Prevent Water in Your Basement

Eliminate Musty Smells

Managing rain and snow in your yard

Keeping water away from your foundation

Proper drainage around your home

Regardless of where you live, how old your home is or if you have a basement or crawlspace. It is important to have rainwater and melting snow away from the foundation.
 
Keeping water from pooling or draining toward the foundation is key.
Even if you don’t have cracks in your foundation. Keeping water from saturating the ground around your home is key. When excessive water saturates the ground. Water can start to find the smallest of entrances through your foundation. Making those small, hairline cracks larger and larger.
 
Especially here in Saskatchewan with our harsh winters and clay-based soils. When the water freezes in the ground, it expands. Because your basement is a void, the pressure on the foundation wall will push in towards the void.
 
Depending on the construction of your home. You should have weeping tile at the footing to draw away water. You might have a sump pump to help push water away as well.
 
But you cannot always rely on a sump pump or weeping tile. Letting too much water in and around your foundation can be too much water for normal tools to handle.
The following are some ideas to help keep water away from your house foundation. Some of them you may be able to manage yourself. You can also hire someone to do the work if you are unsure.
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Slope Your Yard

Gravity is your Friend
Sloping Yard For Water Drainange

Slope your Yard for Proper Drainage

Running or moving water always finds the path of least resistance. Whether it slopes away from your home’s foundation or towards it.

In Regina, we always get rain and snow. This precipitation is great for gardens and lawns but terrible for your basement. Excess water can find its way into your home through the smallest cracks in your foundation.

There are a lot of things that can be done to help manage the water around your home. One of the best is to slope the ground away from your home. Towards the alley and street or driveway.

The ideal slope to keep water away from a home’s foundation is generally recommended to be at least 5%. This means that the ground should slope away from the foundation. At a rate of at least 5 inches for every 10 feet of horizontal distance.
 
This slope helps to direct water away from the foundation. Reducing the risk of water seepage and potential damage.

Extending Downspouts

Move water away from your foundation

Extend the Downspouts coming from the Gutters

The Gutters or Eavestrough around your roof catches the water rolling off. The downspouts will funnel that down to the ground. Which could be part of the problem.

If the downspout ends right near the foundation, then that water is now too close. Those downspouts should be extended to help move the water further from the foundation.

There are many ways to do this. Both with products and with landscaping.

Gutter Downspout Splash Extension

A simple Downspout Splash Pad/Block with help water move 2 feet further away from the foundation.

They come in plastic or stone and can be secured to the ground with a tent or landscape spike. Keeping it in place even during the worst weather.

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ALLIED LUMBER | HOME HARDWARE
227 Dewdney Avenue, Regina

Flexible Downspout Extensions Regina

A simple Downspout Splash Pad/Block with help water move 2 feet further away from the foundation.

They come in plastic or stone and can be secured to the ground with a tent or landscape spike. Keeping it in place even during the worst weather.

SHOP LOCALLY

ALLIED LUMBER | HOME HARDWARE
227 Dewdney Avenue, Regina

Alumnium Downspout Extension

Downspout Extension. If your home is newer or you have had new eavestrough added, chances are the eavestrough company made an extension for you.

If not, you can purchase one in aluminum or vinyl. There are a number of eavestrough companies that will also come to you and make and install custom downspout extensions.

SHOP LOCALLY

ALLIED LUMBER | HOME HARDWARE
227 Dewdney Avenue, Regina

Rain Barrels Regina

Extend your downspouts into a Rain Barrel or series of rain barrels.

Rain barrels collect water from your gutters into a large tank, which you can use to water flowerbeds and vegetable cards or even wash your car. 

It’s a great way of keeping water away from your home and it allows you to resue the water.

SHOP LOCALLY

ALLIED LUMBER | HOME HARDWARE
227 Dewdney Avenue, Regina

Low Profile Downspout Extension

A low-profile telescopic downspout extender is a downspout accessory that helps divert rainwater away from your home while being hidden. The low-profile design creates an unobtrusive look that can be covered over with mulch, dirt, or stones with no digging required.

Simply cut the product for the perfect fit. If needed there are elbows and extenders to create additional drainage lengths.

SHOP LOCALLY

ALLIED LUMBER | HOME HARDWARE
227 Dewdney Avenue, Regina

Weeping Tile Downspout Extension

WeepingTile Extension. Weeping Tile is not what it sounds like. It is just a corrugated drainage tube. It is usually used underground around the footing of your home’s foundation to move groundwater away. 

This drainage tube comes in many lengths and can with perforated holes or without. These tubes can just be fixed to the bottom of your downspout and the tube run pretty much anywhere.

SHOP LOCALLY

ALLIED LUMBER | HOME HARDWARE
227 Dewdney Avenue, Regina

Landscaping Solutions

DIY Drainage Ideas

Dry Creek Beds & Garden Options

If you prefer a more natural-looking way to divert rainwater from your roof, there are several ways to do so.

The following ideas are some examples of ones we found online. If you search online or talk to a landscaper, you may find more ways to move water away from your house.

Landscape Downspout Ideas
Landscape Downspout Ideas
Landscape Downspout Ideas
Landscape Downspout Ideas
Gardens & Planters
Landscape Downspout Ideas
Landscape Downspout Ideas
Landscape Downspout Ideas

Weeping Tile & Drainage Systems

Underground Solutions

Dry Creek Beds, French Drains & Dry Wells

If you have a larger home or yard, then these solutions might be better options. They will cost more and take more work, but these systems are basically hidden and provide more control of excess water.

French Drain Yard Drainage

FRENCH DRAIN

A French Drain is a sloped trench filled with gravel or rock and commonly contains a perforated pipe.

The purpose of a French drain is to redirect surface and groundwater away from areas where water pools or collects. Water will naturally find pockets in the soil and move downward.

French Drains are a great way to move water over long distances and can enhance your landscaping.

Learn How to Install a French Drain.

Catch Basin Downspout

CATCH BASIN

A Catch Basin is an upgrade over extensions. For one, they don’t create a trip hazard. A grate and basin are installed just below the downspout to catch the water. Connected to the basin is an extension hose that allows you to direct the water further away from your home underground.

Learn how to install a Downspout Catch Basin.

Dry Well Drainage

DRY WELL

A dry well for yard drainage is an underground structure. Designed to collect and distribute excess water from your yard. Usually during heavy rainfall or in areas with poor drainage. It is a pit buried underground that connects to drainage from the house. The dry well collects all this water through pipes. Then allows water to percolate into the surrounding soil. Preventing pooling and water damage.

Learn how to install a Dry Well.

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