By Matthew Baring-Gould, Kingscliff-based drainage plumber. Servicing Tweed Heads for 4 years. 5.0 stars across 173 Google reviews. Licensed NSW 383340C and QLD 15036450. ABN 74 605 392 348.
Tweed Heads property with water ingress under the house. Zero machine access to the area, so we vacuum excavated the dirt out behind the wall over several days, laid geofabric, installed two parallel socked aggie pipes, and filled the full trench with 20mm blue metal carried in by hand in buckets.
What the customer called us for
Owner called us out for moisture and water ingress under the house. The problem area was behind a wall with no mechanical access.
What we found when we got there
Classic tight-access job. No path for an excavator, no path for a loader. Any dirt out and any gravel in was going to be done by vacuum and by hand.
Why we did it this way
A proper French drain is the same spec whether a machine does it or a crew carries buckets. Two parallel aggie lines, geofabric wrap top and bottom, full-depth 20mm blue metal fill. The access problem is a labour cost problem, not a design problem. Shortcuts here (thinner fill, single aggie, recycled gravel) would fail and the dig would be even harder the second time.
What we did on site
- Set up the vacuum excavation rig at the nearest accessible point.
- Vacuum excavated the dirt out from behind the wall over several days.
- Laid geofabric along the trench floor and walls.
- Installed two parallel socked aggie pipes along the trench.
- Hand carried 20mm blue metal gravel in buckets from the access point to the trench.
- Filled the full trench to the top with blue metal.
- Wrapped the geofabric over the top to seal the drain.
- Tied the discharge into the existing stormwater path.
- Cleaned the site on completion.
The result
Full double-aggie French drain installed behind the wall despite zero machine access. No callback received, which tells us the drainage is holding.
If you have the same issue
If water is coming in under your house or against a wall with no vehicle access, do not accept a half-measure fix. A proper French drain can still be installed by hand, it just costs more in labour. Done right, it is a permanent fix. Call Matty on 0447 188 394 or request a quote.
Customer names and addresses have been withheld. Individual results vary. Drain Masters Plumbing is licensed in NSW (383340C) and QLD (15036450).
Frequently asked
Why not just use a smaller surface drain?
Surface drains catch rain on top of the ground. The problem here was water coming through the ground against a wall. Only a sub-surface drain at the right depth, with correct aggie and gravel fill, actually removes groundwater pressure from a wall.
How much more does a hand-carried install cost?
It depends on carry distance and access. The design and materials are the same; what changes is the labour hours to excavate and to move the fill. We always quote the specific site before any dirt moves.
Can a surface drain ever do the same job?
Not when the problem is groundwater. Surface drains and sub-surface drains solve different problems. On a wall getting wet from behind, it is a sub-surface drain or nothing.
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