible discharge locations.
5. Choose the simplest complete correction: If an above-ground solution works, there is no reason to excavate simply to make the project larger.
6. Confirm the drainage path: The goal is not simply getting water into a pipe. The goal is getting water away from the structure to an appropriate discharge location.

Not Sure Which Drainage System You Need?

An extension, underground line, gutter correction, catch basin, and French drain solve different problems. Start by identifying where the water originates and where it needs to go.

Sprinkler Company, Landscaper, Plumber, or Gutter Contractor?

This is one of the biggest areas of confusion for homeowners. A sprinkler contractor primarily works with irrigation. A landscaper may work with grading and landscape drainage. A plumber or licensed drain specialist may be required for certain regulated underground drainage work. A gutter contractor understands how water originates at the roof and becomes concentrated through the gutter and downspout system.

If the problem begins with roof runoff, the first inspection should include the gutter and downspout. Otherwise, a homeowner can spend money moving water underground without correcting why too much water was being delivered to that location in the first place.

Ernie’s Gutter evaluates the roof-to-ground portion of the system. If another specialty is genuinely the better contractor for a particular portion of the work, we would rather tell the homeowner that than pretend every drainage problem is solved by the same trade.

Downspout Drain or French Drain?

These terms get mixed together constantly, but they perform different jobs.

Downspout Drain: A downspout drain transports concentrated water that has already been collected by the roof, gutter, and downspout system.

French Drain: A traditional French drain is primarily designed to collect groundwater or unwanted surface water through a gravel trench and perforated drainage pipe.

If the problem begins with a large volume of roof runoff coming directly from a downspout, installing a French drain simply because the word “drain” sounds correct can treat the wrong problem.

We first identify where the water comes from. Then we determine how it should be transported. Finally, we determine where it can safely discharge.

For groundwater and saturated-soil problems, see our French Drain Denver information.

Simple Drainage Checks Homeowners Can Do

Before calling anybody, walk around the property during a rain or shortly afterward when conditions are safe. You can learn a surprising amount simply by watching where the water goes.

• Watch every downspout and identify where the water exits.
• Check whether the ground slopes away from or back toward the home.
• Look for soil or mulch washing away below downspouts.
• Check basement window wells for standing water.
• Look for water crossing sidewalks, driveways, patios, or steps.
• Watch roof valleys and gutter corners for overflow.
• If a downspout enters the ground, determine whether you know where the line discharges.
• Look for crushed, disconnected, blocked, or obviously damaged drainage components.

Helpful Homeowner Resources

• Downspout Drainage Systems Denver — underground roof-runoff drainage planning.
• Downspout Extensions Denver — when an above-ground extension remains the simplest answer.
• French Drain Denver — groundwater, low areas, and saturated-soil drainage.
• Gutter Repair Denver — leaking, sagging, overflowing, and poorly draining gutter systems.
• Seamless Rain Gutter Denver — where the complete roof-water system begins.
• Gutter Companies in Denver — questions homeowners should ask before choosing a gutter contractor.