How to make drainage at home

The drainage device at the site near the house helps to prevent the soil from washing out, the formation of excess moisture, to improve the air permeability of the soil (the soil becomes more dry, loose, while maintaining its nutrients). Drainage construction is excellent for increasing soil fertility and protecting the home from excessive moisture. Each owner of a country cottage or country house thinks about the drainage system, since it is known that the foundation of any building structure even at relatively shallow depth (1.5–2 m) is regularly exposed to negative effects of groundwater, which can lead to the destruction of the foundation of the building . 

Types of basement drainage

The most traditional and inexpensive method of drainage are the good old ditches. This method is characteristic of flat terrain and lowlands, that is, where it is difficult to make a slope for the flow of water. The lack of drainage ditches include their unpresentability and the fact that they are destroyed over time, overgrown and clogged.

In addition to the ancient trenches, there are two more approaches to the construction of drainage wall systems:

1. Surface wall drainage. For his device it is necessary to make a preliminary planning of the site, including work on the creation of slopes from buildings, pits and trenches. Surface drainage is installed at a distance from buildings.
2. Deep wall drainage. In this case, special pipes and materials are used to equip drainage in close proximity to the foundation of the building walls (along the perimeter).

To date wall deep drainage foundation is considered the most effective. Its main function is to prevent flooding of the foundation of the house and its basement.

Drainage systems for the location of the pipes are divided into the following types:

• Contour (to protect the foundation of the house);
• Areal (for the protection of the site);
• Two-linear;
• Single line

Popular is contour drainage system. The pipes are positioned around the perimeter of the protected structure, close enough to all the outer sides of the foundation of the house. This drainage system includes corrugated perforated pipes, special facilities for water discharge and drainage wells. A gravel and sand filter is created around the perforated pipe. Stiffeners contribute to an increase in the safety margin in cross section along the entire length of thin-walled pipes, which allows them, while remaining light, to withstand decent loads at a depth of up to 10m. The device drainage pipes should be made with a slight bias.

Modern drainage pipes are made of polyvinyl chloride with a diameter of 5 to 20 cm. Perforation of drainage pipes prevents penetration into the material used for dusting the drainage system. The area of ​​the holes should not exceed 0.5% of the surface of the pipe. Due to a number of advantages, polymer drainage pipes that have appeared not so long ago on the construction market have radically influenced the design of drainage systems. Plastic pipes are durable and lightweight, flexible and at the same time tough. Laying the drainage system of PVC pipes can be up to a depth of 8m. Since the drainage polymer pipes, being in the ground, are fully protected from the sun's rays, this significantly increases the use of polymer drainage (over 50 years).

The depth of the drainage device is determined by your requirements for the level of groundwater reduction, as well as the type and system of drainage. Often there is enough surface drainage, it is only important to choose the right waterproofing and correctly apply it. Waterproofing is also used when sealing joints of joints and joints of pipes and wells.

Granite rubble or gravel is well suited for sprinkling drainage.

Lime rubble with sand-gravel mixture is not suitable for sprinkling drainage, as under the influence of water, they can clog the voids of the soil and the holes in the pipes. The size of the filter particles should be larger than 10 times the size of the soil particles.  

The purpose of the drainage wells is to monitor the proper operation of the drainage and to clean the drainage routes.

The location of the wells must coincide with the points of change in the diameter, direction and slope of the drainage pipes. As a rule, they are located at the lowest point of the garden plot.

Drainage wells are prefabricated structures made of plastic elements. Layers of rubble and sand or broken bricks fall asleep inside the wells, and sod is placed on top of the formed layer, which will have to prevent the filling from forming a layer of silt. According to the technology, the excess water discharged into the drainage well must go to the lower ground layers through the backfill, or be pumped out of the boundaries of the site by a drainage pump.

Experts recommend simultaneously with the drainage work to carry out the installation of various engineering networks.

Recommended articles:

• drilling wells under the water with their own hands;
• how to find water on a site for a well.

Video

See how to properly drain the plot:

This is how surface drainage is done: