Copper Rain Chain and Water Run-Off

Traditional Japanese Rain Chain and storm overflow.

Our home was built  in 1830 and after a couple of extensions it had 3 basements under 3 living sections with separate roofs.  One of the first orders of business in a new old home is to ensure that the basements are dry and free from the dangers of rain run-off.   The basement under the kitchen was the wettest and clearly had rain water quickly and continuously entering it.  To remedy this I set about adding brick patios set at an angle of  one foot drop in every 10 feet of run away from the house.  I also had to ensure that the down spouts exited away from the house foundation and the basement beneath.  One of the artifacts that had turned up on the farm was an original hand carved drain stone - which was perfect for a decorative rain chain next to our porched entrance and driveway.  The downpipe here was attached to the house and exited water within inches of the foundation - removing it showed that its close proximity to the house trim had also been trapping excessive damp - caught just in time I set about redesigning this area to incorporate the drain stone a rain chain and be the start of a dry riverbed.  I found that the commercial Chinese rain chain kits needed accessories to mount them into your gutters.  These were too close to the house already, so I added a bend and a short straight length to mount a mid section bottom exit that I converted from a commercial kit, this allowed storm flow water to bypass the chain entrance and shoot from the down pipe section a further 5 feet from the house.  To make this more decorative I added a custom copper dragon head reminiscent of the gargoyle rain spouts on European cathedrals.

The kitchen root cellar - as found

hand carved drain stone - recovered and positioned to the edge of the kitchen porch + first "inverted bell" rain chain. The original downpipe exited here and soaked the adjacent dirt, filtering through to the root cellar.

Second rain chain installation - a bend added to the original outlet and a short straight section of down pipe. The mid mount for the rain chain was converted from a commercial kit. The water effectively bypasses the chain and pours out of the downpipe section - a custom copper dragons head was added for decoration - cant wait to photo icicles formng from its 'mouth"!

Japanese linked rain chain installed - less "splashy" than the "inverted bells"

This rain chain is right outside my lounge window and is a

pleasure to watch as it rains year round. I was excitedly anticipting the freeze of winter to see icicles!