I just dug up a incorrectly laid, ineffective 5″ perf drain line that had been put in by the previous owner to carry away water from the house foundation. The house sits at the bottom of a long hill (the hill ‘bottoms’ 4 ft from the house). The owner had basical dug a shallow ditch and laid the pipe in washed rock (and piled the rock so high it reached the home siding). A contributing factor was the gravel drive part way up the hill (and ‘above’ the house) that had a low spot, where all the water running down the hill would pool. I’ve diverted most of that surface water and pretty much elliminated the low spot. I’m hoping I won’t have to dig a trench for a foundation drain, as the well, sewer, gas and power (underground) lines would all have to be moved.
I’d like to grade perpendicular to the slope of the hill and next to the house in order to run the remaining surface water around to the side of the house. The ‘run’ would be 30 – 35′. The questions are (1) What type gravel/rock to put down? (2) What minimum slope is acceptable (I don’t have a lot of elevation left at the end of the run) ? Finally, I was going to lay lanscaping cloth below the gravel as I plan to put stepping stones on top of the gravel. My son asked, since we’re trying to divert water, why not use a heavy polysheet or other water proof membrane?
Thanks.
Jeff
Replies
Jeff;
I am pondering the same problem on a house I have in the NC mountains. I do a lot of stormwater work and if you are going to go with gravel use washed 57 stone and put a sock over the drain line. Having said that, I am going to deal with my hill-to-house slope problem by buidling an in-ground gutter - an in-ground ditch to divert the water around the house. I will probably line the ditch with pavers. The advantage of an in-ground gutter is you can see what gets in it and clean it out. If you go with 57 stone and drain lines then sediment has the potential to clog it, and the only way to remove sediment is to excavate the whole works.
good luck,
Bill, Louisburg, NC
Bill,
Thanks for the reply. Did you ever think about building the 'gutter' using pond liner & round rock in a trough with hardscape/landscape around it? I wouldn't allow water to sit in it, but use it to give the runoff a path to follow. As the approach to the my house is from the hill, if I did a gutter I'd like something I could blend into the landscape.
Jeff
Jeff;
It sounds good. I have seen a lot of dry stream bed swales built that mimic the look of a dry stream bed using rounded river rock. Combine that with a good line and you would be good to go.
Bill
I have a very basic situation with this idea--the previous owners pulled several trees near the house (we keep finding holes), along with some sort of shrub that was next to the house. We missed it in the inspection cuz it was all covered up with a gangly Rhododendron. So, once we pruned the camo Rhodie, we found a depression right next to the house. The solution seems to be to add fill in that depression until we've created a slope away from the house.
Sounds suspiciously easy. ??? >:-D