Expert advice from bob vila the most trusted name in home improvement home remodeling home repair and diy.
Exterior french drain.
An exterior french drain consists of excavating a ditch along the foundation.
The drain consists of a flexible perforated drainpipe buried in a trench at the bottom of the foundation footing.
You can do the work yourself or hire a professional landscape contractor to do the job.
But a french drain is a simple ditch in the ground.
Tried true trustworthy home advice.
Exterior french drains.
French drains are primarily used to prevent.
The process is fairly simple.
It is dug below the footer and graded to the surface.
After you ve designed your french drain system you re ready to build.
A trench at least 12 inches wide and 18 to 24 inches deep.
Larger trenches provide better drainage and last longer but require more work.
The french drain is a simple yet versatile construction which can be used to drain standing water from problem areas in your yard or basement.
Installing a french drain around the foundation outside of your home is an affordable and effective way to divert water away from the house and ensure that your basement or crawl space stays dry especially if you don t have gutters installed on your home the concept of a french drain is simple.
French drains need to have a slope of at least 1 so the force of gravity will work for you.
In order to install an outside french drain all cement porches patios sidewalks shrubs or any other obstacle along the foundation need to be removed.
It just requires a little preparation and planning the right tools and materials and a little diy know how.
A french drain or weeping tile also trench drain filter drain blind drain rubble drain rock drain drain tile perimeter drain land drain french ditch sub surface drain sub soil drain or agricultural drain is a trench filled with gravel or rock or containing a perforated pipe that redirects surface water and groundwater away from an area.
Parts of a french drain.
In order to get.
A french drain or weeping tile also trench drain filter drain blind drain rubble drain rock drain drain tile perimeter drain land drain french ditch sub surface drain sub soil drain or agricultural drain is a trench filled with gravel or rock or containing a perforated pipe that redirects surface water and groundwater away from an area.
Depending on the size of your trench either dig the trench with shovels or rent a trencher.
Install an interior french drain.
An interior french drain intercepts water as it enters your basement it s the surest method of keeping your basement dry and a better option than a footing drain.
This means that the drain should slope down a total of at least 1 inch for every 10 feet of pipe.
Instead of water soaking into the ground up against your.
However if you have a finished basement you ll have to remove interior walls in order to install the system.
Landscape fiber and gravel are put around the pipe to filter out dirt and sediments.