Why do hand excavated french drains work better
Good question. Why do hand excavated french drains work better? There are many reasons.
Hand excavated french drains work better because the nature of proper hand excavation techniques produces a flat hard bottom within the hand excavated french drain producing faster groundwater flow and quicker groundwater removal.
Hand excavated french drains have straight carved sides and a flat bottom. The sides of the hand excavated french drain stand up for much longer than sides chopped up with a ditch witch or simply garden style dug. Those sides fall into the bottom of the machine dug or sloppy hand dug french drain and clog the groundwater flow.
The engineering of hand excavated french drains is much more precise because each 3-4 feet of hand excavated french drain is completed prior to moving up the line to finnish more. Groundwater that enters a partially completed hand excavated french drain just flows out to the daylighted vent or the hand excavated drywell without making a mess of the partially installed hand excavated french drain. It is very important that the installation of the hand excavated french drain be completed in the correct order for that reason and many others.
The landscape can be saved in prime condition due to the fact that plywood is used to walk and wheel barrow on unlike any machine excavation. This saves the reconstruction of the landscape, which may cost more than the hand excavated french drain installation.
Sod can be cut and replaced in an accurate way with a sod cutter, and utilities can be found with a shovel instead of them being smashed with a machine, saving you more money by not having to reconstruct sprinkler lines that are never marked on a utility locate.
The removal of dirt, when hand excavated french drains are being installed, can be done in a clean manner and used to create foundation compacted splash blocks, raised bed gardens and berms to shed groundwater away from the excess groundwater affected areas.
The advantages listed above are primarily functional, but one of the most important advantages of hand excavated french drain installation is the cosmetic end result. No machine can match one of my exposed river rock hand excavated french drains for beauty and curb appeal, as well as superior function.