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Step 9Plumb the water out of your house.
Ok, you've got the gutters up, and you've built the water diverters. Now we'll install plumbing to catch the water from the gutters and send it outside.
At this point, we're going to start drilling holes through walls, and eventually a hole outside your house.
We've got to be clever here:
The pipe has to be large enough so the water can leave all winter long without freezing and causing a back up...
...and...
Well, you don't want SUCH a large hole that it's hard to keep the area warm in the winter. (At least here in Maryland)
In our first free range, I used 3/8" icemaker line to take the water outside. It froze solid, leading to water backups in the house and a big mess. This time I'm using 1" PVC pipe. It will go through a U trap so cold air can't get in.
The picture below shoes how nicely a 4" PVC elbow fits over a gutter downspout adapter. Two adapters are required to reduce the 4" to 1" and then a $.70 J-hook pipe mount holds it securely in place.
The left wall goes into the closet, which is where we'll divert the wastewater outside.
Words can't really express how unnerving it is to drill a 1" hole all the way outside your house. I measured this ten times and after what was probably the longest ten minutes of my life, I had a gaping hole just large enough to install a 1" PVC pipe and leave a gap to weatherseal the hell out of it. I think half of that wall is now filled with Great Stuff. (expandable wall insulation)
My house is wooden, so I really over-caulked the exterior breach for maximum protection.
This summer, I've got plans for a serious garden to grow in our side yard. The results from our last free range runoff irrigation were amazing.
At this point, we're going to start drilling holes through walls, and eventually a hole outside your house.
We've got to be clever here:
The pipe has to be large enough so the water can leave all winter long without freezing and causing a back up...
...and...
Well, you don't want SUCH a large hole that it's hard to keep the area warm in the winter. (At least here in Maryland)
In our first free range, I used 3/8" icemaker line to take the water outside. It froze solid, leading to water backups in the house and a big mess. This time I'm using 1" PVC pipe. It will go through a U trap so cold air can't get in.
The picture below shoes how nicely a 4" PVC elbow fits over a gutter downspout adapter. Two adapters are required to reduce the 4" to 1" and then a $.70 J-hook pipe mount holds it securely in place.
The left wall goes into the closet, which is where we'll divert the wastewater outside.
Words can't really express how unnerving it is to drill a 1" hole all the way outside your house. I measured this ten times and after what was probably the longest ten minutes of my life, I had a gaping hole just large enough to install a 1" PVC pipe and leave a gap to weatherseal the hell out of it. I think half of that wall is now filled with Great Stuff. (expandable wall insulation)
My house is wooden, so I really over-caulked the exterior breach for maximum protection.
This summer, I've got plans for a serious garden to grow in our side yard. The results from our last free range runoff irrigation were amazing.
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