DIY Flat Yard Drainage Project | Yards With No Slope

I will walk you through how I extended my downspouts 32 feet away from my home and installed adDry well to help drain water away from the foundation. Before I only had a 4-foot downspout extension, my sump pump was always running since the drains along the foundation would pull water out of the soil for days or weeks after a rain. Additional drainage videos included in the playlist below.

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DISCLAIMER: This video and description contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission.

[aceagui]

Thanks a lot, you cover every little step, Very important like living the grass an inch higher. Every video is well informed, I’m a maintenance engineer an I like every little tile detail you cover on every one of your videos, once again thank you very much

[CubbyTech]

Can't wait to see a follow up video. Tip - throw in a little rubber duckie or random floating toy so you can easily see the water level in the dry well during your next big rain!

[fuelon]

You're a great communicator. Super easy to understand everything. Nothing missed!👏

[peegee]

This is exactly what I was looking for. I needed a way to drain from the house...where my house didn't have much grade, and there was no other drainage system to pipe into - thanks.

[spinspinsugar]

Scott, this comment is not related to this video. I just wanted to say thank you for making the video using SPAX screws. I recently completed a home improvement project and I decided to give the SPAX screws a try. Totally awesome screws!! I did not have to predrill holes into wood and the screws did not strip. I used Milwaukee shockwave impact duty square #1 bit along with the SPAX screws and not one screw stripped. Again, thank you for all your videos!!

[_ben]

tarp down, sod and dirt separated, impressive, simple prep made this job

[davefoc]

We put one of these in a few years ago. Every time it rained or we washed off our patio the water would cover most of our patio and leave dirt and debris behind when it dried. We were going to use the plastic liner that was used in this video but when we got about two feet down we discovered a layer of sand. Maybe we're on top of an ancient riverbed. Regardless, it looked to us that the sand would provide such good drainage the we didn't need the plastic liner. We dug down about another foot, put in the cloth and then filled the hole with gravel. It worked great. We had some of the heaviest rain we've ever had this year. The water rose just to the edge of our patio and then receded almost immediately after the rain stopped.

The alternative was to install a long drain pipe around our house to the street. To say the least this way was massively cheaper and we are doing our part to recharge the groundwater :).

[SteveLaCombe]

I've done two drywells at my house. I used two 5 gallon buckets spliced together and filled with pea gravel. I have a popup that releases excess water during heavy rain storms.

[tomcole]

A tip i leared on filling in trenches is to use a garden hose as you fill back. we try fill about 1/3 of the trench then fill it with water and use spades to break up clods, work them up and down like you are getting out air bubbles in concrete, fill another third repeat and then top it off with last bit of dirt, spasde it again. you are basically making mud. then when using the spades up and down you are compacting it, then lay they sod on top and press in with rake and then tamp down. once tapped down and water has drained off clean the dirt off the grass with a spray nozzel, a few days later you cant even tell you were there. Love the video, always good to learn something new

[seanjohnson]

yes mounding the sod after you fill in the trench is very good tip, I have seen many low spots that cross entire fields because it will sink over time as it compacts back down. On one note it is easy to identify your irrigation or drainage, on another note it is an eye sore. very good tips

[arishem]

look how neat your work is. plastic under soil, carefully removed patches of the lawn. wow. I wish my sprinkler contractors did the same. but instead half year later I still have hobbit trails across my yard 😀

[alvinhartley]

I have the flat yard, and a spring under ground. I just bought this home. It was built in 1953 and the one's that built it {lol} lived there until this past November.

[JeffreyPinkerton]

Wow. Great project and video. That is some serious trench and hole digging! Looks great!

[Michael_Is_Avg]

Thanks for the series! We're in the middle of closing on my first house and noticed the downspouts just unleash right by the foundation. Unfortunately there is a concrete driveway just a foot or two directly beside it. Looking at digging a trench parallel to the driveway to the backyard where there's a steep slope and let it drain that way.

As a non handy-man person, these videos are making me feel comfortable in knowing what to do when I get started!

[ranchok]

We had one of these installed and it created a giant sinkhole

[shahrzadbarouti]

Thanks for the series, they are really helpful!

[tomprovan]

in construction we called it a rock pile and dug them 6 feet long 3 to 4 feet wide, 4 ft deep filled them with gravel and ran the drain tile into the middle did it on swampy lots to run even drain tile in the yard to the pit depends on how much water you have to deal with

[thomaswallcoveringllc]

Great detailed video! Need to do this on my retaining wall!

[frankminer]

Would have really liked to see the finished product in action at the ending. Great video.

[pamelahunter]

This video gives me hope. Some big named companies want to do expensive encapsulation or their patented drain systems that are equivalent to a car note. Considering my home is old and has buried drain pipes (probably old and broken), I would much rather give this a try instead of spending thousands. Plus I have those annoying drain flies, which I'm sure are coming from the crawl space and water entering/backing up. 😬 Thanks for sharing this video.