Thinking of making your own French Drain system? Want to know about French drain design? Our guide to designing French drains gives you the facts & information you want to know.
French drain design is a relatively simple and straight forward procedure and provided you take the time to design your French drain properly and you have the manpower to do some digging and filling, there is no reason why you can’t design and implement a French drain system by yourself. A common attribute of French Drain Systems for draining a large area of land such as a backyard or the land surrounding a basement involves a complex of trenches. It is a basic fact that water will take the course of least resistance and follow the laws of gravity, and this quality of water is exploited in French drain design to drain water. The trenches are packed with gravel that enables the water to pass through it easily. Gravel by and large is used to denote a variety of soil that is extremely porous. In fact gravel used in French drain design very often consists of small stones which even when packed together and buried allow a large amount of water to travel through it.
Because the trench itself is dug in the earth which will let water through it, the bottom and the sides of the trench are lined with a waterproof fabric so that the water will collect and run down more rapidly.
Implementing French Drain Designs
The most difficult part of the installing of a French Drain design is finding the area where the water is going to be let out. The predicament is easily resolved if there is a natural drain in the locality; the main drain of the system could be set to flow out into this drain or channel. This is possible if the area of land involved is out in the open like in the country side. Finding a final outlet for your French drain design becomes more complicated if the land is surrounded by adjacent houses or when it is situated in a built up area as this will involve very careful design. In this case the planning, design and construction of the French Drain System may be best left to expert contractors.
French Drain System Design
The first step in French drain design involves making the trenches. In a sizeable area of wet land a system of trenches must be dug to drain the water. A network of small trenches, each draining some of the wet land, is connected to a large main drain which finally releases the collected water away from the house or land that is to be drained. The larger the area to be drained the more intricate the system. Because gravity can is instrumental in the draining of water from a damp area of land, a French Drain System must be designed so that the trenches slope downhill to help the flow of water. The attractiveness of French drain design is that it will work just as effectively if the trenches are laid almost level with only a slight gradient.
