French Drains
French Drains in Tulsa
An interesting fact about water, is that it is always moving. Rainwater fills our lakes, rivers, streams, ponds and oceans. It saturates the ground, and fills underground aquifers. We humans, animals, plants and all living things use water for health and life. This same water is evaporated back into the atmosphere to repeat the same cycle over again
Ideally, as our property receives this rainwater, it provides the right amount of moisture for lawns, gardens and trees, and the excess efficiently moves away from structures, and exits our property. Your property uses many different systems to accomplish this. Roofing, guttering, yard grade, swales and ditches, culvert pipe, concrete curbs, sidewalks and driveways, even garden edging, rock paths etc can be used to direct water to the desired location.
Sometimes life is not ideal! Sometimes, this movement of water over our property does not work as it should. We often experience standing water in lawns and gardens, under houses with a crawl space, and can even get into hvac ductwork. Water can puddle around the foundations of our homes, and on sidewalks, driveways and patios. Left unattended, the result of these water problems, range from minor inconvenience, to tremendous damage and cost.
Drain systems are methods used to correct these issues. These include:
French Drains
A French-drain is a trench filled with gravel or rock, usually containing a perforated pipe, that redirects surface water and groundwater away from an area.
Surface Drains
A surface drain can be used in conjunction with gravel lined French drain, a stand alone type drain to capture surface water and redirect through a solid, non perforated pipe. A surface drain usually employs some type of grated catch basin, or channel. These can be placed low lying areas in the yard, or even concrete or paved areas.
Gutter Downspout/Drain Connections
Downspouts can be connected to a drain system, to insure the water discharged is directed to a preferred location. This can be a simple downspout extension across the top of a flower bed. If that is undesirable, or impractical, the downspouts can be connected to drain pipes that discharge just outside garden edging, or at the property line, through a curb, into a drainage ditch or at a fence.
Yard Regrading
Over time, erosion, changes we make to our property or even something a neighbor may do to their property, can effect the grade or slope of our yard. The slope of the surfaces around structures and the lot as a whole, is critical to directing the water away from and off the property. Regrading is sometimes necessary to correct, or improve these issues. Regrading is often an element included in an underground drain system, to direct water into the drainpipes.
Retaining Walls
A retaining wall is made of rigid material such as, concrete, stackable blocks, railroad timbers, rock etc, and is used for supporting soil laterally so that it can be retained at different levels on two sides. If the slope or grade of the yard is to steep, it can cause erosion. The results of erosion, loss of topsoil, poor grass cover, and ruts that can develop, are just a few examples of problems that can be devastating to the condition and value of your home. Retaining walls are a practical method of remediating these issues.
Rock Pathways
A decorative rock pathway, or dry riverbed, is an attractive way to redirect water. These can also be installed with an underground drain, or as a stand alone system. In an area where grass has difficulty growing (under tress, between the house and fencing on tight lots, the north side of the house etc), a rock pathway can be installed to both direct the water and cover these bare areas, in a very aesthetically pleasing manner.
Sump Pump
Water depends on proper slope and gravity to flow. If the problem area does not provide enough elevation to gravity flow, a sump pump can be used to force water to the desired location. Drainpipes from French drains, downspouts, surface drains etc, are directed into a sump well where the pump is located, and then pumped out from there.
Hydra-Flo Guttering has the experience to get these products designed and installed for you.