Pop-Up Gutter Drainage for Dummies

Popup drainage emitter

When it comes to how-to instructions, there are good and bad instructions... and then there are those that are just plain worthless. Today's DotD nominee falls well into the "worthless" end of that particular spectrum, mainly because of the final step in those so-called instructions. So, let's meet returning DotD Cadence Johansen and see what her HomeSteady.com post, "How to Install a Pup-Up Gutter Drain" has to teach us.

Johansen leveraged her family counseling degree to find an article from "Ask the Builder" that explained how to install a downspout drain line. It's relatively good. Unfortunately, it's pretty obvious that Cadence either didn't understand the question, she didn't understand her reference, or – and we deem this the most likely – she didn't understand either.
Cadence did little more than a copy-reword-paste job on the original, including the specifics about the depth of the trench, the warning not to run parallel to the foundation (although she didn't seem to know why), and the specification for drop per foot of run. She carefully copied the phrase "4-inch smooth plastic SDR-35 sewer pipe" and the warning about maximum 45-degree bends (Do you wonder why she didn't say "street elbow" anywhere? We don't.). She didn't bother to mention back-filling your trench, but even an idiot knows you'd have to do that. Well, we'd like to think so...

What we found least informative, however, was Cadence's final step:

"Install an inline pop-up valve at the end of the gutter drain. The valve should connect to the pipe with PVC pipe or a threaded pipe fitting."

Wait, what? Let's look at the article title again. Yes, it was "How to Install a Pop-Up Gutter Drain"... and our Dumbass of the Day says that the last thing you have to do is to, "Install an in-line pop-up valve." Wow: now that is useful help. NOT.

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