Best French Drain Pipe Explained by Licensed Builder

FULL FRENCH DRAIN VIDEO:

I get asked all the time about perforated pipe because it has has holes in it. People want to know, how does the water stay in? People have the misconception that the water is just going to fall out as easy as it went in. The best way that I can explain this is, water moves through void. So instead of just putting stone we also want to put in these two giant voids. That's what these two four inch pipes create - a giant void. Now the water will go in the perforated pipe and it'll move back and forth. Water seeks level. However high it is in one pipe, it'll be that height in the other. The water is going to fill up in the bottom of the trench the same way a drinking glass fills up with water. You pour the water in the glass and it fills from the bottom up.

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How Perforated Pipe Works

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[supermonkey]

I think it would be more accurate to say that it does leak out but that doesn't matter. The water just seeps into the ground until it is saturated up to the level of the pipe at which point it flows through the pipe. Water can also enter through the bottom.

[Salanoa]

Never heard someone say a “Giant 4 inch pipe” before. Thanks I feel better now 😂

[presidentjoethudbrandon]

The water can't soak into the ground under the pipe faster than it's being carried away.

If your ground absorbed water fater than a drain can carry it away then you don't need a drain

[spamdump]

Once you said it fills from the bottom up the light went on. Got it. Thanks for answering a question I always struggled with.

[tooyoungtobeold]

They're great those orange pipes.

[DavidBrown-zxtm]

I live in Wisconsin had 200x50 feet 6 inch standing water . I dug it out with the wife. Followed his instructions. Dry still 3 years later. When we get a down pour I go to the end and it looks like a fire hydrant that's open. THANK YOU MUCH

[drlong]

Water seeks it's own level. That is it. Provide a channel for the water, it will go there. Thanks!!

[kjustin]

What a great explanation, thank you! 😢

[matthewk]

Hopefully, he's experienced enough to encapsulate the pea gravel inside of landscaping cloth or something similar. Otherwise, any dirt on top will just mix into the pea gravel, rendering it useless.

[dogsbyfire]

Simple concept to understand, but complicated to explain. I love the drinking glass analogy. Thank you!

[elizabethdayton]

I watched it 2xs. Got it on 2nd watch. Great info. We've used these on the farm just never thought about how they worked just knew they did

[Ouwkackemann]

We in Germany have French pipes which are closed on the lower side as they are flat there.
And we always put some gravel around the pipe, and some ground fleece around the gravel, so that only water can move in and no dirt.

[judethree]

For someone who gets asked this all the time, you think he’d have a better explanation of the physics behind this.

[martinish]

Answering a question no one ever asked, thanks

[danfreeman]

I have installed over a thousand feet of french drain at multiple levels to divert water around my home. Works great. They do have to be cleaned out once a year to keep them working good. I use a reverse high pressure washer blaster nozzle.

[kennethh.]

I would suggest if your installing a french drain to use a silt sleeve over the pipes so they do not eventually clog up with fine silt.

Also, if anyone uses a septic tank system for home sewage treatment, these are the same type of pipes that are running from your septic tank out into and through your leach field. They carry the water out to the field and all the holes let the water be slowly absorbed back into the ground. Basically the reverse process of the french drain.

[Victorianous]

I think you were nearly there with "water moves through the void" but my anticipation of the explanation drained towards the end.

[timcoolican]

There are two types of weeping tile...perforated and non-perforated. Here's how they work.

PERFORATED PIPE
This is used at the base of your house's foundation and under your basement slab. It allows ground water, coming up from underground, to enter the pipe which is sloped to a sump pump, then pumped up and out of your basement.

It is also used to divert water away from low-lying spots where water collects, again sloping away from the area, and / or pumped elsewhere.

NON-PERFORATED PIPE
This pipe is used just below ground level, to carry water away from eaves trough downspout pipes, keeping water away from the foundation. It can be buried directly underground, with no landscape filter fabric or crushed rock around it.

Hope this explains things better?

[nunyabidness]

The pipe maintains the void as a way for water to escape. I rebuilt a 5' retaining wall with split face hollow block (a no-no) but I lined behind the wall with the right cloth to keep out silt, used gravel, and placed a pipe like this at the bottom. And I cemented in the hollow wall. 15 years on it hasn't budged.

[dryaleah]

How Perf-Pipe Works
   To ACTUALLY ANSWER the question...
   There's 2 types of installation for this purpose Both types are called a "French Drain" & both use a ditch to control depth, direction, & speed of the water flow.
   Note:  The speed is controlled mainly by the slope (angle) of decent & needs to be 1/4" per foot or greater. Otherwise the water basically stands still.
   The type shown here is using PERFORATED pipe (choice of brand, color, or style is not relevant to this explanation).
   The other type uses a filler of gravel, rock, brick, or similar, that is less dense (provides more airspace) than the surrounding soil.
   The emptiness (void, airspace) inside the pipe is much easier for the water to flow (move) thru than the soil next to the pipe. Water ALWAYS seeks the easiest way to go downhill.
   Yes, water can get back out of the pipe but it will only do so if the outside (soil, air) provides an easier path of flow.
   By installing a perf-pipe you create a "cave" for an "underground river bed." When water leaks out of the surrounding soil you have given it a place & direction to flow thru. Just make sure it has a consistent downward slope & somewhere to go, like a lake or sewer.
   If the perf-pipe fills up with water & waits with nowhere to go, then you have a "dry well" configuration. This is done deliberately for some situations. Averaging the wetness of the surrounding soil is one instance.
   Without a place to go, water will collect here & fill up these pipes like an underground lake where it will just wait til the surrounding soil dries up enough. Then it will leak back into the soil & go wherever the outside water went. That might be by evaporation or by a slower flow option.
   One thing you DON'T want is for soil to leak into & fill up your perf-pipe. Fine soil CAN do that so a fine mesh rot-proof fabric  (called a "sock" when on pipe) is laid over the pipe. This is ALWAYS necessary & if not done it sets you up for mandatory service calls.
   In any installation, mud, rust, sludge, or other debris can & will build up. So it makes sense to periodically chek & clean out your pipes - this kind of pipe or any other - so take necessary precautions up front to limit that requirement.