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Installing a french drain

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  • Installing a french drain

    I was planning on completing my deck project this weekend but my wife had other ideas. We have been having an issue with water seeping against the foundation of the home and into my crawl space. So in an attempt to remedy the situation I decided to install the drain. I also need to connect the downspouts to the drain (I forgot to do that when I had the trencher). The french drain is located at the front of the future flower bed. I still need to till the ground between the house and the drain and grade it away from the house and towards the drain. After that is done, I will be installing landscape fabric, mulch, flowers, shrubs and trees.

    Tools for the project: a rental (free rental due to my connections at work) trencher, round nose shovel, a trenching shovel, a square shovel, and a maddox pick:
    Tools of the trade.jpg

    The 4" perforated pipe that was installed on a bed of #57 stone (clean)
    4 inch perf pipe.jpg

    The drain after it was covered in gravel:
    French Drain.jpg

    The finish grade at the side of my home:
    Finished grade.jpg

    Another pic of my hired help:
    My helper.jpg
    I'm your huckleberry.


    "I love pulling the bone. Really though, what guy doesn't?" - CJF

  • #2
    Originally posted by FN Phat View Post
    Another pic of my hired help:
    [ATTACH]728[/ATTACH]
    Did you pick him up at Home Depot?
    "Nobody listens to Turtle."
    -Turtle
    sigpic

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    • #3
      Originally posted by Surfah View Post
      Did you pick him up at Home Depot?
      Nah, the local 7-11 on the corner...very cheap labor
      I'm your huckleberry.


      "I love pulling the bone. Really though, what guy doesn't?" - CJF

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      • #4
        Originally posted by FN Phat View Post
        Nah, the local 7-11 on the corner...very cheap labor
        I knew it! You can always tell the ones that will work for slurpees.

        Your neighborhood looks cool. I've always wanted to live in a smaller town and in a neighborhood like that.
        Ain't it like most people, I'm no different. We love to talk on things we don't know about.

        "The only one of us who is so significant that Jeff owes us something simply because he decided to grace us with his presence is falafel." -- All-American

        GIVE 'EM HELL, BRIGHAM!

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        • #5
          you always do such a thorough job.

          How are you planning to grade away from the house once its tilled? This is hard, I think.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Katy Lied View Post
            you always do such a thorough job.

            How are you planning to grade away from the house once its tilled? This is hard, I think.
            We have such a hard packed clay in Western KY that it is so difficult to work with unless you loosen up the ground. I am hoping that as I take away some dirt from the area there will be enough of a slope between the house and the drain that it will do the trick. We had a pretty nasty thunder storm last night (the Mississippi and the Ohio will generate some pretty nasty storms on a regular basis) and I sat on the front stoop watching the water. I have to admit that I realized half of the issue with the standing water by the foundation was my fault. I re-framed the front wall of my house and had to re-install a section of my roof due to a fireplace chimney that leaked water. When I was putting the pieces of the puzzle back together, I forgot to install a downspout on a new section of gutter The water would fill the gutter and then drip off of the side of the gutter and pool at my foundation. Therefore, once I get my grade up to par along the foundation, I will need to install a new downspout and tie it in (with 3 others) to the french drain.
            I'm your huckleberry.


            "I love pulling the bone. Really though, what guy doesn't?" - CJF

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            • #7
              Originally posted by falafel View Post
              I knew it! You can always tell the ones that will work for slurpees.

              Your neighborhood looks cool. I've always wanted to live in a smaller town and in a neighborhood like that.
              It has it's perks. I really like living an in area that I could do what I like. I think that once (if ever) I finish the work on the house that we can enjoy living here.
              I'm your huckleberry.


              "I love pulling the bone. Really though, what guy doesn't?" - CJF

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              • #8
                I have roto-tilled the ground between my foundation and the drain. I have the landscape fabric and the pins. I also picked up a load of premium compost from the city. Due to the ammount of tree damage from the Ice Storm of '09, I can get a loader bucket of premium compost for $5. I took my dad's 18' trailer and had them give me 2 buckets full.

                Here is what $10 of compost looks like:


                One of the few benefits of living in BFE KY! The stuff is great and cheap. This is the only reason that I will be going with mulch instead of river rock in the flower bed. I will have to maintain the mulch bed more than I would the rock (and let's face it, this is a concern) but you can't beat the cost. It is well worth the added sweat equity. The next step is finding quality landscaping for cheap!

                Now I just need to find some time...

                EDIT: When I was unloading the trailer in a hurry to get to work on time, I noticed that my wife started our little Smokey Joe. I thought that she was getting hot dogs and burgers ready for the kids but she was making me this:


                Yummy Kalbi ribs to take to work! I <3 my wife!

                Sorry about the crappy phone pics
                Last edited by FN Phat; 06-05-2010, 02:59 PM. Reason: Added food porn
                I'm your huckleberry.


                "I love pulling the bone. Really though, what guy doesn't?" - CJF

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                • #9
                  At the corner of my garage is a gutter downspout that drains about 30-40% of the roof. The flower bed where it drains is pretty small because of the driveway and walkway to the front door. When we bought the place, that small patch of flower bed had a patch of concrete covering it.

                  During most of the year, it's not a big deal. During the winter, however, it can create a safety issue. After snow melts from the roof, it travels down the somewhat steep driveway and then re-freezes into an ice sheet.

                  Last year we busted up the concrete patch and dug down a little ways filling that area with sand and rock. It wasn't good enough.

                  Now we're in the process of improving the drainage. We dug out a tunnel under the walkway and dug out a trench out into the lawn. We've got 4-inch wide perforated pipes spanning 20 feet surrounded by rock comprising the French drain. I've ordered two 60-foot heat cords. One I'm planning to put in the perforated pipe, the other in the gutter and downspout.

                  I cut a sprinkler pipe to make it easier to tunnel under the walkway. I figure it's just as well since now I can add another sprinkler to the system before I put the grass back in place.

                  The first picture is from when my youngest daughter brought us some sandwiches for a lunch break. The second picture is from after some friends convinced me to go 20 feet instead of just 10 (and helped dig out the extra 10 feet).



                  Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
                  "I think it was King Benjamin who said 'you sorry ass shitbags who have no skills that the market values also have an obligation to have the attitude that if one day you do in fact win the PowerBall Lottery that you will then impart of your substance to those without.'"
                  - Goatnapper'96

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                  • #10
                    I did something similar a few years ago, but just put a pop-up drain in the lawn. Orem is far enough south that beyond heating lines in the gutters and downspout, I didn't need anything else running underground.

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