The fall season is approaching. The air cools, the leaves change colors, and they gracefully fall to the ground. While this may look beautiful, the potential problems leaf blockage can cause in outside drains is not so beautiful. These outside drains might be found on your driveway or near outside stairs around your home. Garden debris and the falling leaves will find their way into your drain, and mosquitoes can infest in still water cause by a blocked drain. Couple the fall leaves with the usual companion of heavy rains, and you’ll want to make sure and check those drains as soon as possible.
Start with a Visual Inspection
Start off by visually inspecting your drain. Check if there are materials blocking the top level. If so, make sure to clean them out with gloved hands. Most outside drains should have a grate over them that block large materials from entering. If for some reason your drain does not have a grate over it, get one as soon as you can. These grates prevent leaves and debris from entering, but allow water to pass through.
Getting your Hands Dirty
Going a step further, you can open the grate and clean out a portion of the pipe by hand. Make sure to clean garden debris from the direction that the pipe is headed underground. After doing this, run a stream of water, preferably from a garden hose, to see if the water drains. If the water does not drain, then the pipe is clogged further down the line or possibly damaged. If this is the case, contact a professional to discuss cleaning and/or repairing options. Flooding of drains can negatively impact your home. If the water does drain, then this may indicate a healthy drain and pipe. Take these steps in the future to prevent future problems.
Taking the necessary prevention steps and understanding how to clean an outside drain may prevent a call to a professional in the future. Make sure to check for these problems as the fall season continues.
