Yard drainage and French drains
Water that never reaches the foundation never has to be pumped out of the basement. Yard drainage reshapes the ground and adds buried pipe so rain and snowmelt leave the lot.
Signs the yard is the problem
- A puddle on the lawn that is still there a day or two after rain.
- A shallow trough along the foundation where the soil has settled.
- Downspouts that end at the corner of the house or drip onto a splash block that tilts the wrong way.
- Raised beds or edging that hold water against the wall.
- A wet patch, or winter ice on the walk, where the sump pump empties.
Three ways to move water off the lot
Section through a side yard, from the house wall to a low spot in the lawn.
- Grading Soil beside the house is built up so the surface falls away from the wall.
- Downspout pipe The downspout joins a solid buried pipe and no longer empties at the corner.
- Pop-up outlet The pipe ends out in the yard, where the water can spread and soak in.
- Low spot A dip in the lawn where runoff gathers.
- French drain A trench lined with fabric and filled with washed stone takes in the standing water.
- Perforated pipe A pipe along the bottom of the trench carries the water to an outlet lower on the lot.
Where the water is allowed to end up
On your own lot, as a rule, and not on the neighbor's or across the sidewalk. Beyond that, each municipality has its own answer.
Mount Pleasant's plumbing code wants sump pipes to end at ground level facing the street, not directly on the road or sidewalk, and it lists a storm water lateral as work that needs a plumbing permit. In Caledonia the utility district manages sump collection pipes as well as the roadside ditches and culverts.
In the City of Racine the storm sewers run to the Root River and Lake Michigan. Before a company ties a yard drain into any public pipe or ditch, ask it which office has approved the connection.
The digging
Trenches for downspout pipes and French drains are narrow but long, and they cross the lawn. Sod is lifted or the strip is reseeded. Tree roots decide the route more often than the plan does.
Wisconsin requires notice to Diggers Hotline three working days before digging, even for a small or shallow job. The guide to flood maps and 811 has the numbers.
Questions on yard drainage
- Where does each pipe end, and is that point lower than where it starts?
- Is the downspout pipe solid and kept separate from the French drain?
- What keeps the trench from filling with silt?
- How will the outlet behave when the ground is frozen?
- Who puts the lawn and beds back?
Yard drainage questions
Will a French drain fix a wet basement?
It helps when the water is surface runoff heading for the house. It does little about groundwater rising under the floor, which needs a drain at the footing and a pump.
Can the downspouts share the sump pump's pipe?
Keep them apart unless the pipe was sized for both. Roof water in a cloudburst can fill a small pipe and back up toward the pump.
What is a dry well?
A buried pit or chamber filled with stone that holds a rush of water and lets it soak away. It suits a lot with no lower ground to drain to. In heavy soil it empties slowly, so its size matters.
Talk it through with a local company
Call and describe what the water is doing. You will speak with an independent local waterproofing company about coming out to look at your house.
For homeowners: basements, crawl spaces, sump pumps and drainage.
Call (262) 555-0112Racine Basement Waterproofing Help is a referral service, not a contractor. Calls may be recorded. Referral disclosure.