French Drains

French drains are another good solution for exterior water mitigation whenever there is a concern for a negative grade against a foundation that cannot be raised and is creating excessive hydrostatic pressure on the foundation walls and could lead to expensive structural repairs. Another situation that french drains make a great solution for is when there is a concern for storm water puddling in a yard leaving the area constantly wet and swampy.

Installing a french drain will create a low spot for storm water to fall into and be drained away to a designated discharge area and will prevent storm water from soaking in to the soil in unwanted areas. this is done by trenching approximately 2' wide and up to 12" deep. the trench is then lined with a weed prevention fabric and a base layer of C-gravel is laid in the trench followed by laying a 4" perforated corrugated socked pipe and buried the rest of the way with C-gravel.

 Sometimes when the grade does not offer an adequate fall for draining stormwater, an exterior sump pit and pump may be necessary to pump the collected storm water to the designated discharge area.

Some of our competitors will complete a french drain installation by covering it with the excavated material to leave a "seamless Installation" but in reality this will cut down the french drains efficiency in collecting the storm water from the surface. Ultimate Basement Solutions will fill the trench all the way to ground level with C-gravel leaving the top exposed to better collect the fallen storm water. This final product can easily be blended or integrated into functional landscape such as a dry creek or any other amenity.

Schedule a free evaluation with us today and let us correct all of your exterior water mitigation. 

Example of French Drain Installation.