Downpipes/Drains

The drains at the base of my house guttering/downpipes are sunk about six inches into the ground. I'm fed up with keeping them clear of leaves at this time of year.

The place I stayed at during my holiday had the same set up and the owners had filled the drains with large stones on top of the grills to keep the leaves out. Do you think this is a good idea, or would it create other problems?

 

You can get cover to go over the drain. They tend to be box shaped, but don't always accommodate the parameters of the specific drain/downpipe(s).
If your drain system is odd then you could make a cover.
Mine is just a flate plate, with holes (like a grill). I cut out a section to accommodate the down-pipes. It keeps the leaves out and can be brushed over when cleaning out the corner.

 

A good idea gcc, but it gives me problems. First my drains are all different sizes, some have raised rims. Also most of my downpipes sit well into to drains so I would have to dismantle them all to fit the plates. Which is why I thought the stone idea was good.

 

Make your covers Sheal, then cut in half so they can be fitted eiher side of your downpipe, therefore making a whole.

Steve...

 

Mine are the same and the drain covers you can buy don't fit (even the 'cut to size' ones), so I've covered mine with a couple of pieces of very fine chicken wire - which I've sort of 'scrunched up', then hammered flat - these are heavy enough not to blow away but quick and easy to lift to shake the leaves off.

 

Sorry everyone, perhaps I haven't made myself clear in my original posting, but thanks anyway.

I like the stone idea, it's easy, does the job and they are not going to flap around in the strongs winds of winter. This is my preferred choice and I'd like to know if there are any drawbacks.

 

cover the grills with a womans stockings?

 

I understand it, drain grills are made of cast iron or some such, so I wouldn't expect there to be a 'weight' problem.

The only possible drawback I can see is that 6" or so is quite a depth of stones and I guess leaves are going to get trapped between them - it's possible I suppose (since some of the 'holes' in the grill surface will inevitably be covered by the stones), that the detritus from decaying leaves could build up and block the remaining holes, so you might still have to pick them out - a problem you could overcome by putting something like a 'dome' of chicken wire over the grill itself before covering that with your stones?

 

Sorry Dim, but that's not going to look very nice. I think I'll try the stones in one drain and see what happens.