A Downspout Aimed Into a Window Well Is a Basement Problem

Most St. Louis basements have at least one window set below grade, sitting in a steel or plastic well that was dug beside the foundation. When a downspout ends above that well instead of carrying water away from the house, the well becomes a small catch basin. Leaves, grit and roof runoff collect in it, and in a St. Louis winter that water freezes against the glass. This page is for the homeowner who has noticed a downspout over a window well and needs to know what to check before the first hard freeze.

Gutters and guards

Start by following the water. Stand at the downspout during a hard rain and watch where the water lands. If it hits the lid of the window well, falls straight into the well, or splashes against the window casing, the discharge is wrong. A downspout does its job only when the water leaves the house and runs downhill, away from the foundation, onto ground that slopes away from the wall.

A window well sits in soil that was disturbed when the house was built, so its floor often sits lower than the grade around it. That makes the well a low point on the lot. Water that enters from above has nowhere to go unless someone gives it a route out, and the well cannot give it one by itself.

Check the well next. Lift the cover and look inside. Leaf litter, gravel washed off the roof, or a mat of decayed leaves means water has been sitting there. A well that holds water for a day after rain has either no drain at the bottom or a drain that is clogged. Some wells have a drain pipe tied into the footing drain, and that pipe can fill with silt over the years. Clearing it is simple work, but the pipe must actually run to a place that accepts water.

Gutter guards change this picture in one direction. A guard keeps most leaves in the gutter, which means less debris comes down the downspout, but it does not stop water. The fine grit that comes off asphalt shingles still passes through the guard and out the downspout, and it settles in any well below. If your gutters already have guards, the well can still fill with that grit. If you are planning guards, the well is a reason to ask where the downspout will end before you order anything.

Look at the downspout bottom. A short elbow that dumps water straight down onto the well cover is the most common arrangement. The cure is usually a longer run of downspout that turns and sends the water several feet away from the foundation, onto a splash block or into a buried line. Do not seal the well cover and hope. A lid keeps out leaves, but water from the roof still has to go somewhere, and if it cannot leave the well it will sit against the window.

What it costs

The cost of fixing a window well discharge depends on what is already there. Extending a downspout with a few sections of pipe and a splash block is usually a small job. A buried drain from the well to daylight, or a tie into an existing footing drain, takes digging, and the price follows the length of the run and what is under the lawn. A well that needs a new drain pipe, a new well, or a repaired window is a larger decision, and the homeowner should get each part written separately rather than as one lump sum.

When a roofer quotes this work, the line should say what is being installed: the pipe diameter, the length, the slope, the material and where the water ends. A line that says fix downspout is not enough to compare two bids. Two quotes can look far apart only because one includes the buried drain and the other stops at the surface.

Waiting has its own cost. Water that sits in a window well over winter can soak the soil against the foundation wall. If the well drain is clogged with silt, the problem may not show until water appears at the basement window or on the floor. Clearing the leaves in October costs an afternoon. Repairing a damp wall in February costs much more, and the damage often starts with a single frozen puddle.

What to ask

• Where will the water go when it leaves the downspout, and how far from the foundation does it land?
• Is the window well drained, and if so, does the drain run to daylight or tie into the footing drain?
• Will the downspout be extended with the same diameter pipe that is already on the house?
• Which part of the work is being quoted, and which part is left for another trade?
• Will the crew test the flow with a hose before they leave?

A test with a garden hose is the simplest check. Run water into the gutter at the far end, watch it move to the downspout, and watch where it lands. If the water reaches the well, the fix is not finished. If it lands on the splash block and runs away from the wall, the discharge is working.

Keys Roofing documents the discharge points on every job, with dated photos and measurements in the homeowner's hands, so the before and after can be compared. For a window well question, call the office at (314) 220-2333 and describe where the downspout ends, how deep the well is, and whether water has ever stood in it after a rain.

Before the first hard freeze

October and early November are the months to make this check. Clean the well by hand, look at the drain, and watch one heavy rain from the gutter to the ground. Water that finds a clear path in autumn will still find it in January, when frozen ground and ice in the well make the same discharge far harder to correct.