That $90 drain cover finally stopped my backyard swamp

After three straight soggy weeks in Portland, my little backyard drainage ditch kept backing up over the patio. I tried those cheap plastic grates from the box store and they just clogged with leaves and silt in a single storm. Finally paid $90 for a heavy cast iron trench drain cover with a curved grate design, and it honestly did what the cheap ones couldn't. The water flows through way faster and I can hose the debris right off without lifting anything. My neighbor saw it and ordered the same one after his lawn turned into a swamp last Tuesday. Anyone else tried upgrading a drainage grate instead of just cleaning out the old one?

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ivan7741mo ago

Did you check the slope before you swapped it, or was the old one just too shallow to handle the flow? I learned that the hard way, and a steeper pitch made more difference than the grate itself.

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sean8541mo ago

Totally feel you @ivan774, I made that same mistake once and the pitch was 90% of the problem. Slope check is now step one for me every time, saves a ton of headache.

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