Drainage Services by FormTerra Designs
Having proper drainage throughout your property is a key component of the property’s integrity. Depending on each unique situation your property could be prone to erosion of soil, failing retaining walls, or flooding resulting in costly damages to your home or your neighbors. This can be caused by outdated drainage systems, failing systems due to poor installation, or in some cases even in new construction drainage systems that have been overlooked completely. If you have an outdated or failing drainage system this will likely result in a failing retaining wall. We can help by rebuilding your wall the right way with proper drainage. Often partial repairs will only last a few seasons before the same problems arise again. Operating in the greater Vancouver area, we are well versed with heavy rain and flooding.
Retaining Wall Drainage
The drainage found behind or underneath your retaining walls is very important for protecting your property from water damage and flooding. Having properly installed drainage limits hydrostatic pressure of the soil behind the wall itself, alleviating the hydrostatic load is vital for a long-lasting retaining wall.
Patio/Driveway Drainage
Patios and driveways are built to be semi-permeable to allow for some water to flow through them into the porous material below and slowly disperse in the soil below. The majority of water flows via sloped gradients that direct overflow safely away from buildings either into proper drain pipes or to areas that can safely disperse the water.
Perimeter Drainage
This type of drainage often refers to the perforated drain pipes that surround building foundations but can also refer to the drainage system that surrounds the entire property or lower areas. Perimeter drains are often deep underground and usually require machine excavation to properly inspect, repair, or replace the systems safely and effectively.
Restoration and Replacement
What to do when your drainage fails? In short, call the professionals. Outdated drain pipes are often blocked with silt, dirt, and roots that have grown into the pipe over time. If you do have cleanouts, you can sometimes gain access to clean the perforated pipe but this will only temporarily fix a failing system. If the perforations in the pipes are clogged they will not take on water from the surrounding soil and will not function properly. One option is to replace a failed section of the drain pipe and install cleanouts for future maintenance of the entire system.
Technique
The three main types of drains we use are surface drains, subsurface French drains with outflow, and closed subsurface french drains. Surface drains are usually grates either at one point or long grates that lead into a solid pipe that flows into a city-connected system or an underground basin to disperse the water. Subsurface French drains with outflow are perforated pipes underground that collect water from the surrounding soil over a distance and eventually tie into a solid pipe system that connects to the city’s storm drains. Closed subsurface french drains take on water from more saturated soil and disperse it to less saturated soil, this alleviates hydrostatic pressure but will not handle large floods.
Materials
Properly built french drains use 3” perforated PVC pipe surrounded by 1ft of ¾ clear crushed rock the rock is wrapped in high-quality permeable woven fabric. This 3 part system ensures a long-lasting drain with high efficiency to redirect excess water quickly.
Contact FormTerra Designs for drainage services
FormTerra Designs offers drainage service for retaining walls, patios, driveways, perimeters and more.
