Thanks for the content. If I have to do it just behind a wall where there is an impermeable surface at the bottom and of course at the wall side, it can work well? 🙏
Is "burrito" wrapping really needed if you are in a mostly clay area? I have a big job going right now at about 350 ft custom French Drain.,I'm really debating on using fabric over rock and pipe...think I'm just going with smooth rock and smaller dimensions and completely surrounding the pvc im using. No dirt will be backfilled with the rock. Also...my project is a large area of "surface" water that ponds up for long periods at times. I feel its different with surface water to sub surface water if you know what i mean? Thanks for what you do,very informative
We always wrap our French drains because clay migrates more than you think. If we need high volume capacity, we'll install catch basins on a solid line in the same trench we keep the French drain free of sediment and debris.
Do not use geo fabric on clay soil. Look up apple drain youtube channel. So many experiments has been done and many people have issue of water not draining because clay soil will completely clog the geo fabric!!
You don't have to wait until it dries out for digging. If the ground is really muddy, you may want to let it dry out to shape the bottom of the trench after you've excavated it. Muddy ground actually helps you if you're digging by hand.
Exactly what I was after, great video! Just wondering, with it being clay, do you just put that on top of the stone after or do you use some sort of topsoil? Thanks!
Thank you Ethan. We put grass back over this one. We prefer to use a nice mixed soil on top of the drain so the roots fill it up quickly. The grass roots actually keep the top relatively porous compared to just soil. If not using grass, stone or mulch works.
In order to use perforated pipe the whole distance, the french drain would have to go along with it which expensive and not necessary. Just burying perforated pipe will cause it to clog with roots and sediment. Solid pipe is the most practical and cost effective way to move water from a french drain to an acceptable area.
Where the work reflects the god we serve. Amen 👍. I have a friend of mine that has a wet section of lawn and a large hill at the back of his property. He doesn’t have anywhere to pipe the water to and doesn’t want to pipe it to the road. He wants to put in a large drywell that’s about 6 feet wide by 3 feet deep to take the water and a section of French drain running into it. I’m going to put a few feet of stone around the drywell and keep the top maybe 4-6 inches below the surface. I used to put in septics and this will resemble one. What are your thoughts on this. I don’t know the flow of water he has or if it will take and perc it all. I tried to express these concerns with him but he seems pretty intent on doing it so I’ll help him. How would you deal with a property with no place to direct the water? There are no road drains either to pipe it to and neighbors.
Hey Jason! It's difficult to say without seeing it. We have clay soils here in Charlotte so drain fields can be tough. If even a sump pump can get water to where it needs to go, dry well may be thr only option. Hope it works out!
Thank you. We do have bulk washed stone in our area but bagged stone is easier to handle for these small projects. We've since started using some washed stone (check out some of our other videos) and using a sock on perforated pipe when stone is not as clean as we would like.
That fabric would plug up quickly and stop working in the clay soil I have in KY. I have tried it twice. No more! Just potato size rock and drainage pipe. The cloth will help the rocks not sink into the ground but I wrap nothing. We have terrible soil.
A good non-woven geotextile would adopt the same/similar drainage characteristics of the surrounds soil. The purpose is to stop the migration of then surrounding soil so it doesn't eventually fail. A subterranean wrapped french drain will act identical to a unwrapped one on day one but won't lose performance like the unwrapped one.
First, Glory to God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am in Atlanta, and I am talking to a landscaper about doing something like this in a wooded hill part of my yard that has a lot of water that dumps out on to a sidewalk and then flows to a 4 inch grate in my pool concrete deck. When I know a heavy rain is coming, I take the grate off, and it works pretty well. I have been doing this for almost ten years. There is a box at the bottom of the hill, but it constantly gets filled up with dirt washing down the hill. I was thinking about putting an open rock trench that would direct the rain to the box, but how do I keep the dirt back? Do I put landscape fabric on top of the box and then sand or rock and do I put pine bark mulch or something on the side of the hill. It is a hill under a large hickory tree, so very shaded and the shrubs that used to be there died from lack of sun. I had heard that putting cardboard under the mulch also helps with erosion, but won't the mulch just wash down onto the rock trench? Thanks for any advice and God bless.
@@drainmylawn i figured you rinsed it. I just thought you might have a clever technique, like a 5 gallon bucket with holes around the bottom, or something similar, or not similar at all.
Water, among other things, flows downhill! Joking aside, this was exited into a drainage ditch between the two properties. Thoughtful water exit is a big part of what we do.
@@drainmylawn - all good, just having a laugh. I'm currently trying to deal with a drainage issue created by putting a garage slab into an excavated slop with no retaining wall and no drainage. It's gone under the slab - created a river that comes out under my house and the water sits around the stumps and it's all clay. Here in Melbourne Australia (and all up the eastern sea board) we are having a VERY wet climate change experience.
It has an egg crate-like plastic structure inside with holes to allow water to pass through from side to side. The stuff you're thinking about looks similar but is bigger and made differently.
Getting rock like that is a problem for us DYI guys. Lowe's charges $10 a bag for that. About a 10 pound bag. I would need about 200 bags to fix my yard. Can't do that.
What may be better is a wrap around bandage for the pipe instead of the stones and wrap. There's is this material they sell in rolls which will block the soil to get in pipes but not water. But it's not made for plumbing, so you won't find it there.
There are videos here that show how just a “sock” fabric over just the pipe quickly clogs. The best practice concept is to protect the GRAVEL from clogging. The fabric is between the soil and the drain-rock to protect the drain-rock from clogging. This also maximizes the surface area of the collection drain-rock. More area for the fabric is important because the fabric itself is reducing flow, it needs maximum surface area to overcome the fabric’s reduced flow rate.
With all due respect, this is wrong. The fabric in clay will eventually assume about the same porosity as the native soil but will stop the soil from migrating into drain and destroying it. Fabric is more important in clay. Non-fabric french drains last 2-5 years around here. We replace them all the time after they fail.
Why not work with you clients to install a rain garden? You're pumping their own runoff into the woods. That's going to carry any excess fertilizer and pesticide they may use.
I give you an F… solid PVC pipe only! Corrugated plastic pipe crushes under the weight of the stone used to cover the drain, and the ridges in the drain collect sediment and HOLD water. To simply state my point, If you’re using anything other than solid PVC French drain pipe, you are doing it WRONG!
Lmao... I prove you wrong everyt day of the week. You really are clueless to new products and technology. Not to mention ALL major road projects use 6" corrugated pipe.
We make money in service to the Lord and use that money in the service of the Lord. We serve the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Also, we haven't made any money directly from this video (not that it would be wrong). We use this video to help DIY people and to show our customers how we build their systems.
Shane, we may not agree with someone else's faith but that doesn't mean we have to discount their experience with a dainage system or any other subject. It is ignorance upon ignorance. For what it is worth, I lean towards being agnostic. But I came to this video as I am sure the French Drain exists
Here's what happens to unwrapped french drains in our soil th-cam.com/video/gmmaaNSqVk8/w-d-xo.htmlsi=lh1JHocSC23mwS5J
Great video, thanks for sharing! Can you share details about the width of the filter fabric material?
Thanks for the content. If I have to do it just behind a wall where there is an impermeable surface at the bottom and of course at the wall side, it can work well? 🙏
French drains are needed behind walls. I don't think I understand your situation well enough to comment on the specifics.
Is "burrito" wrapping really needed if you are in a mostly clay area?
I have a big job going right now at about 350 ft custom French Drain.,I'm really debating on using fabric over rock and pipe...think I'm just going with smooth rock and smaller dimensions and completely surrounding the pvc im using.
No dirt will be backfilled with the rock.
Also...my project is a large area of "surface" water that ponds up for long periods at times. I feel its different with surface water to sub surface water if you know what i mean?
Thanks for what you do,very informative
We always wrap our French drains because clay migrates more than you think. If we need high volume capacity, we'll install catch basins on a solid line in the same trench we keep the French drain free of sediment and debris.
Do not use geo fabric on clay soil.
Look up apple drain youtube channel. So many experiments has been done and many people have issue of water not draining because clay soil will completely clog the geo fabric!!
@@miyuru1 under turf, clay does not clog geotextile the way you're saying. No geotextile in clay soils will eventually fail due to soil migration.
@@miyuru1 th-cam.com/video/gmmaaNSqVk8/w-d-xo.htmlsi=lh1JHocSC23mwS5J
How did you wash the stone? I have a pile of round stone that I need to wash before building my french drain. I'm not sure how I'm going to wash it.
Do you use fabric wrap with clay soil? Located in just outside Raleigh, NC.
Yes. We're in Charlotte, NC.
Top video mate. Many thanks for sharing
Great tips! Thanks for putting this video together.
Where can you get the capillary french drain material that you showed in this video ?
We get ours from a builder supply company called White Cap. However, I've seen it in Lowe's near the catch basin.
dose this not push the water under the wall by not connecting behind it?
how would you join one piece of fabric to another when using longer runs please.
We just overlap them a little and staple it.
Do you recommend using a catch basin?
Not to flow into a French drain. Debris would clog and destroy your french drain system.
Can you send me the info on that capillary material that you used to retain and divert the ground water?
It's commonly referred to as "strip drain". The box stores sell it.
Would we need to wait for the clay ground to dry out before attempting to dig for the french drain?
You don't have to wait until it dries out for digging. If the ground is really muddy, you may want to let it dry out to shape the bottom of the trench after you've excavated it. Muddy ground actually helps you if you're digging by hand.
Exactly what I was after, great video! Just wondering, with it being clay, do you just put that on top of the stone after or do you use some sort of topsoil? Thanks!
Thank you Ethan. We put grass back over this one. We prefer to use a nice mixed soil on top of the drain so the roots fill it up quickly. The grass roots actually keep the top relatively porous compared to just soil. If not using grass, stone or mulch works.
@@drainmylawn That makes sense, thanks heaps for your reply :)
Silly question: why not use perforated pipe for the entire distance?
In order to use perforated pipe the whole distance, the french drain would have to go along with it which expensive and not necessary. Just burying perforated pipe will cause it to clog with roots and sediment. Solid pipe is the most practical and cost effective way to move water from a french drain to an acceptable area.
@@drainmylawn Awesome answer and apparently quite obvious... once it's been pointed out. Thanks! 👍
Where the work reflects the god we serve. Amen 👍. I have a friend of mine that has a wet section of lawn and a large hill at the back of his property. He doesn’t have anywhere to pipe the water to and doesn’t want to pipe it to the road. He wants to put in a large drywell that’s about 6 feet wide by 3 feet deep to take the water and a section of French drain running into it. I’m going to put a few feet of stone around the drywell and keep the top maybe 4-6 inches below the surface. I used to put in septics and this will resemble one. What are your thoughts on this. I don’t know the flow of water he has or if it will take and perc it all. I tried to express these concerns with him but he seems pretty intent on doing it so I’ll help him. How would you deal with a property with no place to direct the water? There are no road drains either to pipe it to and neighbors.
Hey Jason! It's difficult to say without seeing it. We have clay soils here in Charlotte so drain fields can be tough. If even a sump pump can get water to where it needs to go, dry well may be thr only option. Hope it works out!
Good stuff! 👍🏻👍🏻
Do you have access to 3/4 inch washed stone? It’s already been cleaned and you can get it in a gravel pit. Depends on your area I guess. Nice job.
Thank you. We do have bulk washed stone in our area but bagged stone is easier to handle for these small projects. We've since started using some washed stone (check out some of our other videos) and using a sock on perforated pipe when stone is not as clean as we would like.
Great video, thx
That fabric would plug up quickly and stop working in the clay soil I have in KY. I have tried it twice. No more! Just potato size rock and drainage pipe. The cloth will help the rocks not sink into the ground but I wrap nothing. We have terrible soil.
A good non-woven geotextile would adopt the same/similar drainage characteristics of the surrounds soil. The purpose is to stop the migration of then surrounding soil so it doesn't eventually fail. A subterranean wrapped french drain will act identical to a unwrapped one on day one but won't lose performance like the unwrapped one.
First, Glory to God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am in Atlanta, and I am talking to a landscaper about doing something like this in a wooded hill part of my yard that has a lot of water that dumps out on to a sidewalk and then flows to a 4 inch grate in my pool concrete deck. When I know a heavy rain is coming, I take the grate off, and it works pretty well. I have been doing this for almost ten years. There is a box at the bottom of the hill, but it constantly gets filled up with dirt washing down the hill. I was thinking about putting an open rock trench that would direct the rain to the box, but how do I keep the dirt back? Do I put landscape fabric on top of the box and then sand or rock and do I put pine bark mulch or something on the side of the hill. It is a hill under a large hickory tree, so very shaded and the shrubs that used to be there died from lack of sun. I had heard that putting cardboard under the mulch also helps with erosion, but won't the mulch just wash down onto the rock trench? Thanks for any advice and God bless.
Why didn't you show how the stone was washed?
Good question, didn't think it was interesting. I just rinsed it with water and dumped the dirty water out (2x-3x)
Or I used magic....
@@drainmylawn i figured you rinsed it. I just thought you might have a clever technique, like a 5 gallon bucket with holes around the bottom, or something similar, or not similar at all.
Nice ....redirect the problems to the neighbor's house 😂😂
Water, among other things, flows downhill! Joking aside, this was exited into a drainage ditch between the two properties. Thoughtful water exit is a big part of what we do.
@@drainmylawn - all good, just having a laugh. I'm currently trying to deal with a drainage issue created by putting a garage slab into an excavated slop with no retaining wall and no drainage. It's gone under the slab - created a river that comes out under my house and the water sits around the stumps and it's all clay. Here in Melbourne Australia (and all up the eastern sea board) we are having a VERY wet climate change experience.
It's foundation drain. I thought this stuff was one sided meaning with out the wall isn't it just a price of olastic
It has an egg crate-like plastic structure inside with holes to allow water to pass through from side to side. The stuff you're thinking about looks similar but is bigger and made differently.
Getting rock like that is a problem for us DYI guys. Lowe's charges $10 a bag for that. About a 10 pound bag. I would need about 200 bags to fix my yard. Can't do that.
At lowes, it's the pond pebbles. Normally runs around $4 per .5 cubic foot bag. You just have to wash it. The washed stuff is expensive
Go to the bulk material distributor in your area. They will sell you a truck load of the stuff. Vulcan is the big one in my area.
This all looks to be from Lowes why not use higher quality product
@@MRM5J rock is rock
I would just double wrap it and not use stones
What may be better is a wrap around bandage for the pipe instead of the stones and wrap. There's is this material they sell in rolls which will block the soil to get in pipes but not water. But it's not made for plumbing, so you won't find it there.
You need the surface area of the rock areas and the volume of the whole drain to protect against roots clogging the system.
@ks1307: You want to keep the mud from infiltrating the stone.
Go back to video @ 2:10 .
There are videos here that show how just a “sock” fabric over just the pipe quickly clogs. The best practice concept is to protect the GRAVEL from clogging. The fabric is between the soil and the drain-rock to protect the drain-rock from clogging. This also maximizes the surface area of the collection drain-rock. More area for the fabric is important because the fabric itself is reducing flow, it needs maximum surface area to overcome the fabric’s reduced flow rate.
You should never wrap with fabric in clay soil... just a joke.... it will prevent water from going into the drain....
With all due respect, this is wrong. The fabric in clay will eventually assume about the same porosity as the native soil but will stop the soil from migrating into drain and destroying it. Fabric is more important in clay.
Non-fabric french drains last 2-5 years around here. We replace them all the time after they fail.
Why not work with you clients to install a rain garden? You're pumping their own runoff into the woods. That's going to carry any excess fertilizer and pesticide they may use.
We would happily work with customers that have the space and desire to have a rain garden. This customer had neither of these.
You lost me at filter fabric 🤦🏼♂️
Interesting
I give you an F… solid PVC pipe only! Corrugated plastic pipe crushes under the weight of the stone used to cover the drain, and the ridges in the drain collect sediment and HOLD water. To simply state my point, If you’re using anything other than solid PVC French drain pipe, you are doing it WRONG!
Cool
Lmao... I prove you wrong everyt day of the week. You really are clueless to new products and technology. Not to mention ALL major road projects use 6" corrugated pipe.
dude once the ridges are filled with sediment theres no more ridges lol so therefore the pipe becomes a solid pipe so to speak.
This dude has no idea what he's talking about
Isn’t that why geotextile double punched fabric is supposed to be used. Do the burrito wrapping pipe and stone, and sediment is a non issue, no?
more likely the god you serve is the mighty $ since you created this video purely to advertise yourself and make money
We make money in service to the Lord and use that money in the service of the Lord. We serve the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Also, we haven't made any money directly from this video (not that it would be wrong). We use this video to help DIY people and to show our customers how we build their systems.
Lost me at God, sorry. 👎🏼
🤷♂️
Shane, we may not agree with someone else's faith but that doesn't mean we have to discount their experience with a dainage system or any other subject. It is ignorance upon ignorance. For what it is worth, I lean towards being agnostic. But I came to this video as I am sure the French Drain exists
What repels some draws others.