How to Maintain a Yard Drain

A lot of landscaping mistakes, like flooding, can be caused by not having sufficient drainage in your yard. So if you want to improve your outdoor living space, make sure you know how to maintain a yard drain.

Today’s post is all about keeping your outdoor drain functioning optimally. And yes, even if you don’t have plumbing know-how, you can easily do these steps!

Carefully remove the drain grate

The drain grate is where your catch basin is, so you’ll need to remove it with care. It can be made of metal or plastic, and your home might have one or several (depending on how much outdoor drainage you require).

It’s one of the first items to be checked during a household plumbing inspection since it helps drains pool water and rain runoff outside. Your yard drain can also be connected to an extensive drainage system in your entire house.

A drain grate can be secured with screws, so it’s a simple matter of using a screwdriver to remove it. But if you aren’t equipped with the proper tools (or worse, don’t know the location of your drain grates), it’s perfectly fine to call a plumber for this task.

Clean debris by hand or with a wet vacuum

For this task, you can use a hand rake to clear the debris from your drain or wear rubber gloves and remove dead leaves and dirt with your hands. Make sure to have proper waste management so you won’t violate any sanitary regulations in your area.

If the drain is chock-full of trash, fallen leaves, and other stuff, it might be time to bring out the proper equipment for it. When choosing a vacuum cleaner for this task, select a powerful wet vacuum like a ShopVac to suck out all the nasties thoroughly.

You’ll need to really reach into all directions if your yard drain goes off in different directions. Otherwise, you’ll just be leaving potential clogs and blockage if you don’t clear them all.

Flush the drainpipes

One practical way to spot plumbing leaks is to flush them with water. It’s also a good technique for cleaning your drainpipes and making sure it’s totally free of debris and dirt.

This DIY plumbing project doesn’t really require complicated plumber tools but just simple ones from your garden shed. You can use a high-powered garden hose and insert it as far as possible into the drainpipe before turning the water on to full power.

Do this until you notice the water running clear and with less and less debris. 

Reattach the grates

Of course, don’t forget to reattach your grates right after all that cleaning and flushing to keep dirt away. If you’ve somehow damaged or lost your drain grate, you can always get a skilled handyman to make one for you using sturdy plastic or metal materials.

Keep the area around the grates clear by sweeping fallen leaves and other debris regularly. You can also get a leaf blower from any appliance store.

But if you have tougher clogs to deal with, you might want to go to a hardware store and invest in some attachments like a hydro-jet or a rubber drain bladder to add more pressure to your garden hose.