Gutters and french drains

[aarolar]

My yard is badly leveled away from the house and I have issues with my washroom flooding during extended hard rains so my next project is going to be gutters on the house and french drains. Trying to understand the drains do they need to enter on top of the ground somewhere or can they be completely underground like a septic system? I understand the issue with dirt and other contaminates washing off the roof and stopping up the drain seems like a big gravel pit at the end of the pvc would work better maybe with a 5gal bucket for it to spill onto similar to how I did my washing machine drain but on a smaller scale.

Greywater Drywell | Tin Can Cabin

 

[4570Man]

I did something similar with one of my gutters. I used half a barrel with a bunch of holes drilled in it. I don't think I even back filled with gravel. If I did it wasn't very many. Surprisingly it never backs up and that gutter drains a fair amount of roof. I would highly recommend you use the PVC drain pipe instead of the black pipe on a roll. It's crush resistance is much higher and the water flow is much higher since the inside walls are smooth. The hole I dug was much smaller then the one in the link and probably handles a higher volume of water.

 

[CADplans]

I installed one of these 6' x 30" septic things,, fully expecting it to run over occasionally.

I did install it over about 3 feet deep of rock.
It has been over 2 years now, the drain takes all the water off a 20X40 foot section of roof.
6" of rain will not even back up the water at all,, I am amazed,, (I added a "T" so I could look in)

There has been a little settling of the soil,, before I grade again, I will cut and cap the T below grade.

 

[aarolar]

I installed one of these 6' x 30" septic things,, fully expecting it to run over occasionally.

I did install it over about 3 feet deep of rock.
It has been over 2 years now, the drain takes all the water off a 20X40 foot section of roof.
6" of rain will not even back up the water at all,, I am amazed,, (I added a "T" so I could look in)

There has been a little settling of the soil,, before I grade again, I will cut and cap the T below grade.

What is a 6'x30" thing? Your setup kinda looks like what I was planning in my head.

 

[aarolar]

I did something similar with one of my gutters. I used half a barrel with a bunch of holes drilled in it. I don't think I even back filled with gravel. If I did it wasn't very many. Surprisingly it never backs up and that gutter drains a fair amount of roof. I would highly recommend you use the PVC drain pipe instead of the black pipe on a roll. It's crush resistance is much higher and the water flow is much higher since the inside walls are smooth. The hole I dug was much smaller then the one in the link and probably handles a higher volume of water.

I have a 30" diameter auger for my PHD I plan to use to dig the hole I'm just wondering if I should dump the pipe straight into the gravel or use some manner of bucket. I do plan to use smooth pipe instead of corrugated stuff.

 

[CADplans]

What is a 6'x30" thing? Your setup kinda looks like what I was planning in my head.

It is a molded thing they make septic drainage fields out of, multiple units can interlock together,,
They are very cheap, considering what they are,, I seem to remember under $20.
The end caps were probably close to $20 for the two.

Google, you will find more pics of them,,, they are VERY strong,,,

The big plus is that the drainage field can be made without gravel,,
the design and instructions tell you to specifically not use gravel.
The solids will decompose better when in direct contact with dirt.

Although, I did dig an 18" wide, 5 foot long hole, several feet deep right under it.
That is filled with large rocks that were removed from the field and garden,,,
I did not use my "pretty" landscaping rocks,, :laughing:

My soil has a LOT of clay,, water develops 1/2 psi per foot of height.
I figure there is 3psi pressure pushing the water into the soil at the bottom.
Maybe that does not seem like much,, but, it is WAY more than water just setting there.

 

[s219]

Is there some reason you can't run the gutter to a buried black corrugated pipe that runs to daylight at some downhill location? While I had French drains on my old property to handle land drainage (unrelated to the house or gutters), all the gutters were piped away from the house to dump out at the back of my property.

I use French drains at my new house as hidden ground gutters to collect water off the drip line of my eaves, which works amazingly well. They still connect to solid drainage pipe to dump out away from the house though.

 

[aarolar]

Is there some reason you can't run the gutter to a buried black corrugated pipe that runs to daylight at some downhill location? While I had French drains on my old property to handle land drainage (unrelated to the house or gutters), all the gutters were piped away from the house to dump out at the back of my property.

I use French drains at my new house as hidden ground gutters to collect water off the drip line of my eaves, which works amazingly well. They still connect to solid drainage pipe to dump out away from the house though.

While that would be ideal there really isn't enough grade to pull it off plus it would always be in the way of mowing and my tractor which gets operated in the back yard often. I'll grab some pictures this afternoon so yall can see what I'm working with.

 

[aarolar]

Here's a shot of the roof line where my issues are, most of the house is brick and raised so I don't have the flooding issues elsewhere but PPP resulted in this being below grade.



This is a shot standing at that corner looking back out into the yard. Plenty of opportunity for a french drain but no where to just run it out on top without being in the way.

 

[SandburRanch]

Gutters and french drains are a maintenance nightmare. Consider using your tractor to form a swale for drainage that will handle water far superior to 10 french drains.

Gutters: I have gutters and I wouldn't put gutters on another house if I built a new house every year and lived to be 500. My money would go towards concrete properly sloped from the structure where leaves, pine needles and leaflet stems can be taken care of with a blower.