Posted: 3/26/2011 10:08:27 AM EDT
| Anyone here know anything about installing french drains/drain tiles/etc? My house has a slab foundation and all the gutters downspouts have the black corrugated stuff attached. The problem is they are all buried along the side of the house in the flower beds. Will all this water hurt the foundation even though there is no crawlspace or basement? Should I run all the gutters drainage into the yard? |
|
It could be OK, or it could be bad. Where does the black corrugated pipe outfall? (I.e. where does the water come out?)
If the system was set up right, and the pipe network has positive drainage and is sized correctly, it's fine. If it's not set up correctly, and simply drains into the ground, that's bad. In the second scenario, yes, it's better to have the water discharge onto the yard. Do you have any water problems? Soggy spots? Does the ground slope away from your house at least 10' in all directions? |
|
water won't hurt the concrete per se, but it could cause the rebar in the concrete to rust if the concrete wasn't placed very well. when rebar rusts, it expands, and this can cause the concrete to spall.
the other problem with having water against a foundation is it can saturate and weaken the supporting soils. If this happens, you're likely to get some settlement cracks. The best thing you can do is add extensions to the downspouts, and route them well away from the footprint of the home. |
|
Quoted:
Well they empty into the flower beds, but they all have the end caps on them, and are perforated. They are are about 10" off the house and 6-8" deep. The flower beds slope away from the house That's a terrible layout. I'd remove the pipe, and place gutter blocks or downspout extensions if they're needed to clear the flower beds. |
| I tried doing the extensions on one side of the home to divert the water into the yard. It worked great, except it created a nice river that flowed through the yard to the street. Im assuming thats ok? The yard did have several puddles that built up during the rain, but they quickly disappeared into the ground and/or street. Could I bury the gutter drains all the way to the street, or is that too much of a pain in the ass? |
|
Quoted:
I tried doing the extensions on one side of the home to divert the water into the yard. It worked great, except it created a nice river that flowed through the yard to the street. Im assuming thats ok? The yard did have several puddles that built up during the rain, but they quickly disappeared into the ground and/or street. Could I bury the gutter drains all the way to the street, or is that too much of a pain in the ass? A river running through the yard *shouldn't* be a problem in most residential situations. It shouldn't run across the driveway or sidewalk if you can avoid it, though. It it starts washing out the yard, then you need to do something different. Puddles after a rain aren't a problem, either, as long as they dry up within a day or so. You can bury the drain lines all the way to the street, but you have to be careful how you daylight the end. |
| Well its a bermuda sodded lawn, so on heavy rains I get little rifts of mulched clippings all over the yard. Ive also got sprinkler lines all over the yard, which would be even a more pain in the ass to route around. The puddles disappear within hours after it rains, so the yard drains fairly well. |
| I dont think the soil is eroding away. The water isnt moving very fast through the yard. Its more of an eye sore to see the puddles of water. Although my side yard might need a french drain. All my water and the neighbors water collect and creates a really big puddle of water. It eventually empties into the street, but all that water can't be good. |
|
Quoted:
I dont think the soil is eroding away. The water isnt moving very fast through the yard. Its more of an eye sore to see the puddles of water. Although my side yard might need a french drain. All my water and the neighbors water collect and creates a really big puddle of water. It eventually empties into the street, but all that water can't be good. As long as it drains within 24 hours or so, it doesn't really hurt anything other than the aesthetics. |