The major problem faced by individuals living on Staten Island, NY is standing water that not only affects the landscape of the property but can also lead to the unhygienic surroundings. Standing water can destroy the vegetation, flowers, and trees of your garden. A French drainage system can prove to be the best for you as it is an in-ground system that provides effective water drainage in the water standing areas.
If you are also facing the same problem, you can install a French Drainage system on your property. In order to do it yourself, you can follow the following steps discussed further in the article.
a. The first thing you need to do is to find a low-lying area where your drain can dispose water. Make sure that the place is barren with no plants. A pond on your property can be the best place for emptying the drain. Keep in mind that the place selected by you should be downward sloping so that the water can easily run down.
b. Dig a ditch in the area that is suffering from the issues of standing water and take it to the spot where you can empty it. The trench should be dug 18 inches in depth and six inches in width.
c. The trench created by you should be covered by gravel up to 1 inch from the bottom. Cover the gravel with a landscape fabric. This fabric should be laid down from one part of the ditch to another and go down across the length of the trench.
d. After placing the landscape fabric correctly you need to fill the trench with sand till; the top. You should prefer to use the coarse sand that does not become massive on getting wet as it will raise the drainage issue.
e. In order to make this French drainage systems invisible, you can use sod and place it on the sand. If you wish to keep them visible to keep a regular check on the drainage system you can leave the above two inches of the trench vacant and fill it with gravel instead of sod. This will help you in identifying the drainage system.
The French Drainage System can be an effective way to get rid of the standing water around your Staten Island home.
If you are sick of dealing with a wet, soggy, damp, and moldy basement or crawl space, a french drain might be right for your home.
What is a French Drain?
This is a type of drain that keeps water away from your home’s foundation, crawl space, basement, and out of your yard. When too much water from rain, snow, or irrigation overwhelms your yard, a french drain will help pull that water away from your home, keeping your basement safe.
The drain is placed at the bottom of a slope, downhill. This helps drainage by allowing water to do what it does naturally; flow downhill. A drain pipe is placed in a ditch, usually filled surrounded by stone or rock to aid in drainage.
How Does This Type of Drain Prevent Problems?
Too much rain or snow puts too much water into your yard. Most homes are built on gravel, clay, or other soil types that have poor drainage. This means that every little bit of rain filters down into your yard, and takes a long time to drain.
When it rains for several days, this can add up to an awful lot of water. On the average size yard, an inch of rain is equal to over 3,000 gallons of water.
All those thousands of gallons cause the dirt to expand. This expansion puts pressure on the outside of your basement or foundation walls, leading to breaks, cracks, holes, and flooding. Crawl spaces get hit the fastest. But, basements and foundations aren’t far behind.
French Drains Keep That Water Away
These drains are placed in problem areas and are installed so that water flows into them, then that water is carried away from your home, where it can drain safely. This relieves pressure on your foundation or basement. This is also key in keeping water out of your crawl space.
French drains work best when used as part of a waterproofing system. This ensures that the cracks (often first found in the outer wall, underground, where you won’t see them) are fixed, the walls are waterproofed on the inside and out, and water doesn’t get into your home where it can cause extensive damage.
