Happy Friday! This might be my last Fix It Friday post because, well, it’s more fun to make a new project than fix an old one! We had a huge windstorm/rainstorm blow threw a little bit ago (okay, not hurricane big, just desert big) and it left our drain pipe looking like this:

With winter creeping up, making sure your drainpipes are clean from leaves and debris and working well is vital. Plus, let’s keep the water in our showers and pools, not in the foundation!

A disclaimer before I start, water can be a beast on homes. I’m talking a little bit over a long period of time can bring the whole thing down. You probably knew that already, make sure you patch and direct water well and if you doubt your ability, ask a professional first!

Materials:

• stucco patch (or a patch for your specific exterior)
• drill
• ladder
• rain gutter brackets

The first step was to patch the stucco exterior where the previous screws ripped out. Don’t skip this step, you really don’t want water in your walls!

I used stucco patch from the hardware store. You can tint it to match your walls, but I knew mine wouldn’t show, so I just went cheapy white. After applying allow it to dry well, check the instructions of your specific product. A second coat may be needed, take your time and do this step correctly to avoid water damage.

The final step is a two-person job, one to hold the drainpipe and one to drill. We re-positioned and reused the drainpipe brackets that were used before by moving the bracket about two inches, drilling, and reattaching it, then adding additional brackets for extra stability. You can purchase the brackets at a hardware store, they catch on each side of the drainpipe and drill into the exterior wall:

This is a necessary project, but not necessarily fun… I hope the info above helps.

Have a great weekend… go fix something!