I am looking for some ideas besides downspouts and rain chains to move water runoff away from my house.?

Question

My thought is that I could put something like a lopsided birdbath or solid "fan rake" sculpture right under the roof valley. So, the water would come streaming off the roof, hit the slanted "sculpture," then shoot out into the yard. Is there anything like that??

Answer 1

One word.  Erosion.  If you have water, at great speed, hitting the same spot it's going to cause erosion.  I think you may actually be stuck with gutters and downspouts on this one.  Of course, I know nothing of your home, property, etc.

Answer 2

I like your creative thinking.

One challenge you will have is that the water will shoot further out with a big storm, or just trickle straight down with a little sprinkle. And I am not sure how well it will spray and distribute. You should do a test run with some large object you have hanging about, like a plastic lawn chair or a piece of plywood.

You might also:

1) Install a large urn or other container to make a water feature, and have a spigot on the back that allows water to be released through a hose to another (lower) area of the yard. Bonus: this allows efficient watering when needed.

2) Make a "streambed" landscape with large-ish rocks under the runoff spot and a meandering channel of smooth rounded river stones leading away. Probably with a flexible barrier underneath the channel to prevent unwanted weeds. But with  some clumps of tall grasses or other thematic plants at the edge. Again, you need to have a bit of a slope, so you might need to build up higher where the water hits.

3) Make a patio in that area, with a slight grade, making sure the surrounding vegetation also slopes down away. The water will harmlessly flow to the edges and water your vegetation.

Just make sure you won't get problems from the water splashing on your house. Wet wood rots and attracts termites!

Have fun. Can we see what you end up doing?