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It's been raining light to medium for the past 12 hours and this morning while I was walking around outside the house, I noticed that this drain tube, which I believe runs around the perimeter of the house and into my sump pump, is full of water.

A picture of my lawn with a pool of water around an access point of my perimeter drain system

I walked around the house to the only other spot where there's one of these green caps, and that tube does not seem to be full of water. When I went to the basement and checked the sump, there is a steady trickle of water from the incoming corrugated drain tube.

Presumably, this means I have a clog somewhere? Or could it be something else?

Is this something I might be able to DIY, or since water around the foundation is a big deal, should I call a professional- who would that even be, a plumber? Landscaper?

Thanks!

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  • Where does the drain empty out? It could be plugged sometimes pushing a garden hose down will help clear a blockage other times I have found the end of the drain full of roots and even on city systems that drain at the pavement through a curb just a small wad of grass /weed roots plugging the drain. At my current home our barn drains were backing up and flooding stalls because the tractor crushed the pipe on the low side of the barn about 30' away from the barn. Most of the time I find roots causing the backup. – Ed Beal Jul 31 '16 at 23:45
  • I think it goes into my sump in the basement, but I only say that because the sump has two large corrugated ABS inlets and I presume these are the same corrugate abs pipes running around the house. But, to be honest, I'm not even sure exactly where this ABS runs, I only have access to three of these green caps pictured above. At least three of my gutters do drain into the corrugated drainage, so blockage is a real possibility. I'll try the garden hose trick. – Joseph Aug 1 '16 at 5:00
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I had a similar recurring issue after long heavy rains. The drain pipe would fill and take a long time to drain. Turned out the dirt under the pipe where the drain hole was would turn to mud and essentially act as a seal. I ended up digging the drain end up and putting some gravel underneath. Drain pipe never stays full too long anymore.

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