Keeping Outside Drains Clear of Leaves and OtherThings

  If you have a set of stairs outside that lead to a basement door, there's a good chance you have a small drain that is supposed to keep water from getting under the door.

  Having lived and worked in very old buildings, I was all too familiar with the tendency of leaves to gather on the drain cover which is often embedded in the cement outside the door.
 
  Since my house is surrounded by trees including one very large Walnut, I was always clearing leaves from the drain to make sure we didn't have any flooding.