French Drains
When you want to prevent basement flooding, you need a French drain—and you need French Drains USA, LLC to install it. Our drainage professionals make sure that the newly installed perimeter drain redirects water away from the foundation during periods of heavy rainfall. What’s more, we offer our services for a competitive rate.
Protect your property with the help of our technicians. Call (800) 249-1746 to schedule your drainpipe consultation today.
When Should You Book a French Drain Installation?
We believe that most property owners should schedule a French drain installation while they're putting the finishing touches on a new home, but we understand that circumstances may prevent work like this from getting underway.
Ideally, installing a French drain during the initial stages of landscaping or construction allows for seamless integration into the overall drainage plan, ensuring your property is well-protected from the start. Early installation can prevent potential water damage, reduce soil erosion, and enhance the longevity of your foundation by effectively managing groundwater and runoff.
That said, it’s never too late to improve your property's drainage. Have you noticed persistent water issues such as basement flooding, pooling water in your yard, or signs of water damage around your foundation? These are clear indications that you should consider a French drain.
Are you planning to make significant changes to your landscaping, or have you experienced increased rainfall that your current drainage system can't handle? Booking our French drain installation services can be a proactive measure to protect your home.
French Drains USA, LLC’s French Drain Services
When it comes to basement waterproofing, we’re expert installers who make sure your basement and surrounding property are prepared for heavy rainfall with an efficient and highly effective perimeter drain.
The work we undertake includes the following steps:
- Detailed evaluation of your property’s drainage needs
- Identification of potential water intrusion points
- Customized drainage solutions based on specific site conditions
- Careful excavation to ensure proper depth and placement of the French drain
- Minimally invasive techniques to preserve landscaping and property integrity
- Removal and proper disposal of excavated materials
- …and more
Do You Need an Exterior or Interior French Drain?
Whether or not you need an interior or exterior drainage system depends entirely on the property itself. Exterior French drains are ideal for preventing surface water from entering your home and are suitable for properties with yard drainage issues or water pooling near foundations.
Interior French drains are best for addressing basement water intrusion and are perfect for homes with consistent basement flooding or high water tables. We’ll assess your property's specific drainage challenges to determine the most effective solution.
A FRENCH DRAIN MAY FIX YOUR BASEMENT WATER PROBLEMS
Wet basements are a very common problem, particularly in low-lying areas, mountainous terrain, and other places with a high water table. This means that the ground water level has risen up to its high point for the year due to melting snow, spring rains, lack plant roots to absorb water, and short winter days that don’t warm the soil. Expansive soils like clay can swell with water, keeping the water table high for extended periods. Porous soils including sands and gravels drain water quickly, but often have high springtime water tables, especially in low areas, from springtime runoff.
Unfortunately, many homes are built with inadequate protection from groundwater. Even when site conditions are well suited for a simple and cost effective drainage system, contractors often ignore low-cost moisture management. Water problems discovered after a house is built are very difficult and expensive to remedy. If left unchecked, structural and health-related problems may persist. Excessive moisture results in a musty smell and damage to carpet and wood flooring materials. Worse, it promotes growth of mold spores. Even small colonies of mold can cause asthma and other severe health issues. To combat mold, the use of vapor barriers under concrete slabs and proper drainage techniques are essential to keeping your home dry year-round.
HOW DOES A FRENCH DRAIN OR PERIMETER DRAIN WORK?
In many situations, it is possible to drain water away from most foundations and basements by gravity rather than by pumping. The traditional method specifies a perimeter drain around the outside of a building during its construction. The drain outlet slopes downhill away from the house until it reaches the surface of the ground where it can freely discharge by gravity flow. The advantage of this method over pumping water out of a sump is that it lowers the water table around the house, preventing water from ever reaching the cellar in the first place.
In many instances where experts have been asked to troubleshoot wet basement problems, a common finding is that drain pipes were installed above the foundation footing, which allows water to rise to the level of the floor.
If the builder made the additional mistake of installing the drain pipe with the weep holes facing up, then the level of water has to rise to the top of the pipe before the pipe can pick up any water. Other times there is little or no porous bedding material, and pipe inlet holes can become plugged. Another problem occurs with large bedding stone. Migration of the original soil into the bedding plugs up the stone, leading to failure. Often a combination of problems may coexist.
Conventional perimeter drains are usually constructed with 4″ pipe laid at the base of the footing. Most contractors use 1 1/2″ crushed stone around the outside of PVC or thin wall perforated septic system pipe which has 1/2″ or 5/8″ holes every few inches. Usually this is entirely satisfactory, though in some cases capillary action (wicking) within the soil can make the basement floor damp even though it is a few inches above the artificially lowered water table.
Due to the severe conditions encountered when building a home several years ago, the following example illustrates an improved method. Just assite work started, the property was deluged with rain. The rain aggravated an already difficult groundwater situation, threatening postponement of construction. However, with patience (and a good pair of rubber boots), perimeter drains were installed four feet outside of where the house was to be located. Within days of installing the drains, excavation for the basement was able to proceed as if it were a dry summer.
The home is built into the ground about six feet deep on a gently sloping hill. Several years have since passed and the home has never been bothered by moisture in the basement. This is in spite of the original springtime water table just two feet below the surface of the ground. Figure C shows how the drains were installed. This same procedure is excellent for drying out existing wet basements where conditions permit.
Ensuring Effective Drainage
The first consideration is setting the drain pipe deep enough to lower the water table well below the floor in order to reduce the effects of capillary action (wicking). Another way to reduce this effect — generally limited to new construction — is to install a layer of crushed stone entirely under the basement floor. Water cannot “wick” through this coarse aggregate. Although this is more costly, it is good insurance for a dry basement.
Alternatively, installing the drain pipe a little lower may be a very cost-effective alternative, assuming there is sufficient side hill grade to ensure gravity discharge well away from the structure. For new construction and retrofit situations, place the drain pipe a foot or more lower than the footing whenever possible and far enough away to avoid undermining the foundation. Generally 2′ to 4′ or even more is necessary to protect landscaping or porches and similar structures.
Bedding Material
To prohibit 1½” stone from silting up, the stone should be wrapped in filter fabric to hold back the original soil. Water still passes through the fabric but the soil stays in place. Better yet, use a different bedding material that readily passes water but is considerably less expensive. Washed concrete sand, the coarser the better, allows water to flow through readily but keeps the trench more stable than stone while reducing silt buildup in the system. I’ve used it for 25 years in all but the wettest conditions (where I occasionally use ¾” stone wrapped in fabric) with outstanding results and no call backs. This technique requires using pipe with smaller holes since the half inch or larger holes in standard perforated pipe will not hold sand out.
Since no one makes pipe with 5/16″ holes like they used to 25 years ago, you can produce your own slotted pipe by setting a radial arm saw about 3″ above the table and slicing through ¼ the depth of solid pipe every two to three inches or so. Wear goggles to prevent flying chips of hot plastic from striking your eyes. Use either rigid polyethylene or good quality PVC pipe that resists shattering when the saw blade passes through. The 1/8″ slots that result seem to let in water just fine and yet keep the concrete sand from entering the pipe. Pipe is installed with the slots facing down or turned slightly toward the direction of incoming water.
Schedule Your French Drain Installation Today
Even the most well-protected properties stand to benefit from a well-installed French drain. Ask any one of French Drains USA, LLC’s satisfied clients, and they'll tell you how it has transformed their home.
Don’t wait until water damage becomes a costly problem. Contact us today for a free consultation and see how a French drain can protect your property from the ground up. You can reach us at (800) 249-1746.