Your rain chain should function like a gutter downspout, carrying water away from your house in order to protect your home's foundation. Water that flows down the rain chain must enter a water management or water capturing system that will prevent the water from saturating the soil around your house. Directing the water away from your home can prevent foundation problems and can also prevent your home's basement from having moisture and flooding problems. The following three methods are good ways to direct the moisture from your rain chain away from your home.

Rain Garden

A rain garden is a garden developed at a low point in your yard, where rain and moisture can gather to feed plants. Your rain garden should be about 10 feet away from your home. To build a rain garden, dig a small ditch that leads from the end of your rain chain to a round depression in your yard. If no depression exists naturally, dig one. Amend the soil in the depression with sand to promote good drainage. Fill in the ditch with large, round river rocks to help direct the water from the rain chain to the rain garden. Finally, fill your rain garden with plants like asters and irises, which prefer well-draining soil but can also handle occasional flooding.

Rain Barrel

A rain barrel enables you to capture the rain that flows from your roof. Water in a rain barrel is often saved to be used for gardening and lawn watering purposes. Many rain barrels come with a lid and are designed to form a seal with your rain gutter downspout. The seal helps prevent leaves and mosquitoes from gaining access to the water inside the barrel.

Rain chains, unlike gutter downspouts, cannot form a seal with the rain barrel. To avoid problems, choose a rain barrel model specifically designed to work with a rain chain. Alternatively, you can also install a screen that covers the open space between the barrel lid and the rain chain to prevent debris and insects from gaining access to the inside of your rain barrel.

Underground Drain

Install an underground drain by digging a small ditch leading from your rain chain to a point in your yard. Once the ditch has been dug, lay down a PVC pipe in the ditch to collect rain water from the rain chain. Insert the end of the rain chain directly into the pipe. Finally, cover the pipe with dirt and sod, except at the two ends of the pipe. This simple but effective system will direct the rain water away from your home.