How To Install A French Drain Outside

French Drains: How to Build an Exterior French Drain Arrangement

Water h2o everywhere? Bid information technology cheerio past learning how to build a French drain arrangement — a plastic drain pipe in a gravel-filled trench that removes excess footing water.

exterior french drains

Image: D S Brody & Associates, Waltham, MA

Later y'all've designed your French bleed system, you lot're prepare to build.

You can do the piece of work yourself or rent a professional mural contractor to practice the task.

Parts of a French Drain

A trench at least 12 inches broad and 18 to 24 inches deep; larger trenches provide better drainage and last longer, but require more work.
iv-inch-diameter perforated plastic drain pipe to collect excess water
Done drainage gravel (figure the corporeality needed with a gravel estimator)
Water-permeable landscape fabric to prevent silt and roots from entering the drain pipage

Tip: Rigid PVC drain pipe is more expensive (75 cents per foot) than flexible drain pipage (45 cents per foot) and requires glued fittings, just information technology'south virtually crush-proof. Yous can use a power ophidian to clear clogs in rigid PVC, but a snake volition ruin flexible pipe.

Before You Dig

Phone the Call Before Your Dig hotline. Past dialing 811, y'all can tap free metropolis services that can mark the location of all underground utilities before y'all offset earthworks. You can find additional information on excavation services at Dig Rubber.
Plan for clay. You'll be excavating a large amount of dirt and replacing information technology with drainage gravel, then y'all'll need to figure out where to put your dirt. Suggestions: fill in low spots; create raised beds; build upwards foundation slope.

Digging It

Options for excavating your French drain trench include:

Dig by hand. Information technology's labor-intensive merely inexpensive if you practice it yourself (enlist a friend or two).
Rent a trenching tool. A gas-powered, walk-behind trenching tool volition cut a trenches upwardly to 18 inches deep and 24 inches wide. Cost: $125 to $200 per twenty-four hour period. (You'll need a way to become the tool back and along to your property.)
Tip: A trenching tool throws clay off to the side. Lay pieces of erstwhile plywood or a heavy tarp aslope your trench location to catch clay and arrive easier to move it to another location.
Hire a professional backhoe operator. A backhoe can cut a deep, broad trench quickly, but yous'll demand to plan how to become this big, heavy tool into your yard. Including an hourly rate for the operator, travel fourth dimension to haul the backhoe to your property, and the rental cost of the machine, expect to pay $300 to $i,500.