well, it comes out of the house, goes down into the ground about a foot and a half, then turns right into a drain tube that runs behind the house. the downspout T's into that line. So basically the water is backing up in the drain line, because of a blockage, then shoots out the downspout tube. so i bought a 25 foot snake at harbor freight, fed the whole thing into the drain tube, and i still didn't get to the clog. called a plumber last night.