Where And When To Install At French Drain
;An easy way to site a French drain is to watch where water poolsespecially if it sits for hours or daysafter a rain. Some of the most common drainage problems are:
Flooding in a yard:;If heavy rains has left a yard with an unwanted water feature or the spring thaw has saturated a property, a French drain can help. Placing a French drain in this wet region allows the drain to collect unwanted water and redirect it to a safer location.
Damage to an outdoor patio: Patios are a great source of pride and a meeting place for family and friends, but excess water can damage the area, deteriorate the pavers, and also create a breeding ground for mosquitoes. A French drain can work as a shield, collecting water before it reaches the patio and diverting it away. This will also eliminate the standing water that mosquitoes need to breed.
Runoff from a neighboring property: Water from an uphill neighbors property can drain towards and puddle next to a home or business. Whether the water is coming from a single location or along the length of the neighboring property, installing an underground drainage system provides protection from costly water damage.
Water near driveways, walkways and planter areas: Water pooling on driveways reducing its functionality can potentially flood a garage. Water pooling on walkways causes concrete staining and slip hazards. Water pooling in planter areas next to a home or business can create muddy areas and cause damage to foundations.
Patio Drainage Issues And What Causes Them
The most common hardscape issue we see as outdoor drainage experts is water draining toward the house from the patio. The water drains toward the house because the patio was installed incorrectly. Patios need to have the proper slope away from the home and that slope should be 1/4 per linear foot of patio.
Another reason patio drainage might fail is that the patio could have also shifted throughout its lifetime. The shifts could happen for a number of reasons but the underlying base material is the main concern. If the base material is not thick enough, the freeze-thaw cycle of winter can raise and lower the patio causing water issues either toward the house or on the patio itself.
Cracking patios are also a concern, especially for full concrete patios. They are caused by that same freeze/thaw issue. Water expands when it turns to ice and then contracts when it melts. Doing this cycle numerous times is bad news for any concrete patio.
A Breeding Ground For Mosquitoes And Other Insects
As mentioned above, stagnant water can become a prime breeding ground for mosquitoes and other insects.
Mosquitoes, especially, like to lay eggs on the edge of water bodies, so you can expect that to happen within a few days only. Not only this, but it doesnt take long for water bodies to attract other pests in the mix near the area.
Before you know it, the stagnant body of water will become a harmful breeding ground for pests such as mosquitoes, which will eventually find their way into your house.
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Troubleshooting Patio Drainage Problems
- Written by Justin Stewart on Oct 29, 2009To ensure our content is always up-to-date with current information, best practices, and professional advice, articles are routinely reviewed by industry experts with years of hands-on experience.Reviewed by Charles Ramos, Jr. on Jan 06, 2020
Patio drainage problems can ruin not only a nice summer day for relaxing or barbecuing but can lead to severe water damage on your patio if not dealt with. It is important to be able to identify the causes of poor water drainage and troubleshoot them. Some basic problems are outlined below, along with a few ideas for solutions.
Planning for Drainage Problems
The best way to troubleshoot drainage problems is to plan for them before they happen. Drainage systems are much easier to put in when installing your patio. Also, in addition to an actual drainage system, you can create a patio drainage slope. In this case, water can be made to run right off your patio because the surface is slightly angled, so you dont have an unsightly drainage system in the middle of your patio.
Putting Drainage in an Existing Patio
Some people are lucky in that their patios are small enough or sit just right that water simply never pools on top. However, if you have a patio with no drainage system and water does start to pool, you need to think about putting a drainage system in as soon as possible. This is best done by a professional, but its possible to handle it on your own.
Expert Patio Drainage Advice And Solutions
Imagine this: you have just finished work on the patio which completes the look of your garden. You wish to sit out on it and enjoy the calm, quiet space, but before you get the chance, a storm comes and overwhelms it with rainwater. You have not added a patio drainage system, so the water sits there for days, only entering your sewer system, which is then also filled to maximum capacity and threatening to overflow. The rainwater still sits there, potentially causing damage which will take a lot of time and money to repair. Sounds worrying, doesnt it?
Fortunately, there are a number of simple solutions to avoid the stress of a constantly flooded patio. At Coastal Drains, we have years of experience in tackling a variety of drainage problems head-on, and we are more than happy to help our customers by providing advice on all matters relating to drainage systems, including ones for your patio.;
Whether you need questions answered by a specialist before you pick your new drains, or would like a team of fully qualified and highly trained engineers to unblock or repair and maintain drains you currently have, we will be there to help, so please contact us when you need us most.
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Is Your Property Suffering From Poor Patio Drainage
If your patios drainage system is all blocked up after years of use, has become cracked and needs urgent repair , or even if you dont yet have a system in place to completely clear your outdoor space of excess surface water, then Coastal Drains are here to help. We pride ourselves on professionalism and dedicate our time to providing the best drainage services on the market, so we will do everything we can to make sure your drains are flowing exactly as they should be.
Whether your perfect patio design presents problems for water draining off correctly, or you need a barrier between the results of the elements and your home, the options we have here make for the best solutions. Everything we do will also be carried out to the highest standards, which we expect as a given from all our engineers. This is to make sure our customers get exactly the service they deserve and nothing less.
We provide our services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so please dont hesitate to get in touch with us if you have any questions or queries about what we can do. We are always happy to demonstrate, or provide free quotes on all our services. Contact our team via phone or email today and we can discuss what you need for your patio drainage, before sending some of our staff out as soon as possible to help get the job done, no matter what you have asked for.
Install A Dry Creek River Rock Bed
Another helpful landscaping feature in the fight against poor yard drainage is a creek bed. These look so great, even when its not raining, that people likely wont notice that its functional rather than decorative.
The creek bed acts as a drain pipe would, directing storm water runoff away from low areas and into places that can handle more water.
Another common issue when your yard wont drain is flooding on your patio.
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It Drowns Your Plants
Many people love gardening and turn their yards into beautiful places, full of lush green plants. As you might already know, standing water is actually incredibly harmful for plants.
While there are a few plants that would love to live in a wet spot in the yard, like these 7 plants, most others will not fare so well.
Within a few days, they will succumb to root rot, and will literally begin to drown. When plants start to die, their roots are unable to hold the soil firmly together, and as a result of that, erosion begins to take place.
Within a few weeks, the entire yard will be full of dead plants, and nobody likes bare ground. More importantly, the bare ground will become a source of nuisance for you.
Anybody who walks through the wet yard and into the house will be bringing with them a bunch of muddy footprints, which are going to be even more difficult for you to clean properly.
Rain Garden With Flowers
Rain gardens earn their keep, catching rain water runoff from roofs, driveways and lawns. A well-designed rain garden holds runoff long enough so it can soak into soil, instead of running into storm sewers. It also helps clean rain water runoff by removing up to 90 percent of fertilizer nutrients and up to 80 percent of sediments. Best of all, a rain garden can look gorgeous while effectively handling storm water runoff. This rain garden design features strong summer and fall color, with gold black-eyed susan, purple Russian sage, purple coneflower and rose-pink Autumn Joy sedum.
RainDogDesigns.com/wordpress
Sometimes its either not feasible to solve a large drainage problem, or its too costly. When that happens, it might be time to consider an alternate landscaping choice. There are lots of options for native plants that thrive in soggy areas and that create a habitat for birds, frogs, insects and all kinds of wildlife that depend on them for food and shelter. Rain gardens can soak up tremendous amounts of water, are easy to care for and provide hours of enjoyment for homeowners. Check out some of HGTV’s favorite rain gardens for inspiration and tips for building your own.
Dealing with Drainage02:09
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How To Fix Pavers That Are Holding Water
Landscape pavers that hold water indicate erosion of the base material under the pavers. Even the most meticulously installed patios are prone to settling over the time. As the ground shifts and rain washes away the base material, small pits form in the patio, providing space for water to pool. This is a simple fix because most patio pavers require no mortar to bind them together, making it easy to get to the base material beneath.
1
Pry up all the pavers that collect water, including level pavers along the perimeter of the settling pavers. Wedge a flat bar between pavers and lever the pavers up.
2
Take note of the location of each paver as you remove them so you can easily piece the patio together later. This is only important if the pavers are different sizes.
3
Dig out mud or sunken soil from the pit beneath the pavers, using a small garden trowel.
4
Pour ground limestone in the sunken area and fill it up to soil level.
5
Pack the ground limestone tightly with a hand tamper to create a sturdy surface for the pavers.
6
Add sand on top of the ground limestone, adding 1 inch at a time. Pack the sand, then check to see if the sand is the same height as the sand under the surrounding level pavers.
7
Place the pavers back in place on the patio. Replace any broken or damaged pavers. Tap the pavers in place with a rubber mallet.
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References
The Solution To All Your Patio Drainage Problems
Slot Drain is a pre-sloped, pre-assembled trench drain system that is perfect for landscape and patio applications. The system is extremely easy to install, and the slim channel opening means that there is no risk of foreign objects falling into the channel and clogging the system. It comes in various finishes, including galvanized and stainless steel, which makes it impact-, bacteria-, and corrosion-resistant. Furthermore, the system has a sleek, modern design that does not require a grate so that it can blend seamlessly with any patio design.
What also helps Slot Drain’s system stand out is the fact that it is so easy to maintain compared to other systems. There is the option to have a self-cleaning system in place or to simply use a brush and paddle to easily clean the channel within a few minutes.
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Install Permeable Concrete Patio Pavers
Imagine looking out your back window during a heavy rain one day, youre shocked to discover that instead of gazing upon your nice patio, youre staring at a small lake. Water is ponding 2 inches deep already and the storm is far from over.
Its a sight many D.C.-area homeowners have seen, whether during a long deluge like the one we got from Hurricane Sandy, or simply from a brief but powerful summer thunderstorm. But you dont have to settle for standing water on your patio.
We recommend looking at two issues to address the problem. One is proper grading. If your patio has been around a good many years, the soil underneath it is bound to become uneven over time. Tree roots, normal wear and tear, and other factors will cause the soil beneath your patio to shift. Those changes will likely not be uniform, either, with some spots sinking while others get pushed up.
One solution: re-grading the patio. This involves removing the pavers bricks, flagstones, etc. and excavating the soil from your patio down to a certain depth. The depth will depend on what types of soil you have, what types of pavers youre using, your yards drainage patterns, and other issues.
After the area is evaluated and excavated, new soil or a combination of aggregates, sand and gravel or top soil gets layered in, leveled, compacted, and graded to allow for efficient vertical and horizontal drainage.
Stop Patio Drainage Problems Before They Start
You put a lot of time, money, and possibly even sweat into your patio, so it makes sense that you want it to last as long as possible. For that to happen, you need to avoid patio drainage problems like the ones mentioned above. They can be costly and detrimental to the appearance of your patio, and possibly the foundation of your home. Before you even start making your patio beautiful, make sure you’ve got a Slot Drain system in place to help take care of all your patio drainage needs, and keep it looking beautiful for years to come.
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How Do You Drain Water From A Concrete Patio
Installing a drainage system into the patio can drain the water away, removing any potential problems and making the patio safer.
Where the water tends to collect, cut out a sloping channel in the concrete to direct the water away, filling it with decorative stone or gravel. A more radical yet effective solution is to reestablish the pitch of the patio slab by installing a cement-based overlay.
One may also ask, how do you fix standing water on concrete? Installation
Beside this, does water drain through concrete?
The surface of a concrete slab is impervious to water, which means that if water can‘t run off the surface, it will pool on your patio. Installing a drainage system into the patio can drain the water away, removing any potential problems and making the patio safer.
Is standing water bad for concrete?
Patio Drainage Problems & Systems
Do portions of your concrete patio or pool deck sit under water after a heavy rain, ruining your outdoor activities? Thats a sure sign that your patio isnt draining properly. Poor patio drainage not only spoils your outdoor fun, it can also allow water to seep into your basement if the water pools next to your house. Here are some tips for identifying and correcting aggravating and potentially destructive patio drainage problems.
For this patio, strips of decorative gravel offer an attractive drainage solution. Modal Design in Los Angeles, CA.
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Fixing A Paver Patio With An Improper Slope
It is more likely that your patio could have an improper slope if it has a problem with standing water. There are several ways you can fix this problem but the best way to make it appealing and long lasting is to bring down the existing setup and start over. The decision to fix or build a new patio comes down to how flat the current patio is. One of the ways you can correct this issue is by adding a drain close to where stagnant water is collecting. Mark this location and then dig up the pavement using a jackhammer. After removing the concrete, you need to dig a trench that can hold at least a two-inch layer of sand as well as the drain channel. Lay the drain and then cover it with a gate.
However, this fix only works well for those who have a concrete pad for their patio. You can have a difficult time if your patio is made of pavers or stamped concrete. The best way to fix a paver patio is to start over since you will take all the necessary precautions to ensure it is sloped correctly. You need to remove any soft soil, vegetation, or rocks before you begin. Consider installing a French drain at the edge or run a pipe under the patio to ensure proper drainage. You can only lay your patio when the ground is uniform in both materials and levels.