Why can't it just be simple?

We cleared the back flower beds and removed the downspouts to have better access for painting. We took one downspout out and noticed standing water. Thought it was plugged up so Steve snaked it. Water did not drain... but we heard the snake hitting the downspout about 10 feet away. Took out that downspout and saw no standing water, but the one with standing water definitely drains into it. Huh?

Time to dig up the flowerbed and expose the pipe to find out what's going on. The two downspouts are connected! BUT the first one is lower than the second... a funny fact about water—it will not drain uphill. It's a silly gravity thing. Steve repositioned the first drain and propped it up about 6 inches then cut back the deck pieces to make it fit. We packed in the dirt and filled in the ditch. The water drains beautifully!

Unexpected project... nothing goes as planned.