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The eavestroughs (rain gutters) on this house drain into a 4" PVC pipe system, I suspected there was a leak somewhere because of mold inside at that corner of the house.

I dug down a couple of feet to uncover the pipe, and put a garden hose to it. the ground was soon saturated with water. There is no good reason for such a system to be leaking, right ?

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    That depends. Is it a drain field situation, or does the pipe lead to a drain network?
    – isherwood
    Commented Jun 28, 2016 at 18:00
  • After having another look, I see there are regularly spaced holes in the horizontal pipe that follows the foundation. That seems wrong to me, isn't the purpose of the evestroughs and downspouts to take water away from the foundation. ?
    – John Bee
    Commented Jun 28, 2016 at 18:20
  • Yeah, that is a bit odd to have rainwater intentionally deposited there. You might just move your downspout location.
    – isherwood
    Commented Jun 28, 2016 at 18:26
  • Sounds like you have your downspout connected into a perimeter drain system. Not a crazy idea, as long as the whole system can drain somewhere else. You might want to get a video inspection done so you know where it is supposed to drain and clear any obstructions.
    – Shimon Rura
    Commented Jun 28, 2016 at 19:10

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This is really wrong. Your drainage system should be moving the water at least 4-6 feet from the foundation - unless you are in a desert where I have seen some set up like yours.

Downspouts to PVC (no holes) to yard. Just switch out the path of the PVC in question and fix the issue. Don't think there is any logic to something done absurdly wrong. I had french drains suppose to outlet to the side of my house from mid back yard. As they reached 5 feet from the side... they started running uphill. Don't overthink other's stupidity.

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    Thank you all for your responses, I ended up rerouting the drain to a bed of gravel 6 feet away from the foundation.
    – John Bee
    Commented Jul 1, 2016 at 13:57

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