French drains are used to remove excess water from an area.
French drain under gravel driveway.
The perforated pipe under the drive will allow the water coming down the.
A true french drain is made with gravel but with gravel driveways pvc piping is recommended.
If your driveway is just dirt or gravel it s not too big a deal.
It then redirects the water much like a roof gutter downspout to another location.
Just measure it up dig it out with a pickaxe and shovel put a tamped down bed of pea gravel under the unit and proceed with the installation.
Depending on the size of your yard and the scale of your drainage issue you can purchase the pipes and equipment to create a french drain yourself.
A french drain offers a gravity assisted means of keeping the yard free from excess moisture.
Put a 4 inch layer of gravel at the bottom and then add plastic piping.
Step 4 pavers.
A french drain is a trench filled with a perforated pipe and gravel that allows water to drain naturally from your yard.
The pvc piping only needs to be 4 to 6 inches in diameter for draining purposes.
The french drain perforated pipe needs to be sited low enough into the ground to intercept groundwater and be laid at a slight angle heading downwards away from your home.
As the name implies these are pavers that sit under the gravel driveway but allow the water to drain through easily into the ground.
Cover with another 6 inches of gravel and then put dirt on top tamping it down firmly.
If you have an existing sidewalk or driveway you can still install a channel drain but it s a bit more labor intensive.
Before laying the pipe drill holes in it to absorb the water.
Water is driven there because the voids in the gravel make it easy for it to travel through making the gravel bed the path of least resistance.
Help keep top gravel from washing away.
A french drain works to keep your basement dry by diverting water from the surrounding soil into an underground barrier trench containing a gravel bed.
There s another way to help with the drainage of the gravel driveways and that s using porous pavers.
A trench drain is usually found at the edge of a driveway patio or sidewalk and collects water flowing over that surface.
Driveway with french drain to collect water.
While several sizes and types of gravel may be used for the drain your best option may depend upon the slope of the yard and whether you use a perforated pipe to help whisk the water away.