Hand excavated french drains are indeed historic.
Since the earliest men and women started inhabiting this planet and learned to construct aqua ducts, their lives have (more…)
Archive for the ‘drainage history’ Category
The long history of hand excavated french drains
Monday, January 4th, 2010Ancient french drain solutions
Saturday, December 19th, 2009French drains are indeed ancient technology carried forward into the 21st century.
What is a hand excavated french drain? I get this question many times a week in my business. Hand excavated french drains, or simply called “french drains”, do not need to be hard to understand.
A french drain starts with the excavation of a hand excavated aqua duct that has straight sides and a flat bottom and a slope of at least two inches per ten lineal feet, sloping to the vent.
The french drain is approximately 12″ in width and averages 8″-18″ deep per 50 foot section of french drain that is installed. This is a good engineering standard for moving groundwater on flat surfaces. You must make the grade with the depth of the french drain as you excavate up from the dry well or day lighted vent.
The hand excavated french drain aqua duct contains a corex or ads, both brand names, perforated pipe; either 3″ or 4″ in diameter usually, and is backfilled with 3/4″-1 1/2″ river rock, while also using weed cloth to prevent most silting of dirt into the french drain.
Hand excavated french drains usually vent into a 4 foot deep x 4′ foot in diameter dry well, also filled with 3/4″-1 1/2″ river rock. The hand excavated french drain may be daylighted vented, which is where the groundwater spills out directly on the soil after a continued downhill grade of at least 2″ per 10 lineal feet is achieved, taking the groundwater away from the home or yard.
The daylighted vent works best on sloped sites, where the groundwater being vented will not run onto a neighbors property and cause them a groundwater problem as well.
Many times the sod is replaced over the hand excavated dry well and the dry well also contains weed cloth, with 6″ of replaced dirt and sod reconstructed over the rock and weed cloth.
A layer of weed cloth is placed approximately 4″ from the top layer of the grade level rock, if the rock is exposed on the surface, which is the best way to collect groundwater quickly, as it comes hard during strong rains.
Hand excavated french drains are usually installed about 18″ from the foundation wall. A raised and compacted grade at the foundation wall is created, when possible, to enhance the rain runoff from the foundation area into the hand excavated french drain.
The bottom of the french drain is hand excavated to create a grade finished with a flat shovel of 2″ per 10 lineal feet or greater. We are making pottery in the earth that runs groundwater on the bottom of the french drain aqua duct.
Most hand excavated dry wells perk well when broken in, which is usually within days to a few weeks. If the site does not perk, a sump pump well can be created to vent the groundwater, if there is not enough grade to install an overflow to gravity flow the groundwater collected in the sump well to the street or woods.
If the grade is sufficient to allow the creation of the slope and day light vent, that is to say spill out on the surface well away from the home and not onto a neighbors property, this may be the best way to vent a hand excavated french drain groundwater removal system.
What is a french drain and how does it work
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008I am asked this question almost every day by someone. What is a french drain and how does it work? A french drain is a hand excavated groundwater removal system that starts with the hand excavation of a gravity flow aquaduct with straight sides and a flat hard bottom. (more…)
The world responds to hand excavated french drains
Tuesday, February 12th, 2008Hello hand excavated french drain readers. It may interest you to know that according to the statistics section of site 5, my website host, the AAA Home Drainage contact list of countries logging in to this site reading my information on home drainage through the first 10 days in Feb.08 are as follows.
The interest in hand excavated french drains and home groundwater removal solutions around the world shows you the extent of the problem world wide.
The countries from top to bottom have the most logged hits. (more…)
Specify hand excavated french drains for home groundwater removal
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008When you want to keep the groundwater from your crawlspace or basement, use hand excavated french drains in your home drainage plan. Hand excavated french drains are the oldest form of home drainage known to man. (more…)
Start with an old world aquaduct
Friday, November 2nd, 2007French drains, “the past meets the future”. Hand excavated french drains start with an old world aquaduct clean of all debris and dirt. So it is with french drains. French drains are timeless. French drains just keep serving our drainage needs century after century. French drains have been around a very long time in the history of man during both ancient and modern civilization. French drains have been around even longer in their basic form, as simple aquaducts. Throughout time, as early man was inhabiting the earth, french drains were used to bring water to the camp from springs high in the hills overlooking the camp. French drains were used to protect the tent city from floods. French drains were used to run bathwater and toilet use products from the camp in the form of sewage removal.
After all, that is primarily what french drains are: aquaducts.
Groundwater drainage is an ongoing movie
Sunday, August 5th, 2007We are living through an epic saga of survival on this planet, predicated on groundwater drainage systems protecting us. We live on a water planet spinning in space. We live upon a massive sphere of rock and dirt, suspended in space, spinning in the middle of a solar system, dotted insignificantly among a galaxy with many other planets, moons, and stars and solar systems. When it rains, it pours, as they say. Often this water saga can dampen your spirits, ruin your possessions, damage your future, cost you money, and wash you away or worse.It is obvious that we are not talking about french drains stopping a wall of wall coming off the ocean. We are talking about seasonal rains that unless collected can place our possessions and ourselves and family in harms way, or send us packing in search of a new place to live.
This is home groundwater drainage: the blog. Now that sounds like a science fiction movie doesn’t it? (more…)
