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French drain help..... chrisexv6 04-17-2007
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Posted by chrisexv6 on April 17, 2007, 1:05 pm


My neighbors yard is higher than my yard by about 3'. His property
slopes away from his house and towards my house. The grading around
my foundation on that side is not correct (i.e. its pretty much level)
so the water from his property ends up against my foundation during a
bad rain (like what we just got in the Northeast).

Aside from correcting the grading at my foundation, I wanted to add a
french drain. It would be about 10' from my foundation, basically at
the low spot between his yard and where the grading from my foundation
would end. I also have 2 downspouts to drain out on that side of the
house, and I figured while I have the Kubota I might as well bury the
downspouts too.

A couple questions......can I use the same trench for the downspout
drainage and the french drain? I would keep them as separate pipes,
but I wasnt sure if the downspout pipe would interfere with the
correct operation of the french drain.

Also, any recommendations on fill material? We have what seems to be
normal soil for the area........definitely little to no clay content.
I was thinking just normal 3/4" gravel from the local stone company.
2 or 3" in the bottom of the trench, followed by 4" drain pipe (was
going to use the PVC stuff, not the black flexible stuff), followed by
enough of the same 3/4" gravel to fill the trench to within 2" of the
yard, followed by a layer of sod so I dont have to look at the gravel
forever.

Does the plan seem OK? I know a lot of people recommend different
fill materials, figured Id ask what everyone thinks.

Thanks!
-Chris


Radiant Heat 468x60
Posted by dpb on April 17, 2007, 1:59 pm


> My neighbors yard is higher than my yard by about 3'. His property
> slopes away from his house and towards my house. The grading around
> my foundation on that side is not correct (i.e. its pretty much level)
> so the water from his property ends up against my foundation during a
> bad rain (like what we just got in the Northeast).
...

Is this the natural/original grade or was the house next door built
after yours and the drainage changed? If the latter, it may be
possible to require the neighbor to resolve the problem.

Guy bought empty lot next to us and tried the same trick -- finally
took a letter from the lawyer to really get his attention, but he had
to rearrange the initial idea for his driveway drainage to not
impinge.

It depends on local zoning rules/requirements and what the local
attitude towards enforcement of same, but in general it's a tenet that
new construction can't change runoff to the detriment of existing.


Posted by chrisexv6 on April 17, 2007, 2:12 pm


higher than my yard by about 3'. His property
> > slopes away from his house and towards my house. The grading around
> > my foundation on that side is not correct (i.e. its pretty much level)
> > so the water from his property ends up against my foundation during a
> > bad rain (like what we just got in the Northeast).
>
> ...
>
> Is this the natural/original grade or was the house next door built
> after yours and the drainage changed? If the latter, it may be
> possible to require the neighbor to resolve the problem.
>
> Guy bought empty lot next to us and tried the same trick -- finally
> took a letter from the lawyer to really get his attention, but he had
> to rearrange the initial idea for his driveway drainage to not
> impinge.
>
> It depends on local zoning rules/requirements and what the local
> attitude towards enforcement of same, but in general it's a tenet that
> new construction can't change runoff to the detriment of existing.

Nope the houses were built at the same time. After chatting with my
neighbor he explained to me that the previous owner (of my house)
actually built the side of our house UP to what it is now (at best, it
might be a 4" rise over a 20' run from my neighbors house) As it is,
I cant go up very much more, the siding of the house is about 6" off
the ground now, didnt want to get the yard within 4", so I can add
another 2" height and Ill have to grade it to a steeper slope, but I
dont care.....cant use the yard in that area anyway, and its more
important to stay dry.

Id love to force someone else to fix it for me :) but alas Im on my
own with this one (unless I choose to hire it out, but the machine is
coming to my house for another project, figured Id just do it myself
if I could).

-Chris


Posted by Banty on April 17, 2007, 3:00 pm


says...
>
>>higher than my yard by about 3'. His property
>> > slopes away from his house and towards my house. The grading around
>> > my foundation on that side is not correct (i.e. its pretty much level)
>> > so the water from his property ends up against my foundation during a
>> > bad rain (like what we just got in the Northeast).
>>
>> ...
>>
>> Is this the natural/original grade or was the house next door built
>> after yours and the drainage changed? If the latter, it may be
>> possible to require the neighbor to resolve the problem.
>>
>> Guy bought empty lot next to us and tried the same trick -- finally
>> took a letter from the lawyer to really get his attention, but he had
>> to rearrange the initial idea for his driveway drainage to not
>> impinge.
>>
>> It depends on local zoning rules/requirements and what the local
>> attitude towards enforcement of same, but in general it's a tenet that
>> new construction can't change runoff to the detriment of existing.
>
>Nope the houses were built at the same time. After chatting with my
>neighbor he explained to me that the previous owner (of my house)
>actually built the side of our house UP to what it is now (at best, it
>might be a 4" rise over a 20' run from my neighbors house) As it is,
>I cant go up very much more, the siding of the house is about 6" off
>the ground now, didnt want to get the yard within 4", so I can add
>another 2" height and Ill have to grade it to a steeper slope, but I
>dont care.....cant use the yard in that area anyway, and its more
>important to stay dry.
>
>Id love to force someone else to fix it for me :) but alas Im on my
>own with this one (unless I choose to hire it out, but the machine is
>coming to my house for another project, figured Id just do it myself
>if I could).
>
>-Chris
>


Sounds like you need to excavate a swale, and slope upwards from the swale
towards your house. You can place a french drain in the lower part (valley) of
the swale.

Banty (doing that myself)


Posted by dpb on April 17, 2007, 3:02 pm


>
>
>
>
>
>
>
is higher than my yard by about 3'. His property
> > > slopes away from his house and towards my house. The grading around
> > > my foundation on that side is not correct (i.e. its pretty much level)
> > > so the water from his property ends up against my foundation during a
> > > bad rain (like what we just got in the Northeast).
>
> > ...
>
> > Is this the natural/original grade or was the house next door built
> > after yours and the drainage changed? If the latter, it may be
> > possible to require the neighbor to resolve the problem.
>
> > Guy bought empty lot next to us and tried the same trick -- finally
> > took a letter from the lawyer to really get his attention, but he had
> > to rearrange the initial idea for his driveway drainage to not
> > impinge.
>
> > It depends on local zoning rules/requirements and what the local
> > attitude towards enforcement of same, but in general it's a tenet that
> > new construction can't change runoff to the detriment of existing.
>
> Nope the houses were built at the same time. After chatting with my
> neighbor he explained to me that the previous owner (of my house)
> actually built the side of our house UP to what it is now (at best, it
> might be a 4" rise over a 20' run from my neighbors house) As it is,
> I cant go up very much more, the siding of the house is about 6" off
> the ground now, didnt want to get the yard within 4", so I can add
> another 2" height and Ill have to grade it to a steeper slope, but I
> dont care.....cant use the yard in that area anyway, and its more
> important to stay dry.
>
> Id love to force someone else to fix it for me :) but alas Im on my
> own with this one (unless I choose to hire it out, but the machine is
> coming to my house for another project, figured Id just do it myself
> if I could).

In that case, I'm w/ Norminn that what I'd go for rather than trying
the french drain as the only techniqe is to build a berm between to
deflect the runoff away from the house and if needed in addition, a
gravel-bed channel to carry the runoff. That was actually a
significant portion of the solution between myself and the neighbor I
spoke of before.

If you try the french drain, there's a lot of water capacity needed
and from afar it's hard to advise on how much or what would be
needed. Depending on the slope and what soil and weather conditions
are like where you are, it's possible simply a shallow channel can be
seeded w/ grass and/or ground cover and be able to hold.


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