07/21/2026
Has your window well ever filled up with water? (Check out my experience...this might apply to a lot of us!)
I had some major drainage issues that I didn't know about....until I looked closely DURING a rain storm. It was crazy what I found!
-It was raining really hard outside
-I walked around my house to look at the drainage. I looked at my gutters, downspouts, drains, grass, foundation....I wanted to see where the water was flowing during the hard rain.
There is one side of my house that I rarely look at. I decided to look at the drainage over there. (I wasn't going to check out this side, but then I ended up doing it...I'm glad that I did!)
-I found a gutter that was leaking water directly down, into a basement window well.
-On that same side of the house, I had a collapsed gutter pipe under my landscaping and it was causing more water to go into that same window well.
-I went into the basement and looked into that window. It looked like the water was about to get into my house and cause damage! Luckily, my window well had great drainage.
-A lot of water was running along the side of the home, from the damaged gutter and the collapsed gutter pipe. Water was pooling near the foundation of my home.
As an insurance agent, I got obsessed with home maintenance. I fixed these problems...and more.
-I had to replace the gutter on that portion of the home, I dug a big hole and replaced the collapsed gutter pipe under the ground, I got a window well cover. Now, when it rains, that side of the home is nice and water flows away from the home completely! So satisfying!!!
Home maintenance is easy to overlook!
A challenge for every home owner: inspect the exterior of your home closely when it is raining (This is the only time when you can really learn about any drainage problems on your property!)
-Gutters: Are any gutters leaking water? (Are they clogged?)
-Downspouts: Are the downspouts flowing with water? (Are they clogged? Mine were totally clogged with pine needles and I had no idea!)
-Foundation: Is water pooling near the foundation of your home? (Maybe you need to grade the landscaping so that the water flows away from your home)