CL,

I have 2 down spouts from the gutter system that drain into my lawn. I
hear this should be 6' from the house, but there is no practicle and
visibly pleasing way to accomplish this AFAIK?

I've seen gizmos you attach to your gutter downspout, they supposedly
uncoil when the water is flowing to direct the water out to your yard. Then
they coil back up when it stops raining. They look like a cheap gimic to
me, and I doubt they would work very well anyway.

I was thinking to bury a pipe along the perimeter of my house to grab
the water from these 2 downspouts and pipe it to where the other 2 and
the sump pump are piped.

We just finished installing a similar system at our house. I used "solid"
PVC drainpipe (the thinner stuff is for landscape drainage, the thicker
stuff is for sewage systems. Either will work, but the thin stuff is
cheaper.) and plastic catch basins under the gutters. Mine are made by NDS
and were available at both Lowes and Home Depot. Other than hand digging
200' of trenches, they were very easy to install.

Our system takes the water from the gutters, and reroutes it about 80'
across the yard so it can drain out over the hill. So far, it has been
working great.

I used catch basins w/grates instead of tying the downspouts directly into
the piping system. I figured they would be easier to clean out when needed,
and will also help for any standing water that builds up in the yard during
heavy downpours.

I have a SEPARATE drainage system that uses perforated pipe that runs
around the perimeter of our house along the footings. It's covered with
landscape fabric and gravel for drainage. This is then connected to a drain
line that runs off over the hill too.

On the outlet ends of the pipes, I installed some small grates that are
actually meant as inlets in flower beds. But, they should work well for
keeping "critters" from crawling into the pipe.

We've had some really rainy weather lately and I've been real happy with
the way the system works.

Anthony