A Simple Trench Drain . During periods of heavy rain, water flows toward my house causing periodic flooding.

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Can this water be stopped? Is there a way to remove the water and dry out the soil? If so, do you think an average homeowner can complete the project successfully? Betsy, Wyoming, PADEAR BETSY: I have got some great news for you. If you can enlist the help of a friend for just one weekend, you will be able to prevent basement or crawlspace flooding and dry out the soil. Your early spring fever problems and flooding concerns can be cured permanently with some simple linear French drains. Soil Has Air. Normal soil makeup consists of small pieces of rock, organic debris, water and air.

In many soils (especially clay soils), the air content is highest in the upper 2. As you go deeper into a soil, the weight of the overlying material compresses the soil and squeezes out the air.

When it rains, water enters soil and pushes the air to the surface. Gravity then takes over. CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local landscapers who can install your linear french drain. Water Moves Sideways. If your yard slopes,and every yard and neighborhood has some slope, the water within the soil actually begins to flow downhill.

Level yards suffer as the movement of the water through the soil is minimal. You can accelerate the movement of water or intercept and re- direct sub- surface water by installing gravel covered perforated drainage pipes in narrow trenches. Water, just like most things, takes the path of least resistance. Subsurface water would much rather travel through gravel and open drain pipes than force its way through soil.

A Ground Gutter. A linear French drain is simply a . You construct it by digging a 6 inch wide trench approximately 2. If you want to intercept sub- surface water to dry out your yard, you install the trench along the highest part of your property. Florida Air Conditioning License Search.

• I am near the completion stages of improving upon an existing drain system, and while I've read about surrounding the rocks completely with a fabric to keep-out.
• Intro: French Drain With Dry Well. When I bought my house, I was told that "water collects in front of the garage door." What the owner didn't disclose is that every.

Extend the trench to the lowest part of your yard. If your intent is to protect your house from water, you construct the trench approximately 4- 6 feet away from the foundation.

In many cases the trench system is U shaped as it passes around your house. Do your own DIY install of a Linear French Drain with Tim Carter's time- tested methods and materials!

CLICK IMAGE TO ORDER NOW! Create a Lattice. If your yard is nearly level and you wish to drain it, you will probably have to dig a series of trenches and inter- connect them. Consider renting a builder's level at a tool rental store to help you determine how deep to dig the trenches. Lots that appear flat often have sufficient slope that allows you to install the pipes so that they will extend to daylight at the lowest portion of your yard.

You can use the optical or laser builder's level to tell you the high and low portions of your lot. The bottom of the trench can be level or it can follow the contour of your yard much like a fence. If you can expose the end of the pipe to daylight at the edge of your property, you will obtain the best drainage results.

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local landscapers who can install your linear french drain. Compact Dirt. Remember, the holes in the perforated pipe point down.

If they point up, they get clogged by pieces of gravel. Image (C) Copyright 2. Tim Carter ALL RIGHTS RESERVEDOnce you have the trench completed, compact any loose soil in the bottom of the trench. A 6- foot tall 4x. Wear gloves to avoid getting splinters. Install a 1 or 2- inch layer of washed gravel on top of the compacted soil before you install the perforated piping. Do NOT lay the piping directly on the soil.

You want the drainage holes through which water will enter to be up above the soil. If you choose to use rigid plastic pipe that has two rows of holes along each length, be sure to install it correctly. The holes are supposed to point down, not up towards the sky. Pipes Holes Down. The reasons the holes should point down are many. Remember that the water table in the soil builds from the bottom to the top of the soil profile. If the holes point down, the water enters the pipe sooner than if the holes pointed up.

Also, water droplets or flow is not intelligent. Some water may find its way into a hole pointing up, but most of the water will flow around the pipe and then build up until it can flow into the holes. Furthermore, holes that point up are perfect targets to get clogged with the rounded gravel. Always keep in mind the pipe is acting as a conduit for the water and the water table in wet periods is already up to the bottom of the holes. If the water table rises higher than the holes, then water squirts vigorously into the holes and is carried away by the pipe just as water charges down a stream bed in nature.

Fill To Top. After the pipe is installed in the trench, cover it with 1 inch or larger washed, rounded gravel. Fill the trench with gravel to within 1 inch of the surface. Place a piece of sod over the gravel to disguise the trench.

If you wish to control surface water that flows over your lot, allow the gravel to extend completely to the surface. If you widen the trench in the upper few inches of the soil, you can disguise the drainage system. Use colored stones, gravel or large stepping stones to create a walkway. To further enhance the illusion, install the trench with gentle curves as it traverses your lot. CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local landscapers who can install your linear french drain. Column 1. 75. Do you wonder if linear French drains really work?

Read an e- mail I received from Pat Jones in Vienna, Virginia: A year ago last spring, I called your radio show from my home in Vienna, VA. I described my problem with water in my basement. It was very predictable, every time it rained 2. Anyway, you advised me that a French drain would solve my problem. So I rented the ditch witch and got a bunch of friends, following your on- line tips we installed the drain. Your tip about the plywood to have the dirt flow onto was a great labor saver. We did have a lot of trouble with rocks and tree roots stalling the machine but in the end it was a job well done.

Of course our work and your advice caused the drought in the Washington, DC area. We waited almost a year and a half before we got to really test the French drain. However when hurricane Floyd came through and gave us 4. Now the neighbors are asking my advice, and I point them to your web page.

When we talked you said to let you know how it worked out. It worked out great!! Thank you very much,Patrick Jones. The straw layer mentioned in the column above is not necessary if you fill the entire trench with gravel to within one inch of the top. The reason is simple: Silt does not pass sideways through topsoil. The silt that turns stormwater runoff brown is eroded soil particles that are running in overland flow.

Silt particles get trapped and filtered in the upper layers of top soil. The vast amount of water captured by a linear French drain is water traveling sideways through soil. It is generally clear and free of silt. To prove this point, spring water and water taken from underground wells is almost always crystal clear. The silt was left behind at the surface as the water was entering the ground. Tim Carter. I received this email recently: Tim,We have a block and beam foundation, clay soil, no gutters and we end up with pools of water right next to the house and sometimes covering most of the back and side yard.

In some places the water goes under the house. Because the soil is already about 6. It seems that if the trench is 4- 6' from the house that a lot of water will still be pooling and going under the house. Gardner from Houston, Texas. Here is the answer: It is important that you put the drain that far out because if placed close to the house, the French drain acts like a vacuum and pulls the water through capillary attraction.

You would be pulling the water to the house. You need to create a slope from where the soil hits against the house to a spot about 6 feet out.

How to Build a French Drain.