French drains

[donn12]

Perforated or not? One is for a gutter and one is for a fire pit. I have done an ac drain that was pcv that ended in a bag of gravel underground. I would like both of the new ones to end underground so our dogs don't have to trot through mud everytime they come in. Thank you

 

[RNeumann]

The area that accepts the water you want to get rid of is perf. and the pipe used to move the water away isn't.
So in your case the pile under the fire pit is perf and the pipe used to move the water away isn't. Btw it's perf down

 

[jfh28]

the one for the gutters is not really a french drain its just an underground pipe transporting the water from the gutters to somewhere else........so solid.....not sure I understand what your doing at the fire pit to comment on that one.....a french drain typically is used to collect groundwater and run it somewhere else....thats why the holes are down....it gets the water coming up from below........the more important question is going to be whats the soil like where you are discharging all this water.......and whats coming from gutters can be an enormous amount in a very short period of time......so you will want to dig a test pit and see what the perc of the soil is like and what the height of the groundwater table is........if you have a high water table then adding more water to the area will make it worse........for gutters it's usually best to drain the underground piping to daylight as the volume of water from a heavy storm can easily overwhelm a drainage area........and I certainly can sympathize with you on the mixing of dogs and mud..........Jack

 

[Firemanbuck82]

Perforated or not? One is for a gutter and one is for a fire pit. I have done an ac drain that was pcv that ended in a bag of gravel underground. I would like both of the new ones to end underground so our dogs don't have to trot through mud everytime they come in. Thank you

Couple of questions: What's the topography of the property? What type of soil are you dealing with? And, where is the water coming from?

If the water is pooling in the yard because of runoff from a paved driveway or from roof downspouts, your best bet is to collect it in SOLID pipes and get it away from the house and yard. If you have topographic relief, then send the water to the bottom of the slope or a s far down as you can go. If you can slope the site to drain, that's probably your best bet. If this is due to high groundwater you might need perf pipes in gravel filled trenches tied to a sump pump.

Rule of thumb- don't mix surface water pipes (solid) including roof downspout and driveway runoff and groundwater pipes (perforated) for collecting groundwater. You can create a greater problem by introducing surface water to the ground.

 

[Streetcar]

Rule of thumb- don't mix surface water pipes (solid) including roof downspout and driveway runoff and groundwater pipes (perforated) for collecting groundwater. You can create a greater problem by introducing surface water to the ground.

Other than the fact that downspout pipe will have debris which may clog the system, what problems can occur.with multiple outlets part of the system will still work if one is clogged. All ground water started as surface water.
As others have said solid for downspouts, fewer chances for something to clog pipe with debris from gutter runoff

 

[RNeumann]

Lots of confusion here. Part of it is the title and the OPs question.
First is the downspouts- the water is taken away from the house in a solid pipe. If OP wants water to remain underground it would end in a leach pit or leach field. Those terms refer to an area/way for the water to leach into the ground- same as leach lines for the septic system. In the leaching area you would use perf pipe.

Fire pit- the area under the fire pit would have rock and perf pipe to ensure the fire pit didn't fill with water. The water would then be moved away with solid pipe and again into a leach pit/field.

A french drain or curtain drain is designed to handle surface and or subterranean water. Water seeks the path of least resistance (the rock vs native soil/dirt) which is the principle behind the design. To prevent contamination of the rock you would add filter/landscape fabric around the pipe and rock. The water hits the rock and travels to the bottom of the drain and into the perf pipe.

So the OP has little or no need for a french drain as it relates to his two scenarios. Maybe some would call the area under the fire pit a french drain. But beyond that it's all about leach fields and moving water away from the structure or undesired area.


Btw the leach field for the gutters will probably be trucks of gravel and a large hole or trench. An interesting project for sure.