Installing an exterior french drain can be difficult and expensive.
Exterior french drain diagram.
See the diagram below.
It just requires a little preparation and planning the right tools and materials and a little diy know how.
A trench at least 12 inches wide and 18 to 24 inches deep.
While some types of these drains include a perforated drain pipe sometimes called drain tile and may be covered with grass the traditional french drain is simpler and easier to build.
A french drain also called a footing drain is a pipe that carries water away from your house.
This means that the drain should slope down a total of at least 1 inch for every 10 feet of pipe.
Parts of a french drain.
The leftover soil from this can be used for the second step.
In the side yard we will only install half of the french drain system and a pair of small drywells to see if it corrects the drainage problem.
An interior drainage system is an easier more affordable option for waterproofing your basement.
After you ve designed your french drain system you re ready to build.
Larger trenches provide better drainage and last longer but require more work.
French drains need to have a slope of at least 1 so the force of gravity will work for you.
The process is fairly simple.
You can do the work yourself or hire a professional landscape contractor to do the job.
A landscaping french drain is a gravel filled trench lined with landscape fabric to keep soil and silt out of the gravel.
Depending on the size of your trench either dig the trench with shovels or rent a trencher.
In the front yard we will fix the foundation ground slope problem.