Realized my rain barrel was overflowing into the basement foundation

I was standing in my backyard after a storm last Tuesday and noticed water pooling near the house. Turns out I forgot to disconnect the downspout diverter before winter, so all that melted snow and rain backed up through the seams. Has anyone else dealt with this kind of hidden water damage from their rain collection setup?

2 comments

2 Comments

benreed1mo ago

Used to think rain barrels were foolproof but yeah... this changed my mind quick.

the_elizabeth1mo ago

Tbh I had almost the exact same wake up call last spring. Installed a nice 50 gallon barrel, felt super eco friendly, then we got a heavy rain and it was overflowing in like 20 minutes. The next morning the water had this weird smell and there was slime growing in the spigot. Honestly made me realize they're way more maintenance than people let on. And if you don't clean them regularly the water gets gross fast. Ngl I ended up just giving mine away to a neighbor who had more patience for it than me.