4 Easy Ways to Find Gutter Drains in Your Yard

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Maintaining your house’s drainage system can sometimes be a hassle. It’s not like you always have easy access to your yard’s gutter drains to clean them when clogs occur.

Luckily, there are a few trusted methods you can rely on to get the job done. These methods will favor you regardless if you know a thing or two about drainage systems or not.

Let’s take a look at the different ways how to find gutter drains in your yard.

How to Locate the Gutter Drains in Your Yard

Gutter drains are exit points for all the collected rainwater from your roof’s gutter and into the downspout. The entire system works to keep water away from your house to prevent water damage.

Depending on how your property was built, gutter drains can either go to the sidewalk of your streets or directly to an underground sewer line. While your house will look much better with underground gutter drains, it can sometimes be a hassle to deal with pipe clogs.

Since gutter drains are usually beneath your yard, you need to figure out where the pipe ends to deal with clogging issues. Here are four methods you can use to locate the gutter drains in your yard:

1 – Search for Spots in Your Yard That Show Signs of Water

If you try to scan your yard, you can sometimes find areas where the ground is extra moist than others. You’ll notice that these parts are easy to dig into, so you can quickly check if there’s a puddle forming beneath.

Try to dig the softened ground gently, and you might just find the gutter drain you’re looking for. It’s best to start with small holes to check if there are more signs of water underneath and avoid ruining your yard.

The best time to check for soft ground spots is after a rainy day. However, you have to wait until your yard dries up to distinguish which ground feels extra mushy.

2 – Go to Your Local City Office or Call Them

You can lessen the hassle of locating your yard’s gutter drains by contacting your city’s authorities. They should be able to tell you where you can find the sewer lines of your house.

Here are the ways you can go about this method:

• Directly visit your local city office or give them a call on their hotlines
• Check your city’s official government website if they have an available underground utility map
• Reach out to your local utility companies by calling 811 (this also helps avoid digging into underground utility lines)

You might also find out if the sewer lines beneath your house are public or private by contacting your city office.

3 – Use a Pipe Locator

If you have the means, you can get yourself a pipe locator or borrow one from a friend to locate gutter drains easier. Not only does it help find pipes, but it also detects cables beneath your yard.

Pipe locators work by transmitting signals onto the underground pipes and cables. Once the signal detects what you’re looking for, the pipe locator’s receiver finds the signal linked to the pipe or cable.

While it’s quite expensive to get one, it’s worth investing in, especially if you have a lot of DIY projects for your property.

How to Use a Pipe Locator

1. Divide your yard into grids so you can follow a systematic approach to locating the gutter drain.
2. Connect the transmitter to the pipe using either direct connection or induction.
3. Be sure that the receiver’s frequency matches the transmitter.
4. Follow the path of the grids you set while holding the pipe locator vertically.
5. Once you receive a signal from the gutter drain, move around the surrounding area until you get the max signal strength.
6. Use a flag or marker to pinpoint the location.
7. Move along to the rest of the grid and keep marking the spots you get max signals from.
8. Once you’re done, you should be able to see the gutter drain and the path it follows across your yard.

4 – Reach Out to a Professional Gutter Contractor

When in doubt, the safest way is to get help from a professional gutter contractor. We recommend letting the pros do it if you don’t have much background on drainage and sewer line systems.

You’ll save more money from buying the necessary equipment if you hire a professional. Since they’re unlikely to mess things up, you can also kick your feet up relaxed as they do the work for you.

Final Thoughts

Knowing where to find the gutter drains in your yard can save you time when you need to run maintenance checks. You’ve also got a few methods to choose from if the situation demands it.

Gutter drains play an important role in keeping your house safe from water damage. It’s best you know where to find them for issues so they can continue serving their purpose.

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