French drains and yard drainage in northern Utah

You need a French drain when water collects where it should not and has no path to leave. Look for these signs:

• Puddles that stay in the yard long after the rain or the sprinklers stop.
• A soggy strip of lawn along the foundation.
• Water standing in window wells.
• A damp basement wall, or water where the basement floor meets the wall.
• Soil or mulch that washes out in the same place after every storm.
• A yard that slopes toward the house.

Soil type matters. The Utah Geological Survey describes expansive soil as soil with high clay content that swells when wet and shrinks when dried. Clay drains slowly, so water sits against the wall.

Check the simple causes first. A downspout that dumps next to the foundation, or a sprinkler that soaks the wall, can look like a drainage problem.

A French drain gives ground water an easier path than the one through your lawn or your basement wall. Water moves through loose gravel much faster than through packed soil. It drops into the gravel trench, enters the perforated pipe at the bottom, and follows the slope of the pipe to an outlet.

The parts are simple:

• A trench with a steady downhill slope.
• Filter fabric that lines the trench and keeps soil out of the gravel.
• Washed gravel.
• Perforated pipe.
• An outlet: open ground lower on the lot, a dry well, a storm drain where the city allows it, or a sump pit.

A French drain works by gravity and uses no power. That is also its limit. It needs somewhere lower to send the water. When there is no lower spot, the drain feeds a sump pit and a pump lifts the water out.

A French drain installation follows these steps:

1. We walk the property, find where the water comes from, and find where it can go.
2. We request a utility locate. Blue Stakes of Utah 811 asks for notice at least 3 business days before excavation, and the service is free.
3. We ask you about private lines. A gas line from the house to a barbecue or pool heater is not part of the free locate, and neither are sprinkler pipes.
4. We dig the trench with a steady slope toward the outlet.
5. We line the trench with filter fabric, add gravel, lay the pipe, and cover it with more gravel.
6. We close the fabric over the top, build the outlet, and backfill.
7. We put back the sod or rock and test the drain with water.

A short yard drain is a brief job. A long run, a deep drain beside a foundation, or a drain under a basement floor takes longer.

A French drain in the wrong place can cause more trouble than the water did. We keep drains away from these spots:

• Over buried utilities. Gas, power, water, and sewer lines get located and marked before we dig.
• Below the footing, right beside the foundation. Digging deeper than the footing next to the wall can weaken the soil that holds up the house.
• Through the roots of large trees. Roots get cut during digging, and later they grow into the pipe.
• Toward a neighbor's lot, a sidewalk, or a driveway. The outlet has to release water where it will not flood someone else or turn to ice.
• Into the sanitary sewer. Ground water does not belong there. For sump pumps, the Town of Mantua tells residents that emptying one into the sewer system is illegal.
• On flat ground with no outlet. Without slope and a place to drain, the trench just holds water.

Use a French drain when the water has somewhere lower to go. Use a sump pump when it does not.

A French drain moves water by gravity. It suits a soggy yard, a wet strip along the foundation, or a hillside that sheds water toward the house. It uses no power and has no moving parts.

A sump pump lifts water up and out. It is the fix when ground water rises to the level of the basement floor, or when the lot is too flat for a drain to empty by gravity. It needs power, and it needs testing.

Many wet basements need both. A drain along the footing, or under the edge of the basement floor, collects the water and carries it to a sump pit. The pump sends it outside. The table below compares the two.

We give free estimates and do not post prices. These are the things that change the cost of a French drain:

• Length and depth. A long or deep trench takes more digging, more gravel, and more pipe.
• Access. A tight side yard has to be dug by hand. An open yard can take a machine.
• What is on top. Sod, sprinklers, concrete, pavers, and fences all have to be worked around or put back.
• Soil. Heavy clay and rock are slower to dig than loose soil.
• The outlet. Draining to open ground costs less than building a dry well or tying into a sump pit.
• Interior drains. A drain under a basement floor means cutting and patching concrete.

Financing is available for larger jobs. Ask about it when we write your estimate.

A French drain clogs when soil or roots get into the gravel and the pipe. Good construction prevents most of it, and a little care handles the rest.

• Filter fabric around the gravel keeps fine soil out. A drain built without it fills with silt.
• Washed gravel drains freely. Gravel that arrives dirty brings its own silt.
• A cleanout gives access to flush the pipe with water.
• Keep the outlet clear of leaves, grass, snow, and ice.
• Extend the downspouts so roof water lands away from the house and does not overload the drain.
• Do not plant trees or large shrubs over the trench.

The signs of a clogged drain are the same signs you started with: puddles that stay, or a wet wall. If they come back, call before the next storm.