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How to clear yard drains before the rain

Updated . By the OakTend team.

Round metal drain grate set into stone pavers

Yard drains, also called area drains or catch basins, are the grates in patios, side yards and planters that carry rainwater away through buried pipes. Downspouts often feed into them. Clearing them means pulling out the leaves and silt that block them.

How often
Once in fall before the first big storm, and again after storms or windy days that drop leaves. NDS, a maker of yard drains, says to clean out catch basins at least twice a year.
What you need
Work gloves, Flat screwdriver to lift grates, Trowel or small scoop, Bucket, Garden hose

Why it matters

Most of the year's rain falls December through March, often in a few heavy storms. The EPA's moisture advice is to keep gutters clean and the ground sloped away from the foundation. H2OC, Orange County's stormwater program, adds that whatever reaches the street drains flows untreated to creeks and the ocean, so where you can, point downspouts at plants, a rain garden or a rain barrel.

Steps

  1. Find every grate, catch basin and pop-up outlet (the round caps in the lawn where buried downspout lines come out).
  2. Clear leaves and debris off each grate.
  3. Lift each grate and scoop out the leaves and silt that settle in the basin. Shake out and hose off any filter basket.
  4. Run a garden hose into each drain for a minute. The water should drain away steadily.
  5. At pop-up outlets, trim back grass that keeps the cap from opening and clear debris under the cap.
  6. Check that each downspout empties into a drain or onto ground that slopes away from the house, not against the foundation.
  7. If you have a sump pit, clear debris from it, check that the float moves freely, then pour in about 5 gallons of water. The pump should switch on and empty it.

When to call a pro

If water backs up out of a drain or will not go down after you clear the grate, the pipe is blocked further in. NDS suggests a plumbing snake; a plumber or drainage contractor can do that and run a camera through the line. Call one too if water pools against the house after storms or a sump pump does not start.

Safety

Wear gloves, since basins collect sharp debris. Unplug a sump pump before reaching into the pit. Put the leaves and silt in your green waste bin, not the street gutter.

Go deeper

General information, not professional advice. Your equipment's manual comes first when it says something different.

Sources

More outside, roof and yard