Drainage...as in gutters

Bob tackled the problem of our gutters last weekend. The gutter that is next to the stairs is a problem. It empties out so that any water coming out of it erodes the dirt in front of the stairs that lead into the cottage. You can't put a long extension on it because it would trip you everytime you use the stairs.

So, last Friday, while I waited for the Lowes to finally finish up my cabinets, Bob decided to take care of the gutter problem.  He had purchased all the necessary fittings to run the gutter down into the ground and then run the pipe underground so the water can dump out the side of the hill. I plan to eventually make a rain garden there, or at least plant a nice tree or two in that area.

You can see it was quite a job. Our ground is mostly clay, but on this day it was easy digging. The ground was not baked to cement nor was it wet and sticky. Perfect for this job.

He finished up and you can see how the gutter goes underground. He put a limestone rock on top as a type of stepping stone. You can see his short retaining walls on the right. I plan to put some of my nice compost on there and plant some marigolds and tomatoes.

You might wonder what I was doing this whole time. I did wait for the Lowes people and supervised their work by working on a crocheted rag rug, then I did what come naturally to me...

Yep, I tried out the window seat. Very nice and so relaxing. I was going to make a cushion for that seat, but decided instead to pile up three quilts and leave it at that. You are probably thinking, "What a slug...but I don't care. It was very relaxing."

[As a note I did help later on when we put lag bolts in the posts holding up the wrap around deck. The deck was not properly built to start with and it took a lot of work to get it up to code. The lag bolts were the final step to make the deck safe.]

As it turned out it was good Bob finished up the gutter on Friday, because during the night it poured and poured. We have had so much rain this year, we were glad to get that gutter water routed underground and down the hill.


We think we are ready for the final inspection, nearly 15 months after we pulled the building permit. I will let you know how it goes.

Bob has two more gutters to fix this same way. Hopefully if it stops raining this weekend he can finish up. I look forward to getting the final grading done so we can get some rye or grass seed planted this spring. It is such a muddy mess right now.

I do have some awesome boots, though, that I love to wear around in the mud. Necessary equipment when there is wet clay.

Take care,
Jill