Water standing around the foundation of your house is not a good thing.
French drain for surface water.
French drains are a simple way of removing unwanted groundwater and consist mainly of a gravel filled trench and some perforated drainage pipe.
It is a great option if you want to direct surface water away from your home s foundation to remove surface water or to prevent flooding.
Water either from the surface or in wet soils is collected by the gravel and seeps into the pipe.
For example if your neighbor s land stands at a higher elevation than yours you may get water runoff from your neighbor after a heavy rain.
You can see how the channel full of stone and pipe is fully contained by a filter fabric.
Water would rather stick to something than simply fill a void.
There are different types of french drains the types used in landscaping are for dealing with excess surface water.
Here s a completed french drain with the last piece of sod yet to be put in.
This gravel also blocks the passage of excess debris.
Surface drains vs french drains.
There s a lot of confusion between french drains and trench drains because they sound so similar and because the french drain does incorporate a trench.
However unlike the french drain the trench drain is a surface drainage structure.
If trench drains channel water that has pooled on the surface of your yard away from your house french drains manage ground water or water that doesn t necessarily pool on the surface but rather seeps through the ground immediately.
How to install a surface water french drain.
Providing proper drainage for your property whether commercial or residential is one of the most important long term preventative maintenance measures you can implement insufficient drainage can cause water to build up and flood basements garages and can cause considerable damage to building foundations.
In other words these drain systems for yards are ideal for properties that have to deal with.
Although they sound quite european french drains are in fact named for a new englander henry french.
Thus water usually sticks to the gravel in a french drain rather than filling the voids.
French drains direct surface level water toward the lowest point and allow it to seep through the surface level gravel into the drain.
This is to prevent any contamination from ever getting into the french drain system and it ll.
A trench drain is a device designed to intercept and collect surface water over a long expanse.
Start by picking a location.
Since water flows downhill that standing water is trying to find the path of.
Installing a french drain is a simple job that requires a bit of planning and the right materials.