# Backyard Drainage Issue



## Mr Chips (Mar 23, 2008)

i am trying to visualize your layout, but something isn't clicking for me.

This might be a lot less involved than drains in concrete. Take a ride to Lowes or Depot, do to the plumbing section and look for the section where they sell 4" corrugated pipe. in this same section the sell long drains, 4 or 5 inches wide, and 2 feet long. Could you stick a couple of these inbetween your patio and doors, flush with the ground, and let them carry the water away through pipe buried just below the surface, into an underground pit of river rock so it leaches into the soil on the other side of your yard


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## bobssurfin (Aug 28, 2009)

Your drain idea is what I'm thinking too, but shouldn't the drain be set in concrete or gravel and not the dirt? I have to consider the fact that one must step onto the drain when entering or exiting the door. Is it possible to post a picture on this site to provide you with a viaual? Tx!


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## Scuba_Dave (Jan 16, 2009)

Yes, you can post a pic on this site as an attachment
or hosted on a site like photobucket


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## Mr Chips (Mar 23, 2008)

sure, you could set it in concrete, but you could really set it in, dirt, stone or sand

honestly, you could just dig a trench a foot or so deep, going from the front of you door, to where ever you want it to drain. make sure you pitch the trench as needed. line the trench with a double layer of 6 mil plastic, cover the plastic with a couple inches of sand, put in some landscape fabric over the sand, then backfill to grade a bed of crushed marble, river rock or pea gravel. this would give you the drainage you need, but would eliminate the need for undergound drains and piping


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## bobssurfin (Aug 28, 2009)

Thanks for advice! Mr Chips, your idea sounds good to me not having to go to drywell. It just might be all the drainage I need in this spot. I will attempt to post a pic when I get home tonight to help visualize. I'm looking for asthetics (i.e. I want it to look nice too).


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## bobssurfin (Aug 28, 2009)

Couldn't post a pic last night. Got home after dark. Will take some pics as soon as I can. Does anyone have any pics, links or procedures on installing any of these types of drains?

Thanks!


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## bobssurfin (Aug 28, 2009)

Here are a few pics to illustrate. Tried to show the depth at different angles. Any further thoughts/Ideas/questions? Much appreciated.

Thanks!


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## 47_47 (Sep 11, 2007)

bobssurfin said:


> I was thinking about edging off both gardens, diigging out the area in front of door (approx 2'x4') but don't know how deep, installing some type of drain in cement or something, trenching to the gutter downspout running underground 4' away and "T-connecting" to it. Unfortunately, I don't know if this is the right solution.


I'd dig a trench, put in #2 stone add a 4" perforated pipe ~6" below the door height, covered in decorative rocks and tie this line into your downspout. Slope pipe 1/8"-1/4" per foot and use a wye to tie into the existing line.

Your grade at the house is too high.


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## Texasclk (Sep 2, 2009)

*Drainage Issue*

The perforated pipe drain will work under normal rain occurrences given the drain is sloped properly to a lower elevation. I would also recommend extending the downspouts below ground in solid pipe to the same location as the perforated pipe outlet. Having the downspouts in a separate system will help in the event of heavy rains. The two systems are separate.


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## Gary in WA (Mar 11, 2009)

http://www.easydigging.com/Drainage/pipe_tile.html
http://www.easydigging.com/Drainage/drywell_soakaway.html
http://pwd.org/pdf/water_resources/conservation fact sheets/dry_wells.pdf
And: http://www.servicemagic.com/article.show.Foundation-Drainage.13702.html
Be safe, G


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## bobssurfin (Aug 28, 2009)

Thanks for replies. I kinda like the idea of a concrete catch basin beneath the door, say 4' wide by 2' deep, with a drainpipe at bottom sloped directly into the new drywell about 6' away, fill with gravel, place a filter fabric/grate on top of gravel, then finish fillling with gravel on top of filter and grade/mulch around as best as possible.

I'd rather pipe right to drywell instead of connecting to gutter downspout for 2 reasons: 1. I'm not sure of the exact slope of the underground gutter drainpipe and don't want to dig up the nice sod to find out. It may not even be sloped enough to connect where I need to, and 2. I agree that there would be better flow with two separate drainpipes.

Additional thoughts/resources welcome!


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## bobssurfin (Aug 28, 2009)

I did exactly what "47__47" suggested. So far, so good!


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## 47_47 (Sep 11, 2007)

You are welcome bobssurfin and thanks for the feed back. Do not cover the stone. The runoff water must be able to hit the pipe to work.


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## bobssurfin (Aug 28, 2009)

Thanks. It's filled with gravel and I'm going to top off with some 3/4-1" white marble chips.


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## Scuba_Dave (Jan 16, 2009)

47_47 said:


> Your grade at the house is too high.


You should by code have at least 6" between the siding & dirt
With the dirt too high its an open invitation for termites & other wood eating pests


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## bobssurfin (Aug 28, 2009)

Was away for awhile. Good point! I'll take care of it tonight. Tx!


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