WHAT IS A FRENCH DRAIN?
French drains are primarily used to prevent ground and surface water from penetrating or damaging building foundations and as an alternative to open ditches or storm sewers for streets and highways. Alternatively, French drains may be used to distribute water, such as a septic drain field at the outlet of a typical septic tank sewage treatment system.
HOW IT WORKS
French drains are also used behind retaining walls to relieve ground water pressure.
It sounds elegant but in reality, it’s nothing more sophisticated than a gravel-lined ditch with an embedded pipe that carries water away from the home.
Whereas gutters collect precipitation as it runs off the roof, French drains manage water at ground level. Let’s say that after a rainstorm, water tends to pool in a particular low spot on your property. Rerouting the flow of water with a French drain would alleviate that problem.
Trench drains are also referred to as channel drains and are classified as an above-ground drainage method even though the actual materials are embedded into the ground. This drainage method involves digging a long, narrow trench and finishing it with a grated covering, giving the impression of a large piece of guttering in the ground.
French drains are subsurface solutions consisting of a trench filled with gravel and a slotted or perforated pipe.
A layer of protective, permeable fabric is placed along the bottom and sides of the trench after it has been dug to prevent soil and root intrusion and on top before the topsoil is replaced.
Just like a trench drain, French drains siphon water downhill from a site, only this time that includes groundwater as well as surface water.
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