Do NOT wrap a French Drain Pipe With Drainage Fabric

I want to talk a little bit about the pipe we use, the fabric we use, how we use it and why we use it in the way that we use it. So a lot of guys are just wrapping the pipe and then they'll put the pipe in and the whole their stone in. We don't do that. And I'll tell you why.

This subsoil right here, if you just pour stone, let's say we just wrapped a pipe right there, or you have a pipe with a sock on it and now you just fill this in with stone and you put the grass back over top. This subsoil mixes with the stone and the stone migrates into the subsoil. It plugs here. The system plugs here. So, to have a pipe with a sleeve or a sock on it, and I even see guys that'll take drainage fabric and wrap the pipe, it's a really bad idea. That's not the right way to build a good French drain system.

So, for a French drain system, never use the pipe with a sleeve sock on it. Don't wrap your pipe with a filter wrap because you're going to want to wrap. You need a soil separator so that your stone and subsoil don't mix and it and it'll plug here. What good is having a pipe that's not plugged if you can't get the water to it? So we wrap everything. This is a soil separator, will have the stone and pipe and we'll wrap it all.  That's how we do it. That's a philosophy on how we build the drainage system and it works. It works really well over 30 years and there's not one that's failed.

French Drain Man – Michigan’s Yard Water Drainage Experts. Masters in the art of constructing contained French drain systems & curtain drain systems that and fix your yard drainage problems for years to come. Over 30 years’ experience in solving yard water drainage problems in Oakland, Macomb, Lapeer and St. Clair Counties.

French Drain Man / Sherwood Landscape Construction, LLC
122 S Rawles St
Romeo, MI 48065
248-505-3065

[FRENCHDRAINMAN]

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[stevecarter]

So rare to get both a rationale and some data along with the advice. This channel is head and shoulders above most others. Thanks

[yatessmyrna]

Thank you for your videos! I'm in the middle of building a garage. My concrete pad backs up to an upward sloping hill. With, of all things, a wet-weather-spring fed pond at the highest point on my property at the ridge apex, behind my garage site. The pond often over-flows, and sheets down the hill. Releasing hundreds of gallons of rainwater an hour. I installed my french drain, in a 2'x2', soil barrier lined, trench. All along the back of the pad, and down one side. Then I tied it into my buried drain line, that runs down to the city storm sewer, while collecting all of my gutters from my house, and a catch basin under my rear deck. There is a bout a 35' drop in elevation from the garage pad, to strom sewer at the road, (I live on a small ridge.) Even with the recent several days of monstrously heavy rains in Tennessee, from hurricane Laura. My pad never had any run-off on get onto it. So when my building goes up, I am confident there will be no water intrusion. Since there is no grass behind the pad right now, due to recent dirt work around the build site. And my spring-fed pond overflowed every single day. I was more than impressed. I followed your simple rules for a successful french drain, and they work like a champ! Due to the elevation difference between the highest drain installed, and the city storm sewer. My drain line that enters the city storm sewer catch basin. Blowed like a 4" fire hose, at full-pressure. I poured some liquid soap in the gravel around the pad to see how long it takes the water to travel the 400 linear feet of drain line down the hill. We had a ginormous pile of bubbles down at the road in less than 2 minutes! The whole project cost me just under $2K, not including the existing buried drainage lines.However, it should keep my new garage dry forever. Thank you for sharing your trade, and expertise, with the world!

[thelouiebrand]

I had mine done (80’) a year ago. They used pea gravel and no wrap at all. It didn’t even make it through winter. Now I’m forced to redo myself. SO, I’m binge watching all your videos. Thanks!

[violentnewworld]

Each video I see says different things.. I have clay soil and I watched a video earlier today stating that the clay will clog the material and its best not to have any material. Its takes longer for stone to clog up than it does for the material.

[FirstNameLastName-okayyoutube]

I think I agree with this video more than anybody else's but I got to say my 3 hours of experience pulling out these drains that has failed has done powerful teaching. I agree with every one of the videos I've seen here.

[-tulj]

Great job! Work for a builder and saw this exact detail on a drawing. Wondered why the civil engineer drew it up this way and now it makes perfect sense. Thanks

[andreaberryman]

I am a firm believer in going ahead and putting rocks/boulders along the upper edge and leaving the system open rock, versus planting over the top, so your pipe is still concealed under rock, but there is no dirt on top to gradually plug up your system-a swale type design. It allows the sun to heat the rock and trench, thawing it faster in winter months to keep water moving, and allows for evaporation. When edged and covered with attractive river rock, it can really enhance the look of a landscape as well.

[cristalhernandez]

It makes sense! I have seen so many different videos about do’s and don’t and this one here definitely makes sense!

[TheRealIndridCold]

Great video! I am in pennsylvania and I am going to go rip mine up out of the ground and start over.
Here was my mistake: I dug trench, filled withstone, sleeved 4" corrugated PVC pipe, ran into sump bucket. Water barely trickling to pump. the problem is all the videos I was watching was people down south I didn't think to watch a video from the north things are done differently up here I'm originally from Florida so I'm still learning but I like your videos and I'll definitely keep watching more!

[richardcassinari]

The dirt / soil will always stop on the outside of the fabric but if you place the fabric against the sides of the trench the number of sq. Inches of drain able area will be 100s maybe 1000s times larger than the area you will have if you wrap the you think about it wrapping the pipe will eventually, when the soil hits the fabric and blocks water flow, leave you with water only flowing through the fabric and then directly into the slits the trench will allow water to flow into all the voids between the rock then freely flowing into the pipe slits with no trench = no pipe infiltration flow pipe = sever pipe infiltration flow restriction

[Ns]

Good video great explanation. This is the same way I do my French drains except I use perforated PVC 4” pipe

[ralphrutherford]

You brilliant bugger- done your way following the video- street cred for the smashed thumb

[kookiethebear]

Nice pipe. I follow a similar procedure, but encapsulate the pipe in 3/4" rock. The angle of descent, soil composition, and fabric choice keeps all water moving to the street or absorbing into the ground (nothing standing in the trough). My installation site is 20ft above sea level.

[handgunner]

i love you guys thanks so much chicago weather is pretty close i love the water has a place to go this system definitely moves water im on a slab and previous home owner buit a screen room it has a flipper style gutter that just hangs off and dumps water and with the snow melting and spring rain water goes under patio andunder slab into heat duct but i did what you recommended dug nice trench laid fabric and coverd with gravel NO MORE WATER COMING INTO HEATER DUCT.THE SOIL HAD SO MUCH WATER FROM WHAT I MENTIONED ABOVE THE SYSTEM YOU POSTED MOVES THE WATER THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!!

[danielweston]

Excellent method! Will work for decades if not longer.

[roberts]

I am getting ready to try and do a French drain. I want to make sure you said NOT to use Fabric Drainage Sock for Corrugated Pipe. 1) dig 2) lay Fabric 3) rock 4) overlap fabric 5) cover with dirt (of course be sure it is grade)

[jonathankerner]

Thank you so much for your explanations. Saying things like "soil separator" is important! I appreciate your helping me to do it right the first time!

[nathanielhowell]

Thanks I was about to get a pipe with a sock for the same wrong reason you explained! 🙃

[readoryx]

I did exactly what you proscribe (on my own intuition) have to pull it all up and line with plastic, 1 foot away from stone house foundation, now leaking more into foundation rocks falling etc