Well now, that sounds like a lofty title for a drainage blog opener doesn’t it? Read about hand excavated french drains and go to the head of the class. I am being very literal. You can save thousands of dollars by educating yourself about hand excavated french drains. Hand excavated french drains specifically. There must be 50 ways to waste your money on drainage scams. This blog is about concentrating the drainage information creating recognition of methods, knowledge and intuition with respect to your groundwater drainage problems.
If there is one thing that impresses me more each year I am in the drainage business, it is the tenacity and sheer power of the well read and better emotionally armed homeowner who has done the homework concerning french drains, and hand excavated french drains specifically.
Many of these homeowners start their conversations with me saying, “I read your blog and have spoken to many contractors, I need a hand excavated french drain“.
There are only two types of customers with drainage problems. Homeowners are easily recognized in one of two camps. They are well read and informed on groundwater drainage due to diligent study of the subject, or they are lost in anger, misinformation and voo doo drainage tactics advanced by “would be” drainage contractors that confuse them and play on their sense of logic.
Frustration, along with fear and loathing are dominant themes for the confused. Now, who would like to be chosen to play on the second team mentioned above. Let’s see that hands of those who would rather get results without shelling out mega-bucks. If you have read this far, you are already putting some of those bucks back into your pockets.
As it pertains to life, and groundwater drainage as well, it is a self fulfilling prophesy that if you do not fill your mind with solid knowledge and specific time tested solutions, you will be bombarded by drainage contractors armed with motivations rooted in their self interests, easy methods, and practical ways to sell you on their methods. These “would be” drainage contractors will extract your dollars without working too hard. It is their method of operation.
It goes without saying that one can exist in both categories as described above, but not at the same time. The key is to let the right side of your brain which is filled with intuition abilities take over the left side brain logic dominant data base at times. Many sets of words can be crafted to sound logical. You have a little bell that goes off in your soul when things just don’t sound right. That little bell opens a sense of inner knowing. A file that is embedded in your mind and labeled, “how do I feel about this?”.
When you are confronted by other “would be” drainage contractors emboldened with their supposed drainage successes, talk to their customer base. Ask them for a list of satisfied groundwater drainage customers. Ask of the referral list what their relationship is to the contractor. How long has the drainage work they had performed been successful? Why do they feel it was successful?
Many articles in this blog refer to collection of the water on the surface of the earth, and gravity flowing that groundwater away from the affected areas at a fast pace in hand excavated french drains. French drains that are hand excavated are clean and will slope the rainwater away before it can saturate your foundation or yard.
Gravity is at the heart of the reason that I would rather build a castle on a hill with a slope than in a low lying hole or valley. When you dig a big hole on your foundation, or trench deeper and deeper on your foundation, you are likely to just have the rainwater, which is the same as groundwater in most cases, lying lower at the base of your foundation, just where it had to go. The groundwater never existed at that low level before you dug the hole or trench. Most commonly nothing was accomplished to remove the rainwater from the surface of the earth first. Springs that run year round are treated differently, but are extremely rare.
I would love to see you join the group of informed homeowners who count on solid results with hand excavated french drains. The informed homeowner says things like,”I have faith in you and your methods”, “I know I can count on you to do a good job”, I have done my homework and would prefer a french drain“. They do not say these things because I am who I am. Blind faith has nothing to do with it. They say these things because they know about french drains and have faith in them. They have done research on the subject and feel confident in the choice of operation to solve their drainage problem.
There are many informed homeowners that share their confidence and knowledge with other homeowners as well. The success of french drains creates a community of proud hand excavated french drain owners. Homeowners talk about how french drains changed their living environment and the health of their home. Homeowners refer others in need, and do it confidently. Confidence starts with the will to read, learn and use your intuition. It culminates in you being able to do the job well yourself, or to hire someone with whom you have a trust to design, construct and plumb your hand excavated french drain.
Knowledge is power alright. Intuition is the engine that governs and concentrates that knowledge.
Read this blog on groundwater problems, and hand excavated french drains. French drains are the oldest method of groundwater removal known to man.
When you want to remove rainwater, build an aquaduct with a flat hard bottom, and an overflow pipe. Gravity flow the water away from your foundation or landscape. In the old days they just called them aquaducts. Today we use a perforated pipe and expensive, sized and washed river rock in our aquaducts as well, and we call them french drains. Hand excavated french drains to be very specific.