French Drains? Do they really work? Where does the water go?

Question

So, my basement has flooded twice in the last two years. This last time, i had two inches of water. The basement is fully furnished, we have a drain that is outside our basement door but it goes straight into the ground, it doesn't connect with any drains. I need a simple soulution to this huge problem. I've been hearing about French Drains but everything i've looked up on the internet on French Drains doesn't say where the water goes. Does there need to be an outlet? How does the water get into the pipe that is in the ground? I hate being so naive about this but I really have never heard or know how they work....

Answer 1

Yes they work fine when installed properly.
Typical installation goes as follows.
The pipe is made of poly ethylene. Use 4". The pipe has 2 rows of ½" holes drilled the entire length, 10',of the pipe. The holes are 4" apart and at 120º opposing each other. These pipes are then enveloped in a non-biodegradable cloth. This helps to keep the silt and rocks out. A trench is dug 12" wide and at least 12' deep with a slight grade of ¼" per 10' of pipe. 4" of ¾- gravel is placed at the bottom of the trench, maintaining the slight down hill slope. Place the covered pipe with the HOLES DOWN on top of the gravel. Fill in the trench with more gravel--4" on each side and 4" on top. If you plan to plant grass there, cover the gravel with a weed barrier cloth before back filling with soil.
Remember to cap or cover the uphill end of the pipe. Run the downhill end of the pipe to the atmosphere--away from your foundation--cover that end with some type of wire mesh to keep critters out.

This is how it works: water always follows the path of least resistance--the gravel will allow the water to percolate to the bottom of the trench. The water then fills te trench rising to the heighth of the holes in the pipe. The water then seeps into the pipe and flows down the channel between the holes away from the foundation. (If the holes are placed upward, the pipe tends to want to float)
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Answer 2

French drains do work. you have to look at the drain like a burrito. In the center of the burrito is a perforated pipe with holes of the pipe facing down. then surrounding the pipe is 3/4" crushed rock. at least a foot all the way around the pipe. then all the rock should be completely wrapped in a filter fabric. the finished product should look like a burrito. this drain should be next to the bottom of basement wall. you could even extend the rock all the way up the wall where there would be column of rock and this would still all be wrapped in filter fabric. If you are putting in this drain you should also water seal the walls. The perforated pipe should be connected to drain outlet somewhere. You need somewhere for the water to drain to. If you do water seal the wall you need to protect it when you backfill. If not it would put holes in the seal.

Answer 3

How Do French Drains Work

Answer 4

Those silly French, in the early days of sewage control, they had open sewer trenches running down the edge of their streets. Now, a "french drain" is simply a method to move runoff water from its current location to another location - may be opened or closed. Typically, you use a pipe with holes in the top that allow runoff water to enter. The drain pipe is placed in a trench with gravel and then covered with more course gravel. Gravity is the big player in this - so the french drain must slope "downhill" from it's collection point. Water that doesn't enter the pipe flows through the gravel but less efficiently (you can build a french drain with just gravel and no pipe). The downhill end of the pipe can be open and it simply drains out into another area of your yard, or you dig a collection basin - fill it with gravel so the runoff water collects in it and gradually seeps out into the ground. The water dispersion method becomes more complex depending on where you live, the type of soil, how much rain you need to get rid of, and how frequently it rains. If you're into "green", bury a collection barrel and use the rainwater for watering plants - or put up gutters and collect the rainwater into a cistern. For your specific problem, you could just bury a solid pipe from your door to a collection point as described above. Remember, the key is gravity, the water needs to flow downhill.

Answer 5

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Yes you are right, I copied the url and pasted it into my browser and it promptly did not work. Without the pictures it is hard to visualize what you are trying to convey. But as a general rule most city and county building codes require a minimum pitch of 1/8" per foot as proper drainage for sewers, storm drains, etc. You might try it with as little as 1/16th of an inch per foot if absolutely necessary, but anything less won't drain properly. Keep in mind that over time pipes have a tendency to some settlement and suddenly your slope is zero or even negative. I hope this helps.

Answer 6

There are several drainage techiques you can use. For your particular problem, I would just attach drainage pipe to the downspout. Best if this was buried and run it out to a ditch, or if you have an area lower you can always install a pop-up drain.

A french drain refers to a system the allows water to penetrate the ground to a subsurface pipe or stone bed that allows for the drainage to occur. These drain beds are generally sloped to a low section or to a drainage ditch.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_drain

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