Rain Chain

Rain Chain:  an alternative to traditional metal or plastic downspouts, rain chains drain water to the ground from a gutter like a waterfall.  They are interesting to watch and sound cool too!

Not long after we moved to Michigan, I started seeing houses with rain chains.  After I figured out what they were I decided I wanted one!

We bought a copper arts and crafts style and installed it near our front porch.  I love how it looks, and I enjoy watching it when it rains.  Of course one of the first times I really got to see it in action was the big nasty rain storm.  It worked just like it was supposed to, but there was so much water coming down, our front flower bed flooded.  Luckily we didn't have landscaping done yet!  I told Hubby there was so much water in the front bed it looked like a small pond - maybe we should have bought some fish?!

Since we live on top of a ton of sand it didn't take long for the water to disappear, however, once our landscaping is done this type of incident would wash away mulch and possibly flood any plants.  So... after a little research, Hubby decided we needed to run a drain line from the chain underground to tie in with the other downspout drains.  Shouldn't be too difficult a project, but we'd need to run the pipe under our cement sidewalk!  In this case, having sand turned out to be a plus.  We easily got under the sidewalk without damaging it.  We dug four feet down across the front of the house, installed a large catch basin drain and piped it into a downspout drain on the side of the house.  We started and completed this project in one evening after work.  Once Hubby and I set our minds to something, we make a great team!

We've had some rain since getting this project done, and I'm happy to announce the drain worked perfectly!  I'd also like to announce that I'm getting tired of shoveling sand.  I've used a shovel and a rake more in the last three to four months than I have my entire life... lol!!!

Rain chain in the box and decorative copper catch basin

First look

Working on the drain

Notice Rilee has a front row seat to watch all the action!

Going under the sidewalk

Made it under the sidewalk without a problem

Pushing the sand back over the drain

Hooking it to the downspout drain on the side of the house

Finishing up

"Aren't you two done yet?!"

Ta Da!