Help With Simple French Drain

[Dwight]

We have surface water from uphill which collects in a 40 foot long puddle ten feet uphill from our house during large storms.

After it saturates the soil, water comes into our basement at a depth of eight feet.

We have lived here 35 years and the pattern is quite clear - with flooding only two times in that period, and so I hope we might use a shallow French drain to move the water sideways to an open slope.

(I know that the ideal French drain goes all the way to the bottom of the problem, but that would cost many thousands of dollars in our case.)

I would start at a depth of one foot and run 100 feet to a two foot depth at the exit.

I would use rock and landscaping fabric around the pipe.

Your opinions about this approach?

Can I get away with a 1/8" per foot slope?

Should I use 2, 3, or 4 inch drain pipe?

Should I use landscaping fabric aroound the rock as well?

Thank you for your ideas.

Sincerely,

Dwight Gibb

[Speedy Jim]

1/8" slope will work OK, esp since you won't be dealing with any solids.

Use 4" pipe (you can use the thinwall sch 35).

Not sure about the fabric, but we'll bump your mssg to the top for more replies.

Jim

[hallerb]

definetely use the fabric.

no doubt everyone wants to do stuff at minimum cost.

realize though the investment you are protecting is likely the mst valuable thing you will ever own....

maybe you should do it right

[Oren]

Forget where I saw it. They lined the bottom and sides (U shape) of the trench with fabric before rock and pipe. Then a layer of fabric on top before cover up. This kept the soil away from the rock and pipe.

I've never built such a drain, but think the cloth is better on the outer edges, than just wrapped around the pipe.

[Oren]

Like this, but fabric the bottom and sides....

[SteveB]

French drains aren't rocket science, and one as simple as a foot deep can give relief to a very large area if it is sloped correctly. Be sure to include a clean out so that if the pipe does become obstructed with silt or sand, you can send a hose down there and clean it out. I am contemplating one, too, and think I may just go with a 4" perforated pipe, but wrap it with landscape cloth so the water can get through, and encase it in gravel. We have a lot of sand here, thus, the cleanout.

Steve

[poison_1024]

[hallerb]

well such lines do clog, I dug one up to install one and was surprised to find it there, totally jammed with dirt.

perforated flexible pipe is dirt cheap why not install 2? costs little, will extend useful life........

can you just reslope the lawn to create natural drainage path? no pipe needed

[noone]

In normal soils, percolation is straight down until the water hits a dense barrier. Then it travels laterally. Unless that pond is very narrow, some, or much of the ponded water may bypass your drain. It would seem better to do minor regrading of the pond area and construct an inlet and a pipe to a suitable outlet where the ground is lower. On such a pipe, the gravel and mesh won't be needed and cleanout, if needed, should be relatively easy for a straight run.

I don't know your exact situation but ,if that is a long hillside slope above your house, after a storm there may be significant seepage flow from the hillside at several feet of depth which would underpass the drain and limit the value of either solution.

SJF

[Oren]

Steve,

Today I saw a French drain being put around a basement ( Hendersen, NV).

They used a product, just a fabric sleeve slide over the pipe. It came in a 100' role. I thought is was a nice job....

CHRISTY?S. ?. DRAIN-EEZ. ?. PERFORATED PIPE SLEEVING SOCK - 3.1 oz. Drain-Eez. ?. encases drain pipe and pre-. vents small particle/ soil drain system ...

[Speedy Jim]

Nice one.

Here's the link to the .pdf catalog:

[Oren]

These are crude pics today of the sleeve. Inspector was happy..more gravel later.

A full basement with three bedrooms, etc... Funny this house in the desert and code did not require it I guess. The owner wanted it.