The alulod and the downspout: where the roof water should go
Alulod in English is roof gutter, and gutter in Tagalog is alulod: the channel along the edge of the roof that catches the rain. The downspout is the pipe that brings its water to the ground. In a heavy rain a whole roof of water goes through them, and if it has nowhere to go at the bottom it ends up in the yard, the walls or the septic tank.
The gutter on the roof is a roofer's job. Everything from the bottom of the downspout to the canal is drainage, and that is part of our outdoor plumbing service. Here is how to tell which end your problem is at.
Watch it in the next heavy rain
Stand where you can see the roof edge and the bottom of the downspout.
- Water spills over the gutter edge along its length: the gutter cannot empty. Its outlet is blocked or it does not slope toward the downspout.
- Water spills only at one spot: the gutter sags there, or a joint has opened.
- Little or nothing comes out of the downspout: the downspout itself is blocked, usually at a bend.
- Plenty comes out, then pools against the wall or floods the yard: the problem is at ground level. That is the plumbing half.
At the top: the gutter
Drag the drawing sideways to see all of it.
Leaves and dirt at the outlet
The most common cause by far. Leaves from a nearby mango or talisay tree, dust, and the odd slipper collect where the gutter drains into the downspout. Clear it before the rains, and again after the first big storm. A wire strainer over the outlet stops most of it.
A gutter that sags or slopes the wrong way
If water stands in the gutter a day after the rain, it is not draining toward the outlet. The hangers need adjusting or replacing. That is roof-edge work for a roofer or tinsmith.
Too few downspouts
A long roof emptying into one downspout can overflow in a typhoon even when everything is clean. Adding a second downspout at the other end is often the real fix.
A different kind of gutter, or no gutter at all
Not every alulod is the one along the edge. A valley gutter under two meeting roof slopes, a box gutter in the trough between two roofs and an inside gutter behind a parapet each fail in their own way, and the last one floods the house rather than the yard. Our guide to the types of gutter tells them apart, and if the wall is wet behind a gutter that is not overflowing, the fault is usually the flashing, covered in flashing and gutter.
If the rain shows up as a stain or a drip inside, check the gutters before you call anyone. Our guide to water leaking from the ceiling helps you tell a gutter from a pipe.
At the bottom: where the water goes
Drag the drawing sideways to see all of it.
This is the part most guides leave out, and it is where most of the damage starts.
Into the canal, a storm drain or a catch basin
Right. The downspout empties into a catch basin, a small box with a grate that lets you see and clear what comes down, and a pipe runs from it to the canal or storm drain.
Onto the ground against the wall
Common and slowly harmful. The water soaks in beside the foundation, rises in the wall as damp and peeling paint, and floods the yard in a long rain. At the least, an elbow and a splash block to throw it away from the house.
Into the septic tank or the house drain
Wrong, and more common than it should be. The Revised National Plumbing Code of the Philippines does not allow rain and surface water into a line meant for sewage without approval. Every storm then fills the septic tank, and the house drain can back up into the floor drains. If your tank fills fast in the wet months, read septic tank trouble, and if water comes up the floor drain in heavy rain, see backwater valves.
Collecting the rain instead
Some houses run a downspout into a drum or tank and use the water for plants and washing the car. That is fine as long as the drum has an overflow pipe to the canal, because a full drum in a typhoon spills against the wall all night. Keep it covered so mosquitoes cannot breed in it, and do not drink it.
Questions about the alulod and downspout
- What is alulod in English?
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A roof gutter: the channel along the edge of the roof that catches the rain. The pipe that brings the water down from it to the ground is the downspout.
- What is gutter in Tagalog?
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Alulod. The roof gutter is the alulod, or alulod ng bubong when you need to say which kind, and the downspout is sometimes called the tubo ng alulod. A road gutter, the channel beside the kerb, is a different thing and is usually just called the kanal.
- Why does my alulod overflow in heavy rain?
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Usually leaves and dirt at the outlet, so the water cannot get into the downspout. After that it is a downspout blocked further down, a gutter that sags so water pools in the middle, or a roof with too few downspouts for the amount of rain it catches.
- Can the downspout go into the septic tank or the CR drain?
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It should not. The plumbing code does not allow rain water into a line meant for sewage without approval, and in practice it fills the septic tank every storm and can push water back up the floor drains. Roof water belongs in the canal, a storm drain or a catch basin.
- Who do I call, a plumber or a roofer?
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For the gutter itself on the roof edge, a roofer or a tinsmith. For the downspout at ground level, the catch basin and the pipe out to the canal, a plumber. If water is coming into the house, start with whoever can find where it enters.
- Is a PVC downspout pipe all right?
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Yes, PVC is common for downspouts and the pipe below ground. Use a size that matches the gutter outlet, fix it to the wall so it does not swing in a storm, and leave a cleanout where it turns so a blockage can be reached.
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Roof water with nowhere to go?
Catch basins, downspout pipes and the drain out to the canal are part of our outdoor plumbing service. Send us the problem and say where the water ends up.
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