# Drilling Hole in Concrete Slab for Plant Drainage



## sdrocker (Sep 24, 2014)

Hi All,

I took a most of an awning down last year and recently put a structural support on the corner of the leftover portion. This is a decorative metal post. To make it look better I put the post inside of a planter and put a vine plant with dirt in it.

The problem is that when I water the plant the water drains onto the patio and makes an ugly mess. One idea I have is to take a 12 inch 1/2" masonry bit and drill a hole through the tile and slab until I reach dirt so the water can drain below the patio. Are there any repercussions to doing this? Otherwise I'd have to put a smaller planter inside, plug that hole in the larger planter and then make some type of decoration grill/grating mesh on top of it to hide the smaller planter.

Will I tear my arm out trying to drill the 1/2" hole with a regular chorded drill if I do it slowly? I make holes for the decorative post anchors and it was ok. 

Thanks


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## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

Where you bought the planter, should have a tray that goes under it to catch the drainage.

And it should have been included with the planter FREE, at the time of purchase.

Look for a tray , or build one from a rectangular catbox, or other suitable container.

Yes I know that you will need to take the rail down to get under the planter, and put it back up.

but that is better than making a few holes to attract ants to invade your patio, and your little get togethers that you have planned for the area.


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## sdrocker (Sep 24, 2014)

de-nagorg said:


> Where you bought the planter, should have a tray that goes under it to catch the drainage.
> 
> And it should have been included with the planter FREE, at the time of purchase.
> 
> ...


Thanks, I bought that from Home Depot and didn't see any of the clear plastic trays that would fit that large of a planter. I think it would be an enormous pain to have to replace that plastic tray every time it breaks. For instance if someone just hit it with their feet by accident and it cracked I'd have to do so much work to replace it. 

I was more interested in the repercussions to damaging anything by letting water from that plant drain under the patio. I'm less worried about ants than I would be having to do all that work to replace the tray if it broke ever. 

To put a tray in, I would need to dig the plant out carefully, then get out all the dirt, then unbolt the post from the bottom and top, slide the post out carefully and then lift the planter off and put a try underneath. i'd still need to drill two holes in that tray for the post and seal around the bolts so water doesn't leak out from there onto the patio. Then I have to do the reverse to put it all together.


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## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

Flower pots are supposed to have a base, that keeps the water confined, , and the round thing that you are describing is not the bottom that I was describing.

There should have been a base custom designed in the same style as the planter, and stored nearby, as a go with item.

Since you almost never have a frost around S D, that is not a worry, the worry would be water eroding and getting around the foundation of the house.

You could install a drain under the patio, with plastic plumbing, drill a hole in the concrete, to allow the water to go under it, then carefully, clean out enough dirt from under the patio, from the edge, and install the pipe under there to drain the water away.

All a lot of work, maybe just water the vine less.



ED


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## sdrocker (Sep 24, 2014)

de-nagorg said:


> Flower pots are supposed to have a base, that keeps the water confined, , and the round thing that you are describing is not the bottom that I was describing.
> 
> There should have been a base custom designed in the same style as the planter, and stored nearby, as a go with item.
> 
> ...


Thanks, yea it does look like a lot of work no matter what I do. Installing a drain under the patio would be a huge pain. I'd have to go very far to get a drain outside of the patio area. Would erosion really be bad if I'm watering that vine plant lightly and it goes down a 1/2" hole to the ground? The water drains pretty slow from the planter. I wonder if it could still drain down that hole fine and not do any damage.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

It would depend on where that water is when you have freezing temperatures.


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## sdrocker (Sep 24, 2014)

Nealtw said:


> It would depend on where that water is when you have freezing temperatures.


Thanks,
freezing temps are possible in San Diego actually, they don't occur that often and I would probably water that plant in the day time when the water can drain and the dirt in the planter won't stay wet overnight.

The easiest way for me to get rid of that water is to let it go beneath the patio. It's not a huge amount of water at all. Otherwise I need to put a smaller planter inside the big planter and hide it somehow at the top with mesh/grating and let it evaporate out.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

You don't have freezing and there should be gravel below, I doubt a little water would hurt. I would get one of those moisture meter so you can judge the water amount you are adding to the pot.
https://www.amazon.ca/Indoor-Outdoo...pID=51LtkNhScVL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch


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## sdrocker (Sep 24, 2014)

Nealtw said:


> You don't have freezing and there should be gravel below, I doubt a little water would hurt. I would get one of those moisture meter so you can judge the water amount you are adding to the pot.
> https://www.amazon.ca/Indoor-Outdoo...pID=51LtkNhScVL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch


Thanks. Do you mean if I drill a hole through the concrete I should reach gravel? 

I should check with a meter as well to see how much I'm watering. Lately I've tried to water light, and it helps with the staining from the water draining, but there still a little and it is greenish making it look like algae at the bottom. 

On a side note, my stucco has screed and that goes down to the patio floor flush. I think there is a separation gap not visible. When I go to the farther end of the patio and look from the side I can see this gap. I imagine if I drill the hole and water erodes anything it would only affect the patio itself and not the house foundation at all.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

I think it would take a lot of water at fairly high pressure to cause sand and gravel to wash out. Not sure I would direct anything toward the house. What ever that system is intended to do, we do not know how well it is working or any max load it could handle so best to leave it alone and let it do it's thing.


I would first use the meter and judge the water use with that and see if the problem can be handled with that alone.
If you have gravel in the bottom of the pot you could put a stand pipe inside the pot, sealed to the holes in the bottom. So the gravel can maintain some water.
Or put two layers of gravel with fabric between to catch the dirt.


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## sdrocker (Sep 24, 2014)

Nealtw said:


> I think it would take a lot of water at fairly high pressure to cause sand and gravel to wash out. Not sure I would direct anything toward the house. What ever that system is intended to do, we do not know how well it is working or any max load it could handle so best to leave it alone and let it do it's thing.
> 
> 
> I would first use the meter and judge the water use with that and see if the problem can be handled with that alone.
> ...



Thanks. I had thought about a similar idea. I read somewhere that adding gravel to the bottom of the pot and having water sit in there is still bad for the roots of the plant and it makes it hard to know if you are overwatering since you can't see how much water is in the gravel. Some people claim the water trapped in that gravel will also get nasty.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

https://www.todayshomeowner.com/video/tips-for-planting-in-pots-and-containers/






Well then.


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## sdrocker (Sep 24, 2014)

Nealtw said:


> https://www.todayshomeowner.com/video/tips-for-planting-in-pots-and-containers/
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX6RwN5qx0I
> 
> 
> Well then.



Thanks,

That solution would still let the water out though? The problem I have is the trail of water from the pot is slightly discolored and enough to stain on the tiles. It leaves a white trail/stain when the water dries. I have not seen any actual dirt come out of mine because I water slowly and I don't think the water is flowing through the planter very fast. 

The gravel could let water sit in the bottom of the pipe and the stand pipe could let excess flow out if I overwater that way the roots are not saturated in standing water but I had read letting water stand inside gravel isn't good either because it would evaporate back up through the roots and that's waste water to begin with. I had read that supposedly plants want drainage and once the water drains through the dirt it contains "plant waste".


Here's an interesting article:

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/can-plant-grow-pot-theres-hole-bottom-97451.html


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

sdrocker said:


> Thanks,
> 
> That solution would still let the water out though? The problem I have is the trail of water from the pot is slightly discolored and enough to stain on the tiles. It leaves a white trail/stain when the water dries. I have not seen any actual dirt come out of mine because I water slowly and I don't think the water is flowing through the planter very fast.
> 
> ...


 Now that I know that everything I thought I knew was wrong. All I can say is the hole below sounds like a good idea as long as you don't over do the watering which I doubt would happen anyway.


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## sdrocker (Sep 24, 2014)

Nealtw said:


> Now that I know that everything I thought I knew was wrong. All I can say is the hole below sounds like a good idea as long as you don't over do the watering which I doubt would happen anyway.


Thanks! I thought I was taking the easy way out a long time ago when I went with a decorative post and vine idea for supporting the corner of the roof overhang remnants but it turned out to be a lot of work as well and I never thought watering the plant would cause stains on the tile. 

I'm going to give the hole below a go and drill towards the front of the planter and maybe at a slight angle so it stays farther from the house foundation.


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## stadry (Jun 20, 2009)

*you're making a lot of work when none's necessary,,, just don't water so much,,, you won't need to spend any more $ OR do any more work*


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## sdrocker (Sep 24, 2014)

stadry said:


> *you're making a lot of work when none's necessary,,, just don't water so much,,, you won't need to spend any more $ OR do any more work*



Thanks. I think you're right. I dug all the top pebble stones out, then dug all the dirt out, then took the plant out. Then I started drilling through the planter and through the concrete and got about 6 inches and just stalled. After that point I kept eating up bits, even the ones that Home Depot sells that say for concrete with rebar. 

My arm is killing me and I just gave up and filled the hole up with Alex clear caulking. 

I'm going to water the plant less. I am probably going to stick the plant in a smaller planter and fill the bottom and sides with gravel. I'm also going to put in a plastic tube that isn't as visible and then use a smaller tube to stick inside with a hand pump to occasionally siphon water out if it gets stuck in the bottom layer of gravel.


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