Specializing in Stormwater Drainage Solutions
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Frequently Asked Questions About Drainage
If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much is a video worth? At Dallas Drainage Pros we take the time to document our process in the hopes to better explain how to do drainage right. If you choose to go at this project yourself, you will find these videos essential. If you choose to hire us to do it for you, you can be confident we know what we are doing!
How a French Drain Protects Your Foundation
Preventing Water Build-Up: A French drain is designed to redirect water away from your house. When rain falls or water collects around the foundation of your house, it can seep into the soil and create pressure against the foundation. This is known as hydrostatic pressure, and it can lead to serious problems like leaks and structural damage. By collecting and rerouting this water, a French drain can help prevent it from building up in the first place.
Redirecting Water: The basic principle behind a French drain is that it uses gravity to guide water away from your house. The perforated pipe is sloped in a direction away from your house, so when water enters the trench, it naturally flows through the pipe and away from your foundation.
Are Clean-outs Necessary as Part of a Drainage System?
Yes! We cannot express enough how important it is to have a drainage system designed so that it can be serviced after the fact. Most systems we encounter are installed without this critical consideration, and the result is drainage that fails within a few years.
At Dallas Drainage Pros, we build our installations in such a way that any long portions of piping which are not accessible are equipped with clean outs – and we demonstrate this via our video.
Don’t make the mistake of having a drainage system installed that will be worthless within a few years!
How to Install a French Drain System Correctly
This video takes you step by step in the process of building a French drain properly. A French drain is a particular type of landscape drainage system which is much more involved than just putting pipe in the ground. After watching this video you will know some of the key parts to designing and installing a perfect French drain. Some of the key questions we will address include:
- What size should your French drain be?
- What type of gravel do you use?
- Does it matter what type of fabric?
- What direction does the pipe face?
- And more!
What Type of Filter Fabric to Use in a French Drain
The proper sediment filtration barrier to use in a french drain is called a non-woven geo-textile fabric. This is a specialty material that is both dense (should be 3oz grade/weight or heavier) and permeable (allows water to pass through, but not dirt.)
Making sure to use the correct weed barrier filter fabric in your French drain is absolutely critical. All fabrics are not the same, and installing the wrong fabric could result in a completely useless French drain! Watch this video to make sure you or the contractors you hire are using the correct fabric.
How to Clean a Clogged French Drain System Using a Hydro Jet Machine
Regular maintenance of your landscape drainage system is critical to its longevity. We recommend annual or bi-annual flushing and scoping of your French drain or yard drainage system, to make sure everything is still looking good, and that you don’t need any adjustments or repairs. Depending on the function of your drain system, if it is preventing flooding to your home, this is absolutely critical.
In this video we demonstrate the effectiveness of using a Hydro Jetter to clean a landscape drainage system – aka a “French Drain”. Regular maintenance is important – check it out!
Why You Should Use a Laser Level to Calculate Grade in Landscape Drainage
If you’re not sure about the slope, using a laser level in calculating grade can be absolutely critical when it comes to installing landscape drainage. Oftentimes we are talking about a margin of a few inches between a system being functional or not, and that is not something someone can often see with the naked eye. Imagine trying to guess whether you’ve got 1ft of fall over 100ft of distance (which is your necessary minimum of 1%)…. that would be hard for anyone to see or know for sure. Take the guess work out of drainage and find a company who uses a laser! (In this video, we’re doing just that.)
Creative Ways to Protect Your Foundation Using a Channel Drain & River Rock Bed
Getting creative is often a part of drainage solutions. In this video we demonstrate installing a channel drain topped with river rock to divert water away from the foundation. This was an attractive solution that added landscape appeal and could be a great solution depending on your situation!
How do you Properly Clean Up after a Drainage Install?
Landscape drainage is messy work – the amount of dirt and digging involved can leave quite a bit of clean up after the difficult install is finished. However, at Dallas Drainage Pros, we have a mindset on each and every job to leave your property in immaculate condition. In other words, we want you to hardly even know we were there after we finish. Check it out!
We hope you find these videos helpful. Feel free to reach out with any questions or requests for other videos!