How to Install a French Drain

French drains are often installed around a home foundation in two different ways:
Buried around the foundation wall on the external side of the foundation
Installed underneath the basement floor on the inside perimeter of the basement
In most homes, an external French drain or drain tile is installed around the foundation walls before the foundation soil is backfilled. It's laid on the bottom of the excavated area, and a layer of stone is laid on top. In many cases, a filter fabric is then laid on top of the stone to keep fine sediments and particles from entering. Once the drain is installed, the area is backfilled and the system is left alone unless it clogs.
While an external French drain can operate for ten years or more without the need for maintenance, it's prone to clogging without any warning and can eventually lead to a flooded basement. When there is no filter fiber, sediments can make their way through the stone as years pass and clog the drain, and when the filter fabric is present, that can instead clog with sediments. It may be wise to provide cleanouts, much as is done with sanitary sewers, to provide access for inspection with a camera snake. Also, a French drain that is not installed with a sump pump counts on gravity alone to drain foundation water, and if the house is not located on a hill or near a steep incline, finding this slope can be problematic. Additionally, maintenance on an external French drain involves expensive exterior excavation, which includes removal of walkways, shrubberies, porches, gardens, and anything else along the perimeter.
Installing a French drain around the inside perimeter is most commonly done after the house has been built. Most commonly, this is done in response to a wet basement or right before performing a basement finishing. To install this kind of drain, the perimeter of the basement floor is jackhammered down to the footing and the cement is removed. A layer of stone is laid down, and a perforated drain pipe is laid on top of it. Water is collected from the basement wall floor joint as it enters, and a pump is installed to remove water from the house and away from the foundation.
Once completed, the area, save for a 2 in (5.1 cm) gap around the edge, is cemented over. This gap exists to allow water in from the basement walls. This can be installed very quickly—one to two days by an experienced crew. The system is easy to maintain once installed, and the sump pump will need annual maintenance to perform properly. An interior French drain is much less likely to clog than an exterior, partially due to the fact that it is not sitting underneath several feet of soil.
Interior French drain installation is an effective way to waterproof a basement but requires the use of a sump pump. Many contractors will install plastic sump pumps that can quickly break down or neglect to install a battery backup sump pump, making the basement vulnerable to flooding during power outages. Sump pumps should be installed with a battery backup system in a proper sump liner of 20 US gal (76 L) size or larger to prevent the sump from having too little water and turning on and off continuously.
French drain has evolved significantly from its origins- starting off as a hand-dug ditch, moving on to ceramic tile, PVC pipe, and eventually to the new French drain innovations on the market like WaterGuard and Grate Channel. Each new system is able to address weaknesses of the old as the French drain continues to improve and evolve. For example, whereas Henry French used chippings of tree bark to provide anti-microbial properties, an anti-microbial additive can now be included in the material of the plastic channel.

[angelchicago]

Im hungry now with the burito wrap reference !!!! Thanks man for the great video

[VertigoGTI]

Good video. I used this as a reference on my spring/summer project for a patio. The grade of my driveway coupled with the loss of grass/earth (replaced with pavers) would've put my garage in the path of least resistance for the water to travel. I combined the french drain against the footer with a small storm drain between the driveway and garage. Just had our first hard rain since the project and everything worked perfectly! Thank you for a simple and in-depth overview of french drains.

[channelwonnews]

i came here because i thought it would have great graphics... good luck to you

[askmebuildit]

Thank you. I'm glad you liked it.

[SUSYPATITA]

So, water has to rise 6 inches from the ground up, before it gets to the perforated pipe, it doesn’t make any sense

[rushedandlost]

I think it would be funny to hear French Drain instructions from someone with a French accent.

[askmebuildit]

You can find perforated pipe on any hardware store or home improvement store, or a local plumbing supply place.

[jivahiva]

Bro I love your video. You had me at burrito wrap

[rocketrayray]

My girlfriend gave me a French drain for my birthday!

[puppy_pause]

I found this video looking for an explanation of french drains, you mention that you cover that in the first video but I'm having difficulty finding that one. Can you put a link to the first in your commentary? Thanks.

[Adam.]

I still do not understand how the water will get inside the pipe drain

[lofadem]

How far away from the foundation and the pvc?

[blastking]

Can I build my own house with the details on ur website

[askmebuildit]

Thanks vertigo! I'm so glad to hear it worked well for you! Would you wanna share some pics? Send me an email, I would be honored to post your project in a vid!!

[firstnamelastname]

It's not really a video, but rather a single image rotated about, while an off-screen dude gives you less information than given in the description.  However, there was some good info to be had, better than nothing.

[mjc]

About how much does it cost to install a French drain in a basement? I am looking at about 40-50 feet worth.

[geovannypesantez]

Where can I buy this pipe?? and what is the name of it please

[douglasthompson]

The problem seems to be if you have water settling at the footing and that footing is ten inches thick you are calling for a six inch bed of gravel. Now if you slope it you will have to undercut the footing or start your run way above the footing say on a sixty foot run of wall (two thirty foot walls will equal that if you are turning a corner). I would also recommend a few clean out tees at fairly close intervals say ten feet so you can hose flush your system every three or four years to wash out the fines. This will prevent ultimate failure of the system. What remains to be seen is if the fines will become cementious on the outer side of the fabric and close off the filtration completely after a number of years? Just seems to be a problem no one has a real good grip on. It is just not practical to have the degree of slope called for to drain efficiently. Remember the footings have to be on undisturbed soil so digging deeper adjacent to them is asking to compromise their integrity. If you are on bedrock, well good luck. Doug

[XVIVIXMEX]

Is French drain the same as rock and pipe?

[zackman]

lol, i lol'd at that part. Very good video but i had to lol