What is a French Drain?

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French drains are primarily used to prevent ground and surface water from penetrating a building or damaging building foundations and as an alternative to open ditches or storm sewers for streets and highways. Alternatively, French drains may be used to distribute water, such as a septic drain field at the outlet of a typical septic tank sewage treatment system. French drains are also used behind retaining walls to relieve ground water pressure.  

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Damp can be scary to a homeowner. Even just a few inches of standing water on the outside can cause havoc on an house without any modern damp courses. Water is always going to take the path of least resistance, so if you're noticing any damp in an old building because of standing water near or around your home, you're going to want to find a resolution fast to prevent any other damage. A great solution to consider is installing a French drain.

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French drains were first introduced in 1859 by Henry French, a judge and farmer in the US. He came up with the idea to help solve problems with wet lands and damp buildings but have now been widely used all over the world and particular in Ireland where old stone cottages where build off the ground without any use of damp courses .

 

What is a French drain and how does it work?

French drains are a common solution to helping the water drain properly from your landscape. By installing a French drain, you’re giving water that collects in your yard a path of least resistance. Water enters a trench that is filled with gravel, then flows through a perforated pipe away from your yard and home. The trench is sloped where the water needs to travel. Homeowners will typically divert the water to a drainage soak pit.

 

Why You Need a French Drain

·         If you have a problem with surface water, such as a soggy lawn or your driveway is washing out.

·         You finding damp around the base of an old house

·         You’re building a hillside retaining wall.

 

Choosing a French Drain

If you’re having problems with surface water, you’ll need to have a shallow French drain or a curtain drain that is located uphill from the area that needs to stay dry.

 

If you’re working to prevent water from flowing into your house, then you may need to consider installing a deep footlong drain that runs along your house on the same level or below foundations. This drain will be dug and filled with a non woven geo-textile membrane fabric that will be filled with the correct size drainage stone along with a drainage pipe. This will prevent the water resting and causing the issues as mentioned above. At every new turn in direction of the pipe, best practice would be to install inspection chambers and rod eyes for future inspections, or for cleaning if ever it needed.

 

For those considering a retaining wall, a French drain will prevent the water from building up behind the wall and undermine it. The pipe is installed on the same gravel base or concrete footing that the wall is supported.

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If you would like to speak to me about you needing a french drain in county Mayo or surrounding counties,  please call me on  0894726625 or alternatively fill out my contact form here on my website to get in touch with me about your drain needs. I look forward to hearing from you. 

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