The key to any successful landscaping is good drainage. It brings this issue at your home then a French drain system might just be the solution. A French drain is an underground system that uses perforated pipes, set and gravel to collect water below the ground surface and channel it away from your home. Landscape fabric in a special sock protects the pipe from dirt and silt. I’ve already dug a trench so let me show you the steps.
First, I want to lay out my landscape fabric, this is basically landscape or weaved fabric.
It’s semi-permeable so water will past through it but it will keep roots and dirt out so my drain system will stay clean.
Now it’s time to actually prepare my pipe. What I’m using here is just a regular 3 inch drain pipe that has perforations here; it’s got the holes on this side. Now when you put in this pipe in the ground, the holes actually go on the two bottom sides.
And the reason is, the holes are less likely to clog that way.
Now this pipe comes with a bell right here this part is flares a little bit wider so all I want to do is pay attention to the perforation here, these holes here and line up my next link of pipe so I’ve got lines all in the same area. Once everything’s lined up, no glue or primer needed, I’m just going to take same 10 millimeter tape and I’m going to wrap the scene there. I like using tape as oppose to glue because it allows my pipes to flex a little bit if you’re about get in there and make some changes, it’s a little easier to work with. The next piece I need to connect here is going to be a 45.
This elbow allows me to angle a pipe extension above the ground so later I can flush the drain out.
And the next step is another level of filtration here.
This drain pipe sock is designed to keep silt to from entering the drain holes and I’m going to run it all away up the length of the pipe.
All of these is allowing this pipe to stay cleaner and work better for that much longer and it’s time to put my upright piece on here. Again, this is going to be a place for me to be able to stick a water hose in here, a garden hose and just flush out my drain pipe. So I’ve go this access here, I’m going to put a cap, on the top of it, just push it in place, pull my sock up, drop the pipe into the trench, fold back the excess landscape fabric and pin it in place using these landscape fabric pins.
And that way when I come in here to pour my gravel in next, I don’t have my fabric flapping over and falling into my trench.
Now for the gravel, the uniform sides are a great medium for letting water drain right through it. It’s washed gravel so I’m not introducing any new silt or dirt into the system.
I brought this pretty much right up to the level of my soil and that way, not only does it take care of that sub-surface water underneath but any surface water as well as it’s just going to go through my layers of filtration will be carried away in my pipe.
After smoothing out the gravel, I take out my fabric pins.
Once you’ve got it done, everything’s nice and neat. You can take your fabric, fold it over, and tuck it in.
You could tap dress this wit good draining soil, grass or spill some decorative rock around or even put some mulch there and you’ve got the benefits of a French drain.
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