Pole barn drainage - need some advice

[LD1]

Now come on, no need to be like that......I'm not patronizing you. I prefaced my comments about corrugated with "my opinion", I wasn't stating it as fact. You know how it is.....some people will reference text/studies to prove their point but nothing beats experience and real world examples.

I was watching this video last night showing sort of a neat flow test of PVC vs Corrugated. Others might find it interesting?

I'm not real hung up on this whole thing but when you said you were trying to debunk these myths, I thought you were serious. You aren't. It's all good.

Drew

Not a good video. The guy is specifically talking about foundation drainage, and his biggest issue with black pipe is the "joints" where roots can get in and water out.

Foundation drains need perforated pipe. The water needs to get INTO the pipe. What is the point of burrying solid PVC around a foundation. If water cannot enter the pipe anywhere....nothing will ever flow out of it.

The ONLY time flow is ever a concern....is when the pipe is flowing FULL capacity. If a pipe is only flowing half capacity (which they do 99.9% of the time) corrugate vs smooth dont make a hill of beans difference in flow capacity. And even IF it did, 6" corrugate is still cheaper than 4" PVC...and will flow twice the water.

Im not "being like that". Its your project. Do what you want. Guys tend to stick to what they are familiar with and will come up with every excuse in the book as to why. Most residential guys, homeowners, and contractors "know" PVC and corrugated pipe is unfamiliar to them. So they tend to shy away from it even though its the best option

 

[dirttoys]

In the comments, people are talking about cleaning out the pipe that's in the ground. This really isn't an issue. Leaves plug up gutters at the downspout. If you have a decent gutter guard, then leaves are not an option. If you do not have anything to keep leaves out of the gutters, then they all build up in the gutter at the downspout. It's very rare for those leaves to go down the downspout very far. I've never seen or heard of a gutter drain pipe being plugged up from leaves. They just don't get down there that far with enough material to jam up the pipe. It all happens up at the gutters.

Eh, I will differ to the experience, however, I will take a picture under my down spout when I get home Sunday. In fairness to your point, my gutter guards install has been delayed a couple of weeks, but to mine, it is not even really fall yet.........

Best,

ed

 

[dirttoys]

Now come on, no need to be like that......I'm not patronizing you. I prefaced my comments about corrugated with "my opinion", I wasn't stating it as fact. You know how it is.....some people will reference text/studies to prove their point but nothing beats experience and real world examples.

I was watching this video last night showing sort of a neat flow test of PVC vs Corrugated. Others might find it interesting?

I'm not real hung up on this whole thing but when you said you were trying to debunk these myths, I thought you were serious. You aren't. It's all good.

Drew

LOL, sometimes I find myself in a position to argue with everyone (trying to cut back).

That was a rough 20 minutes..... I had visions of what pipe would dump 1000 gallon tanks faster or something cool. When the guy poured the bottle of water in the pipes and went to look at the other end, I thought man, this guy can really hit grade!!

The corrugated will certainly hold more water, and you could make the supposition from that, that more sediment will occur as a result. In reality, the bottom will drift in and level out. But, maybe PVC is 10-20-50% higher flow rate (video doesn't prove that, that I saw).

Maybe the best tool for you would be a flow per dollar calc?

Price 6 inch cor and 4 inch pvc, assume worst case pvc has a 50% better flow. If I remember correctly increase diameter by 33% and increase flow by 50%. Compare price and buy accordingly.

The best news: neither one will be close to the effort to dig the trench, and both are cheaper than the value of the opinions you have gotten

Best,

ed

 

[mikester]

I would use no less than 8" smooth walled pipe depending on the distance of your runs and frost lines. Can you use a dry well as your catch basin?