Rain-barrels
As of today both of our rain-barrels are hooked-up the way they should be hooked-up and ready to take new water when it pours through the house's downspouts.
It has been quite a journey when early this year it was made obvious to us that we needed to fix our old gutters to protect our foundation from water. That meant some branch and some tree removal, then repair of some of the wood which would support the gutters, then installation of the gutters with a provision to hook up rain barrels, then my installation of the rain-barrels.
I did not think that my installation was good enough: the rain-barrels were not level and not high enough. I felt a professional could do better...and we were told by one contractor that when all of the other changes we needed in our yard were done that he could properly install the rain-barrels,too.
The landscaper connected the rain-barrels, but not high enough and also drilled an extra hole in each. Also, the downspouts were not part of a closed system and involved an open dry-well concept very close to the foundation. The contractor came back and fixed the dry-well related problems (although the buried dry well and connections were not deep enough, causing problems with the back lawn which I expect I won't be able to fix until 2013).
Since then I have been working to make sure those extra holes on the rain-barrels were sealed and that the rain-barrels were level and placed high enough.
Turns out the rain-barrels were placed on a single 24-inch slab which was only on dirt as quickly leveled by their machines. No care was taken to build up from a more solid base aligned with the foundation level of the house. So I have had to dig out the areas where each rain-barrel sat, add level sand, then drop the 24-inch slab and add 4 19 inch slabs on top to provide the correct-height pedestal for each barrel.
Today I took the final step in replacing one broken slab that I had previously used for our northwest rain-barrel and then adding an additional slab for height.
Now both rain-barrels are ready to get new water. High time: we may get some rain tonight or tomorrow.
I still have some other tasks to completely seal the roof drainage system and prevent water near the basement:
* Tighten the bands around the northwest downspout.
* Add a band to the southeast downspout.
* Design and construct "hats" around 4 places where the downspout meets diverters to prevent debris from entering the system and prevent leakage.
* Caulk any screw holes or seams where water leaks.
The only other big water issue to address after that is our kitchen sink drainage. The drain pipe needs to be replaced. Currently it is rusted out and leaks like a sieve near the southeast corner. I put a trough diverter to keep that away from the house, but the real solution will be to task a plumber to fix this. I will wait to do that until I clean up the basement and have enough money to get the job done correctly.
It has been quite a journey when early this year it was made obvious to us that we needed to fix our old gutters to protect our foundation from water. That meant some branch and some tree removal, then repair of some of the wood which would support the gutters, then installation of the gutters with a provision to hook up rain barrels, then my installation of the rain-barrels.
I did not think that my installation was good enough: the rain-barrels were not level and not high enough. I felt a professional could do better...and we were told by one contractor that when all of the other changes we needed in our yard were done that he could properly install the rain-barrels,too.
The landscaper connected the rain-barrels, but not high enough and also drilled an extra hole in each. Also, the downspouts were not part of a closed system and involved an open dry-well concept very close to the foundation. The contractor came back and fixed the dry-well related problems (although the buried dry well and connections were not deep enough, causing problems with the back lawn which I expect I won't be able to fix until 2013).
Since then I have been working to make sure those extra holes on the rain-barrels were sealed and that the rain-barrels were level and placed high enough.
Turns out the rain-barrels were placed on a single 24-inch slab which was only on dirt as quickly leveled by their machines. No care was taken to build up from a more solid base aligned with the foundation level of the house. So I have had to dig out the areas where each rain-barrel sat, add level sand, then drop the 24-inch slab and add 4 19 inch slabs on top to provide the correct-height pedestal for each barrel.
Today I took the final step in replacing one broken slab that I had previously used for our northwest rain-barrel and then adding an additional slab for height.
Now both rain-barrels are ready to get new water. High time: we may get some rain tonight or tomorrow.
I still have some other tasks to completely seal the roof drainage system and prevent water near the basement:
* Tighten the bands around the northwest downspout.
* Add a band to the southeast downspout.
* Design and construct "hats" around 4 places where the downspout meets diverters to prevent debris from entering the system and prevent leakage.
* Caulk any screw holes or seams where water leaks.
The only other big water issue to address after that is our kitchen sink drainage. The drain pipe needs to be replaced. Currently it is rusted out and leaks like a sieve near the southeast corner. I put a trough diverter to keep that away from the house, but the real solution will be to task a plumber to fix this. I will wait to do that until I clean up the basement and have enough money to get the job done correctly.