ArcaMax

More fall is better. Try for 9 inches or 12 inches of fall instead of 6 inches. Remember, the building code is a set of MINIMUM standards for building. When you build your home to code, it’s like getting a 70 percent on a test. You just barely pass. You can always build better than the building code.

I recommended that the homeowner should install one of the linear French drains I’ve talked about in this column for over 30 years. My college degree was in geology with a focus on hydrogeology. That’s the study of groundwater.

This man’s house is located in a region with dense clay subsoil. Rainwater enters the top soil and then only goes down about 4 inches before it encounters this clay. The water then starts to move along sideways across the top of the clay.

A linear French drain is like a gutter in the ground. It’s a narrow 6-inch wide trench that only needs to be 24 inches deep. In some cases it can be less, and in other cases more. Most of the time, 24 inches of depth is plenty.

You install 2 inches of clean gravel the size of white grapes in the bottom of the trench. Then you install a perforated pipe on top of this gravel. The pipe acts like a high-speed highway transporting the water to the lowest part of the lot. Once the pipe is installed, you fill the trench to the top with the same grape-sized gravel. Never use gravel with sand in it. Do not line the trench with filter fabric. Do not install a filter sock on the pipe.

I have videos and in-depth columns at AsktheBuilder.com all about linear French drains, downspout drain lines and getting foundation heights correct. I suggest you immerse yourself in all of them.

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