Ever notice that when it rains you suddenly have ponds or rivers around your house, yard or landscape? These areas might be fun for the kids or your pets to play in, but they can mean trouble for your home, grass and landscaped areas.
So, why does all that water hang around? As with so many things in life, gravity controls a lot. Low areas or dips around our home or yards, will cause water to naturally run to these sections. When the soil isn’t able to handle extra water it can’t absorb, the result is standing water. If water pools near our home’s foundations, it can leak into our basement or crawl space causing mold and mildew to grow, drawing pests, and damage basement interiors. Standing water in our yards and landscapes can also rot grass roots, and damage or kill plants.
The solution is to move this water away from these lower sections around our home or landscape. To do that you would need to install a French drain, also called a curtain, perimeter or agricultural drain. A French drain is a trench that is dug at a slight slope then filled with gravel and a perforated pipe. This drain allows excess water, that the soil can’t absorb, to run into the trench and be diverted slowly to another area of your property.
The cost of a French drain can vary depending on the length of the drain and the amount of materials needed. If the French drain is needed to draw water away from your basement, you might also have to invest in a sump pump. If you are a do-it-yourselfer, you may be able to save some on labor costs. However, keep in mind that this project does require a bit of digging, and if you need to cover a larger area, possibly the rental of a backhoe.
As with all projects, discussing it with a professional who can advise you on the best, and most cost effect way to complete the project, is always a good idea.
Have more questions? Call us- we’d love to help! Call the professionals at Go Green Plumbing at 336-252-2999 for service 7 days a week/24 hours a day. If water runs through it – We Do It!
