Are you having issues with bad drainage at your place? It might be time to consider a French drain system.
What is a French drain?
What a French drain manages to achieve is the transferral of surface and groundwater away from the places you don’t want it to be – like your home’s vulnerable foundations. A French drain system is typically set up around your foundations and essentially comprised of a perforated pipe system incorporated in sloped sub-surface trenches that are finished with landscape fabric. The pipes and fabric, however, are the modern version, because Henry Flagg French’s original 19th-century design – basically rock or gravel-filled trenches – were prone to clogging. The modern iteration, meanwhile, can actually only add to the current beauty and value of your backyard and property.
How does A French drain work?
Getting water where it shouldn’t be is obviously the overriding principle when considering the question of how French drains work. They tackle flooding, foundation damage and other groundwater and stormwater drainage issues – and are well regarded as the best possible solution from a purpose-meets-aesthetics point of view.
As for how a French drain system works, it’s best explained by outlining the clear benefits:
1. Your foundations
In short, your home’s foundation and water seepage simply do not mix – and, in fact, water can utterly destroy your foundation’s structural integrity. Redirecting water from your foundation is the key benefit.
2. The durability
Because they do their thing beneath the surface, French drains have to be extremely durable as they tackle both water erosion and the force of gravity. Therefore, once a French drain system is in place, you can breathe easy.
3. The look
As mentioned earlier, French drains are extremely effective. But as an added bonus, they’re also the perfect solution from an aesthetical point of view, as they can easily be seamlessly blended into whatever landscape surrounds it.
4. French drain installation
When it comes to cheap & easy, the French drain really does tick every imaginable box. As long as you don’t want to put it where an existing structure already sits, it’s just a matter of:
- Digging the trench
- Lining it with fabric
- Making the drain’s gravel bed
- Laying the pipe
- Filling in the gravel
- Adding the finishing touches.
5. The versatility
The true beauty of French drains, however, is that it puts the decision-making power in your hands in terms of precisely how to redirect the water. For instance, you may want to divert it to another area of your property, into a drain or somewhere else entirely – it’s just up to you.
Ask Drain Masters Plumbing for help
Want to know more about how a French drain could be the perfect solution to your drainage issues? Here at Drain Masters Plumbing, we not only know everything there is to know about French drain systems, but we can also get the perfect solution up and running at your place in just about no time at all. Get in touch with our friendly Brisbane drain plumbers today to find out more.
