Throughout the Russian climate, frequent precipitation is far from uncommon. And therefore, it is customary to install a drain in homes that controls and removes these precipitation away from the roof itself. If a house stands for a long time without a drainage system, its base, facade and walls are destroyed. There are also longer-term consequences: a flooded basement, washed-out land around the house and other problems. That's why there should always be a drain!
But if you have just purchased a house or cottage and have a limited budget, you can temporarily make a drain from sewer pipes with your own hands: it is not difficult, and in practice such a system will be reliable. But for such small buildings as a gazebo, a children's house in the garden or a canopy over a car, a homemade drain is quite suitable as the main one. And we will teach you how to do everything right!
What types of pipes are suitable for drainage?
Do you like the idea, but are you worried about how well the sewer pipes will be able to withstand the outside atmosphere? After all, they are designed to drain water from the house, mostly underground, and the manufacturer is unlikely to care that such plastic material tolerates ultraviolet rays well. But, in fact, many summer residents notice that cuttings of gray and brown pipes feel great in the open sun for quite a few years.
Moreover, due to the relative cheapness of sewer pipes, you can use them to construct drains of the most complex shapes and for a variety of purposes:
Your homemade drain will serve you faithfully no less than an industrial one if you choose the right material for it. Sewer pipes come in completely different types, for different parts of the drainage system. After all, you know that there are internal and external drains, and the first is used mainly only for flat roofs. It is just well hidden from the sun’s rays, and therefore almost any sewer pipes are suitable for its installation.
But for a gable or shed roof, it is important for you to learn to understand the material.
White pipes - for internal drains
White pipes are used for installing indoor sewage systems. Their material is designed mainly for high water temperatures and has a high level of sound insulation.
White pipes can be used as drainage only in areas where winters are warm and mild, because... Such plastic will not withstand sudden temperature changes. So forget about this option for now.
Gray pipes - for warm winters
Gray pipes are the most common. They are also used inside the house, but their plastic is stronger. It is designed for high temperatures, but does not tolerate frost and physical activity.
Therefore, if you live in the southern regions of Russia, where the climate is quite mild and there is almost no frost, it will not be a problem for you: how to make a drain from sewer pipes of this color and how long it will last you. Just remember to constantly clean them of snow and ice to prevent them from crumbling.
Brown pipes - for severe frosts
But brown pipes are used when installing sewerage systems outside. They are distinguished by a thick wall, which perfectly tolerates sub-zero temperatures and high pressure from the water mass.
The only thing such pipes are not adapted to is hot water temperature. After all, it is calculated that the sewer water from the house, before it gets into the brown pipes, after the white and gray ones, has already cooled down, plus the cooler air temperature outside will complete its work. Such pipes can easily withstand loads from snow and ice, are quite durable, but cannot withstand direct sunlight for a long time and become fragile over time.
Here's a nice drain made from a brown sewer pipe:
Do-it-yourselfers are especially pleased with the fact that the price of one sewer pipe is less than that of a gutter of the same length. But from one pipe you get two gutters!
How to design a future drainage system?
In technical terms, a drainage system is a set of gutters and pipes that collects and removes water from the roof. A drainage system, or drain, is also often called a separate gutter or pipe. And now let's figure out how to make a good drain for your home from the pipes you purchased. First you will need to draw up a sketch and calculate the dimensions of all the parts.
How to make a drain for a pitched roof?
So, you will need a certain number of gutters, which can be easily calculated based on the parameters of the roof perimeter. You will install 17 brackets for every 10 meters. The outlet has exactly the same length as the total length of the drain pipes. You will also need funnels, pipes, 1 piece for every 10 meters, corner elements, plugs, couplings (exactly 2 times less pieces than gutters), elbows, the number of which will depend on the complexity of the easternmost system.
The easiest option for you would be to simply draw a diagram of the future water supply system on a sheet of paper. Thus, it is customary to install outlet pipes with funnels every 12 meters. If the side of the house is smaller, place them in the corners, and only two of them will be enough. Take waste pipes with a diameter of 50 millimeters, and purchase a transition tee 110 by 50 mm. The size of one drain can be 10 centimeters, which is quite enough for the roof of a private house. From one pipe you will get two trays of the same size.
Next, you will need to plug each end of the gutter. Take an inspection plug or a regular one, cut into two parts. When all the elements are already located on your sheet, count the total number:
Calculating the required pipe diameter is quite easy - the standard formula will help you:
- For a roof slope area of up to 50 square meters, you will need a pipe with a diameter of 80 millimeters.
- At 125 square meters, this is already 90 millimeters.
- For more than 125 square meters, you need to take a 100 mm pipe.
You will choose funnels and adapters after deciding on the diameter of the pipes. Therefore, at this stage, already draw up a sketch of the future water supply system and mark suitable locations for the location of drains and installation of gutters. Once you have the entire scheme ready, you can purchase the material.
How to make a drain for a flat roof?
So let's figure out how to make and install a drain from sewer pipes for a flat roof. Yes it is possible! There is a big bonus here: the drain will be built into the wall, and it will not be located outside. Therefore, sewer plastic is not afraid of either frost or destructive UV rays.
Your main task is to make sure that water easily flows from the roof to one place, in its center. This is where you need to install a drainpipe, or even several. The only thing you have to take care of is to insulate such a pipe, or place it in special insulation so that condensation does not collect on it. And after installing the funnel, simply cover it with a grill so that it does not clog.
Where should the water be drained?
If the house is located on a hill, concrete gutters can be laid on the ground under the drainpipes, through which the water will flow down.
If the terrain or surrounding buildings do not allow for natural drainage of water, a drainage pit is constructed.
If there is a well or well on the site, the pit should be located close to it.
Typically the dimensions of the drainage pit are 1 or 2 m . To prevent the walls of the excavation from crumbling, it is lined with brick from the inside, leaving a hole on one side for the inlet pipe.
The water entering the pit will gradually go into the ground.
The pipe leading to the drainage pit is laid in a trench with the greatest possible slope, and it should be located below the freezing depth of the soil. At a shallower depth, the pipe or soil above it should be insulated.
How to make a mount for a homemade drain?
To secure your homemade drain you will need brackets. You can buy them ready-made or make them yourself. The only difference will be that many types of ready-made brackets are designed for the same ready-made drainpipes.
See how their edges are curved so that the bracket can easily snap onto them. But if you are simply attaching a cut sewer pipe, it does not have such a rim on the side. Therefore, it is better to purchase one bracket for testing and try on the pipe - will it hold? That is why, when making a homemade drain, many craftsmen make the brackets themselves - these are more suitable and often turn out to be even more reliable.
Ready-made brackets for drainage systems
Finished metal brackets must be bent using a special device so as not to damage the polymer coating. After all, if small microcracks appear, water can easily get into them and corrosion will begin. And this already significantly reduces the reliability of the entire drainage system!
And here are the finished plastic hooks on a homemade drainage system:
This mount is well suited for organizing gazebo drainage:
Homemade fasteners: selecting and manufacturing
And the durable fasteners that come with sewer pipes are quite suitable for drainage pipes. Moreover, they are designed to withstand the weight of water, and therefore are more durable, and go well with the color of the pipes themselves:
If you make the fastener yourself, you’d better get a special hook bender, or at least a small vice. Once you have driven in one hook, present it to the overhang and check the angle of the hook. The gutter mounted on it should then be positioned strictly perpendicular to the ground. It is important to bend the bracket so that the front edge of the gutters is only 2mm lower than the rear. This is the only way that water, if it overflows the gutter, will come out through the external screens, and not flow along the walls of the house.
Bending hooks using a regular vice is an exhausting task. The fact is that the clicks of the vice do not clamp the holder completely. Therefore, experienced craftsmen prefer to make tools for bending metal gutter holders themselves. Here are the simplest instructions:
- Step 1. Take a regular metal corner with a wall thickness of at least 6 mm, or a channel of the same parameters.
- Step 2. In the channel with a grinder, cut a slot of such length that it is equal to the width of the gutter holder.
- Step 3. Take a square pipe in which the inner walls are slightly larger than the width of the gutter holder.
- Step 4. Now mark the bend points on all holders. After this, we insert the holder into the square pipe, take a wooden block and forcefully insert it inside the pipe.
- Step 5. Set the required bend angle.
- Step 6. Now insert the holder into the slot and align it to the marked bend.
- Step 7. Now we knock out the block with another piece of wood from the opposite end of the pipe.
- Step 8. If there was already paint on the handle, it will also crack a little, but it can be touched up. But in the final result, the quality of the joke will be much higher than that bent with a vice.
By the way, here is a wonderful master class on how to make such hooks even faster and easier:
Another interesting option to bend the hook:
- Step 1. Using an angle grinder, we make a very small mark with a depth of 1 to 2 millimeters.
- Step 2. We nail one nail or one self-tapping screw through the hook into the rafter and bend the hook itself. It will bend exactly along the sawed line and will not break over time.
Once all the fasteners are ready, walk around your home and see how best you can secure it all.
Of course, it is advisable to install the gutter before you even cover the roof. The following illustration will help you understand how to install the mount:
Installation principles
Regardless of the material, cost or type of drain, the main criterion for effective operation is high-quality installation in compliance with all safety requirements. There are 2 factors due to which the drainage system functions: tightness and slope towards the drainage funnel. When installing drains, professional craftsmen adhere to the following rules:
- The greater the weight of the drains, the more reliable the rafter frame should be at the installation sites. Heavy models made of copper, aluminum or steel are mounted on rafter legs, and lightweight models made of plastic are mounted directly on the eaves board.
- A waterproofing layer is laid between the gutter and the roof rafters. Some craftsmen use plastic films and roofing felt for this, while others recommend treating the contact areas with bitumen-based mastic.
- The installation of spillways is carried out along all roof overhangs. The gutter is fixed in such a way that a slope of 3-5 degrees is formed towards the water inlet funnel, and a plug is put on the opposite side.
- The gutter is installed on special brackets so that it protrudes half the width from under the roof overhang. This arrangement allows for efficient collection of water and protects the gutter from collapse due to snow melting.
Important! Roof gutters need regular maintenance. A properly designed and correctly installed system is inspected only once a season, after the end of autumn leaf fall and showers, but before the onset of stable frosts. At this time, gutters and pipes should be cleared of debris and leaves, check the tightness of the seams and eliminate leaks.
Converting pipes into drainage elements
Stage #1 - pipe preparation
Let's now prepare the sewer pipes themselves. You will need to cut them lengthwise. From one pipe you will get two excellent identical complaints. In practice, everything is quite simple! To ensure an even cut, follow these instructions:
- Step 1. Place the pipe on the boards, and attach the wall at the bottom with self-tapping screws at both ends.
- Step 2. Connect the screws with a thick thread and use a permanent marker to mark the place where you will cut the pipe.
- Step 3. Remove the thread and cut the pipe with a grinder.
- Step 4. Now do everything exactly the same on the other side. The only difference will be that now you will need two screws.
Here's a great step-by-step tutorial:
Our advice: if you are working with an angle grinder, be careful! Melted plastic is actually very hot and can even burn your hands. And flying particles can hurt your eyes. Therefore, be sure to wear gloves and safety glasses when cutting sewer pipes. As home craftsmen note, sewer pipes are also easy to cut with a jigsaw or wood saw, and the whole difficulty lies only in the correct marking of the longitudinal marks for cutting. But the most convenient way, of course, is to make gutters from sewer pipes using a grinder with a thin metal circle.
And connecting the finished elements is quite simple:
You will be interested to know that instead of ugly vertical pipes, you can use... chains. This is quite a popular method! The principles of constructing such a drain are quite simple: the chain must be firmly connected to the gutter and the base.
At the same time, it is tensioned so that it cannot move to the side, and for this purpose it is most often buried in a concrete base or in the ground. And the façade is protected from water splashes by a small canopy. Looks amazing!
The advantage of such “gutters” is that they are less noticeable against the background of the house and do not interfere with its exterior. In addition, they are usually complemented with spectacular decorative elements. Moreover, today it is fashionable not just to lower chains down, but to create complex spatial forms from them, and even alternate them with decorative bowls made of ceramics or plastic.
The only inconvenience is that modern manufacturers of plastic gutters do not produce special elements for connecting gutters to the chain. But, since you make your own drain, and you yourself are the manufacturer, then there is no limit to your imagination! And this is convenient: you will have to tinker with cutting and connecting only the horizontal elements of the drainage system, and then lower the elements of beauty down. Why not?
Stage #2 - installation work
Now we will install our drain from sewer pipes:
- Step 1. First, the shortest and longest brackets need to be secured to the front board of the cornice.
- Step 2. After this, connect the gutters with a slope of 3 mm for every 50 cm so that the rainwater arrives at the very center. Please note that the edge of the roof must be in the middle of the gutter so that snow and ice in winter do not damage the gutters and the rainwater itself hits the target.
- Step 3. Once all the horizontal gutters are ready, install the water drainage pipes.
- Step 4. Fix such pipes to the wall, and leave a gap of 20 to 80 centimeters between them and the complaints. There will be a tee and elbow here, which will provide the transition from the gutter to the pipe.
- Step 5. Now cut two pieces of pipe, 5 centimeters each, which will serve as your connectors. Install each connector and secure with self-tapping screws. Apply silicone sealant to the mounting points to protect them from rainwater.
- Step 6. Secure the vertical pipes to the wall using brackets with clamps. For every meter of such pipes you will need only two fasteners, which is not a lot at all.
- Step 7. And at the very end of the pipe, at the bottom, install a bend. This is necessary to prevent water from getting under the foundation. It should be located at a distance of at least 30 cm from the wall.
- Step 8. Finally, cover the end of the gutter with caps, which you simply cut in half.
This is what installing a drain on plastic hooks looks like:
When installing the drain, do not clamp all the parts too tightly: a little movement is needed so that the entire structure changes slightly under the influence of temperatures.
Secure all gutters to the brackets using self-tapping screws. And so that later the pipes do not twist under the influence of sunlight, secure them with antennae on the brackets, or install spacers.
At the stage of final work, you will need to think about how to connect your homemade drainage system to the storm drain. To do this, an inspection should be made on the drainpipe - this is a section with a hatch and grates that will collect all the debris from the gutters. After all, it is important that only rainwater then goes into the sewer, without all this stuff, and does not clog the subsequent more complex system.
There are also alternative options: attach additional drainage pipes, and these will already communicate with the sewer or storm water inlet. The advantage of the latter is that it has a valve that does not allow odors to pass through and collects large debris in a special removable basket.
Roof drains - design, functions and installation
The durability of the roof depends on many factors: the correctness of the calculations, the quality of the roofing material, as well as compliance with the installation technology. However, even such a small thing as draining water from the slopes has an impact on the life of the roof. Organizing a well-thought-out drainage system is an important stage of construction, which experienced roofers do not forget about. In this article we will talk about the drainage device for rainwater, how to choose the right one, and then install this drainage element with your own hands.
Some subtleties and nuances that are important to know about
When installing a homemade drainage system from sewer pipes, keep in mind that all PVC products change their physical parameters with temperature changes. Therefore, it is very important that the gutters can move freely in the brackets. And to do this, try to leave at least 9 centimeters from the junction of the gutters to the bracket. Also, the ends of the gutters must be tightly joined.
To prevent your drainpipes, made so carefully with your own hands, from becoming dirty and clogged with leaves, install a regular plastic mesh on top. It will allow water to pass through, but leaves and branches will not:
The owner of a ready-made industrial drainage system usually does not think about this, believing that manufacturers always take everything into account themselves. But when you do something with your own hands, you always want to do it well, and you won’t forget about such details.
This is why it turns out in practice that often homemade drainage systems turn out to be both stronger and more durable. Moreover, some craftsmen also manage to get creative, for example, using a drain to bring water into their garage - catch a great idea:
If you live in a region with snowy winters, install an additional heating cable in the gutters. Don’t worry about the material of the sewer pipes: they are designed for temperatures above average, so the cable will not harm them in any way.
There is one more important rule: do not install gutters in temperatures below zero. After all, when the air temperature rises higher with the onset of spring, the pipes will simply twist. In any case, even just in cool weather, it is important to calculate all expansion joints and gaps so that the system does not “play” later.
This usually does not happen because industrial versions of drainage systems have special notches inside the parts that help to correctly connect the elements at a specific air temperature. But in the case of sewer pipes, you will have to do everything on a whim.
Basic mistakes in installing roof gutters
Inexperienced roofing specialists often make mistakes that lead to deterioration in the functioning of the drainage system. Basic:
- Few brackets. The structure must be reliably protected from bending, which occurs during heavy rain or snow. Metal parts allow distances between each other up to 60 cm, and plastic parts - up to 50.
- Incorrect coupling connection. If the connection of the parts is too loose, it will lead to leakage. However, you should not be zealous - you can damage the metal. It is better to use couplings with limiters.
- Inappropriate slope of gutters. If the slope is more than 5 mm per 1 meter, then water from the roof will not fall into the tray. If it is less, moisture accumulates and the device becomes clogged.
- The gutter is laid close or, conversely, far away. It is worth attaching something flat to the roof, extending it by 2-2.5 cm. A cornice should be laid at this distance - it will collect water, but it will not be damaged by falling snow.
When creating a drain, everything is important. From material selection to installation. In the worst case scenario, after a few seasons the pipes will crack or become warped and the gutters will become clogged. You will have to spend a lot of effort and money to eliminate the consequences of errors.
