Truth about Geofabric Wrapped French Drains - Watch Before You Install a French Drain
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 มี.ค. 2024
- This a great video for the DIY wanting to know about Geo Fabric. 2 videos in one! Watch BEFORE you use Fabric. This is REAL How To Video!
Links to STA-GREEN Fabric at LOWES
www.lowes.com/pd/Sta-Green-Re...
www.lowes.com/pd/Sta-Green-Re...
Yards with no Slope Need a Sump Pump and Catch Basins NOT a FRENCH DRAIN. Watch and Learn how this system works and Save Yourself 1000's
ALWAYS WATCH TO THE END FOR MORE INFO. The downspout Drain (Drain Tile) Underground Drain is the Most Important Drain in the Rainwater Drainage System. This Pipe Moves more water than any other drain .
Don't forget about it and do it right!
Here is a complete guide. Everything you need to know. How it works, and So many more tips. Only here on Apple Drain. We Do It Everyday!
www.AppleDrains.com/florida LIVE HELP - check website for times and details.
Hosted by Chuck
Great Video for the DIY, Step by Step
Apple Drains
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AM FROM THE UK 🇬🇧 I TRULY THINK YOUR VIDEOS ARE THE VERY BEST AND MOST HELPFUL FOR THE D.I.Y PERSON
YOUR SO HONEST
AND HELPFUL I WATCHED YOU FOR YEAR'S
AND YOU EXPLAIN IT ALL SO EASY FOR US NOT TO SMART ABOUT DOING THIS STUFF KNOW ONE DOES IT BETTER G.B.Y
Thank you
I don't have any drain or septic issues today (I've done my share in the past ;-) but just enjoy hearing a man who knows his stuff. Thanks Chuck.
Not only are your videos awesome, but your timing is on point.. Thanks for this video!! Long time subscriber 4shO...🍻
Awesome video! It will be so much easier to direct people to your video vs explaining how French drains work!
GREAT Channel, thanks so much! Love the tests and the money saving corrugated pipe joining technique, brilliant!
I've been watching your videos for a bit over a year now. I just wanted to say thanks for all the work you do. I've learned tons and am ready to take on some of these projects myself
Keep up the good work!
While it's true that a geotextile can slow the movement of water, it will only get worse if the french drain gets clogged. So an engineering decision is made: make the drain circumference large enough so that the flow change due to the fabric doesn't matter. Since engineering time is expensive, most installers just wing it and try to over-build the drain so nothing could ever fail in the lifetime of the customer, and that works. That's also why the engineered drain products you see in stores with fabric or foam peanuts around the pipe are so much smaller than the average drain you see on youtube; those products are designed precisely for a certain load, but nothing more. Exactly how big YOUR drain needs to be depends on your environment on site, and that's where having an experienced local professional comes in.
Keep up the great informative videos!!!
Good stuff. Thanks Chuck!
Good video on how to do it right.
Great videos so far,thanks for the information
So glad I watched your video. You are the first person that made common sense. I like the old clay tile as well.
Glad it was helpful!
Hey Chuck , I have really been enjoying watching a few of your videos lately. I am from New Zealand and we have very similar construction methods to yoou in the states. But currently I am in Indonesia and about to start to build a home with a basement half underground and i really want to achieve a dry space . Here we have hard and semi hard limestone , so probably not much sediment . But materials are hard to find , like the perforated flexible pipe for example , i am thinking to use 4"pvc with 2 rows of holes at the bottom. wrapped in clean shingle and geotextile also with a 4% fall... any advice ?
Hey Chuck! Quick question. How do you terminate the end of the drain? I have a 7 foot basement. Do you have a video for that?
Very good. Thank you.
Great video!
Great stuff
Love your videos Chuck. Planning on doing my own drain project in the near future. Do you cap off the start of the perforated pipe with anything or just leave open?
We use an end Cap at the Beginning Of The Pipe,Pvc pipe Or Perforated Pipe Slotted,But Some might Not.We use Mostly Pvc,But have used The Black Perf pipe.But it seems now that The Black pipe From lowes is Made from Recycled Materials.and its not as strong as it was a few years ago..
so, next video, please tell us how you truly feel about grate boxes and popups. Somewhat impertinent question, yet I want to see your view... Fillbillies in C.FL put grates right under the downspout and then squirrel the pipe up down and around then cap it with a pop up. It must be some Fredneck universe where water travels uphill, IDK...
Well done...thank you for this. I am building a few retaining walls out of PT 6x6 in clay in Canada, QC. One of them needs to be about 6 feet tall/high. Do you recommend the same type/system all of the way from the bottom to the top of the wall? Crushed stone all the way? And for clay you are saying it really doesn't matter if you use a sleeve or not on the big pipe?
Thanks
Thank you!
Thank you I have clay here and you just saved me.
Saved you how? By not getting the fabric ?
@@sef2273I have clay soil… do you recommend go with PvC? I live in Dallas
Sure seems the pvc is better. But one question, how thick do you make your stone base? I’m going to be putting in a French drain in the back yard with an open stone top (no dirt on top). Just not sure how deep to make that stone base. Thanks.
Can you bury a french drain along a river at the level of the water to pump water from the river without pumping directly from the river? Would the water inflow keep up with the pump as well as it would if sucking the water directly from the river?
please tell me which sta green product you used. lowes has different types
Thanks I live in the south and having drain issues and wondering if a French drain will actually help
If the water is holding in a low spot have someone install a catch basin. They work a lot better than a French drain.
The video shows that PVC works just as good as corrugated pipe. So which one is better?
I tried to look inside but it was dark. I’d think the way you secured the pipe with the coupling is a problem waiting to happen. I can envision debris getting caught on it.
Hey im sure its been answered but whats the purpose of the gravel bed under the pipe? You said it allows the wayer to rise up into the pipe but wouldnt the water be rising regardless?
It’s so your pipe isn’t laying directly on dirt. After the first storm the bottom of your drain will turn to mud and make it harder for rising water to enter the pipe and will eventually clog it. A few inches of gravel gives a barrier and helps filter without restricting flow.
Could we put granular lime into the soil to amend the clay soil?
Sure
I watched a video the other day and the guy said that the new way to do it is put the pipe directly on the bottom, forgo any gravel on the bottom and then cover with gravel. Years ago I did my entire house using a method like in this video. So has the protocol changed?
It’s a catch-22.
The purpose of using gravel is to create an air barrier roots cannot survive in during the dry season. Based on that concept, you would ideally want an equal thickness of gravel distributed all the way around a perforated pipe, meaning the same amount below as you use on the sides and above.
The negative to this approach, though, is if you put gravel under the pipe, you create a gap that must fill up with water before it reaches the pipe, so not only won’t you get rid of all the water, the pooled water will attract roots that can then grow through the water and into the pipe.
Conversely, you can lay the pipe directly on the bottom of the trench before adding any gravel. This will allow you to remove the maximum amount of water from the trench. But it will also make it easier for roots, which seek out any moisture, to reach and grow into the pipe.
The best compromise seems to be to put a shallow layer of gravel under the pipe and hope that 1) the water that has pooled under the pipe will periodically dry up enough to kill any roots growing in it and/or 2) the slope of the trench itself is enough to move pooling water downhill, out of the problem area.
The latter idea may seem odd after watching a bunch of videos that compare corrugated pipe to PVC or discuss whether you should use a geo-fabric, but it’s important to remember the first French drains had neither fabric nor pipes - they were simply trenches filled with gravel. And they worked fine.
My French drain is clogged after 2 winters. I used corrugated pipe, with river rock on top, wrapped in geo fabric, with more river rock on top, and left it open. Should I get rid of the fabric? I live in the PNW, and have very clay soil. Thank you in advance.
Yes
@@appledrains thank you. Your videos are great!
I can't say why your drain clogged (a lot of things could have gone wrong, so I recommend calling a local professional at this point), but the river rock is not usually specified for this usage. It drains well, but one thing that goes unsaid is that the gravel itself acts as a filter, so the wrong gravel or not enough gravel can hurt the function of the drain. 3/4" clean gravel that locks into itself is usually recommended. You can use river rock on top for good looks, of course.
Make sure you use as thin a non-woven fabric as possible (just thick enough to survive the install without ripping), and make sure it is sealed all the way around with spikes or polyurethane sealant (to prevent soil from leeching directly into the pipe from above). As AppleDrains said in one video, it's more important to protect the gravel from the soil above than below, because the flow of water from above isn't important and doesn't matter if it's blocked. The drain is for removing ground water that came from a huge area of land, NOT for removing the rain on top of the drain. Ground water will clean the drain of soil from below for many years, but letting the fabric open and clog the drain from above is a big mistake.
@@adamnonnenmacher7774 the pipe didn’t clog. When I ended up unwrapping the top of the fabric under a few inches of river rock, the rock inside the fabric was bone dry, and it started draining right away. The fabric was not letting any water into the drain.
You didn't do a demo on the Sta-Green Premium Gardening Landscape Fabric that you said works. But I don't think it works any different than other fabric. If clay soil smears around it, it will get clogged. I just feel it's common sense what clay can do to small holes. Enjoy your video though, it does prove my suspicion about fabrics as a water filtration material for clay soil.
Hope you give it a try. Easy DIY
Long time no see chuck, hope your doing well
In the video, it is mentioned that the french drain needs maintenance. How do you do that?
You will have roots that grow into the pipe no matter if it is pvc or corrugated. Hopefully you clean outs to make snaking down the length of the pipe.
I use 8 oz landscape fabric over my drainage pipe. I tested it and water from a hose passes right through it as fast as the hose delivers it in about 1 square foot of fabric. The Styrofoam peanuts will probably collapse over time if the pipe is buried very deep or be destroyed by freeze thaw cycles. Perforated , slotted, pipe does require a fabric in a sandy soil as soil cohesion is very weak and grains of sand will wash into the pipe. Not needed on clay. That is not 8 oz fabric you have there. (8 oz per sq yard)
Why stones under the pipe.? Shouldn’t we lay the pipe closest to ground ?
I was looking for a comment about this, my thoughts exactly. In the video he says its the most important part bc you want the voids in the stone to allow the water to rise up into the pipe, however, wouldn't the void in the pipe itself be better to allow the water to rise up into the pipe? It just seems redundant
@@jakeb.4225 The gravel IS the drain. The pipe is just an upgrade for more flow. If you removed the gravel at the bottom, you would be shrinking the size of the drain, which would reduce its flow, and reduce how long it works before clogging. Think of the gravel as just a giant corrugated pipe. If you wanted, you could install just a pipe into your soil, but the area around the pipe is very small so very little water can enter, and the volume inside the pipe is very small so it will clog quickly. Putting the pipe in a gravel trench will allow 5-10x more water to flow for 5-10x more years, and all it cost was some rock.
That is not 4oz, that crap from the hardware store doesn’t work you need the needle punched filter fabric that the used in commercial application.
I bought the French Drain Man fabric. It doesn't work in Arkansas clay soil. I burrito wrapped 35 ft of 6" corrugated drain pipe with clean 1" gravel. I installed a cleanout at the end and then added 50ft of non wrapped corrugated pipe. At the very end of the last 50ft non wrapped, water flows good. From the beginning to the cleanout 35ft down, water trickles as I peer inside the cleanout. Huge mistake wasting money on the fabric and now I have to rent an excavator and pull the rock and wrap out so it will flow. I should have listened to Chuck here.
Sorry to hear. Hope you get it working!
So chuck I'm in northwest Florida. Full clay yard. When it rains water sits in the Yard for 2-4 days. So building a French drain is the best way is with no fabric
@@jamescrews5781 try it . It will help
Thanks Chuck at the most I may put a fabric layer across the top of the rocks if I backfill with new soil but I will probably just leave the rocks in covered for esthetic
For thousand years, french drains have been used without fabric. Do we really need it? Maybe it improves performance in certain soils. How many basements use draintile in their footings, with no fabric, since the 18th century? They are still working.
Does anyone see a big difference between Apple Drains n French Drain Man videos? French Drain Man does not recommend PVC because it cracks. His blue pipe is slotted entirely around his pipe.
Of course he would recommend and oversell his own products, he makes more money from suckers this way
@@gman8042 Does his products work better or the same from what box stores sell.
from a purely material aspect, FDM is up north where it freezes and thaws often, which will wreck PVC pretty quick. Although that's no excuse for shilling his own overpriced corrugated.
@@CREATINELUSTER Would you use the pipe sold at box stores or easy flow
😎
Fabric only caused headache 😪.
The purpose of the fabric is to prevent dirt intruding and blocking the corrugated pipe water inlet slits.
Corrugated pipe with knife cut slits is the best choice.
The aggregate rock helps to create air gaps to allow water flow and discourage the invasion of roots.
French drains built correctly will last indefinitely.
The challenge to building a proper French Drain is the labor of digging the trench and adding the 1.5” aggregate rock. If you choose the peanuts and sock you will learn regret.
So adding a French drain around a house in clay where the water table is high, would you advise, slotted pipe surrounded in stone with or without some kind of membrane to slot the clay blocking the stones?
U need the RIGHT fabric for drainage . Double punched fabric for DRAINAGE not landscaping fabric. Get it from French Drain Man
Never ask a barber if you need a haircut and never believe someone trying to sell you his special one of a kind product.
I can’t see them peanuts being good, they crush easily.
That’s why I show you the videos. Easy flow works much better than gravel perforated
@@appledrainsthat’s a great couple trick ty
@@akbychoice thank you! And works better than store bought!!
Corrugated pipe is junk. We only use pvc. The problem with corrugated perf is that the holes are all around allowing dirt to settle into the pipe from the top. PVC only has holes in the bottom which catches the water as it rises and carries it away faster.
Corrugated is fine. Who says it isn’t hasn’t done the work long enough.
@@jwrbusiness22 wow that’s funny. You must be one of those cheap contractors that uses this stuff. Lol it’s cheap for a reason…
@jbisson140, where do you install?
If you live in the North with a 3ft frost line, will pvc handle the movement?
If the drain is where it is really needed and dirt gets into the corrugated, won't it get washed out with the next rain?
Dirt will clog the gravel before it cloggs either type of pipe
@@jimkane9832 no not really. Maybe if you use the bare minimum of gravel then yes. But if you do it right it won’t. We waterproof the exterior of many many building every year and never have this problem.
PVC ME PLEASE!