Help! We bought a great house, but soon learned that when it rains, the water runs toward the house and foundation, causing flooding. The cost of professional grading is prohibitive, but we aren’t physically able to do a major DIY grading job ourselves. Any ideas? -Brenda

A French drain around the perimeter of your house would be a great, inexpensive way to divert water runoff without having to regrade the entire yard. Think of a French drain as an underground “gutter” system that collects and drains water before it enters your home’s foundation.

Building a French drain involves digging a 12” to 18” deep channel, that slopes downhill to route water toward a chosen exit point away from the house (make sure you know the location of buried utility lines and pipes before digging). You then put corrugated plastic pipe in the channel, and fill the hole to the top with gravel. Water is lazy – it chooses the path of least resistance – so it will fall into your channels and be diverted before it reaches your foundation.

A French drain will require some heavy digging, as well as hauling and shoveling gravel. It also requires careful planning, as the channels must slope properly or water will collect in them without running off. However, once you’ve planned your design, you could enlist the help of friends, family, or even hired laborers to help with the physical work. Alternately, you could hire a licensed landscape contractor to build the French drain for you, and it would likely be much less expensive than regrading the entire yard or building retaining walls.

In addition to the French drain, make sure any rainwater from your roof is directed away from the foundation of your home – you’d be surprised how much water can be eliminate that way. If you have gutters, extend the downspouts away from the foundation or toward the French Drain.

Further Information

• Drainage Solutions (Video)
• Using a French Drain to Remove Standing Water in Your Yard
• How to Keep Water from Damaging the Foundation of Your Home (Video)
• How to Install French Drains for Yard Drainage (About.com)
• How to Create a French Drain (Repair-home.com)

Tags: , drainage, foundation, French drain