French Drains
A trench that gives hillside and downspout water somewhere to go besides your basement. We do this across Monmouth and Ocean County from Ocean Township. Call and we come look before we write the scope.
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French Drains, on one written scope.
A trench that gives hillside and downspout water somewhere to go besides your basement.
What’s included on a french drains visit.
We inspect the cause, check what else it touched, and leave a written scope with materials and timing. The visit is free and there is no obligation to book the work.
What to know before the visit.
Have ready
Mark the area that stays wet and note where it is worst after a storm, and have the downspout locations and the discharge point you have in mind ready to show. Mark anything buried you know about, including irrigation, lighting, and a septic field, since the trench will cross that ground. The tech first traces the water to where it actually enters, then confirms that a discharge point falls away from the house or that a pit and pump are the only option, then cuts a test hole to read the soil and see how deep the water table sits.
- Locate the water
- Fabric and stone
- Daylight or a pit
- Restore the grade
The visit
We find where the water enters before we dig. A trench at the wrong wall is a dry ditch. Fabric, stone, and a pipe with an actual outlet — daylight or a pit — are the whole assembly. The grade goes back so the lawn does not become the low spot.
Brick and Bayville calls are often groundwater at the footer, which a surface swale will not touch. A French drain to a sump is the fix. A French drain with nowhere to discharge is a storage tank.
Permit
A French drain in a yard that discharges to daylight on your own property normally does not need a permit in New Jersey. A permit is normally not required for that. Tying the drain into a sump pump, working in a wetland or a regulated buffer near tidal water, or discharging to the street or a storm system can trigger local or state approval. Grading that changes how water leaves your lot and reaches a neighbor is worth settling before anyone digs.
On the Shore
The Shore has flat lots, sandy soil, and a high seasonal water table, so the pipe has to be deep enough to catch water that is already moving under the lawn. Sand shifts and fills a trench, so the stone has to be washed and the fabric has to wrap the whole assembly, or the drain silts shut in a few seasons. Freeze-thaw heaves a shallow pipe and can shift a surface channel, and salt in the groundwater is hard on thin-walled fittings.
When we leave
The tech runs a hose at the wettest spot until flow shows at the outlet, and keeps running it to see the water clear rather than back up. If the drain discharges to a pit, the pump gets cycled and the float checked at the on and off points. The trench is backfilled, tamped in lifts, and raked so the crown sits a little above the surrounding grade and the lawn does not become the new low spot. You get told where the outlet is and to keep it clear.
Built with
The usual parts are perforated rigid pipe or heavy corrugated pipe with a filter sock, non-woven filter fabric, and washed stone rather than crusher run, because washed stone leaves voids that water can move through. Solid pipe carries the water from the end of the perforated run to the outlet. A basin and pump go in when there is no fall to daylight. Fabric wraps the stone from the trench bottom to the top so fines cannot migrate in.
How deep do you dig?
To the water, which at a footer is deeper than a garden trench. We do not bury a pipe six inches down and call it a drain.
Where does the water come out?
Daylight on a slope that falls away, or a sump that pumps it out. If the whole lot is flat and low, we say that before we dig.
Will you restore the grass?
We put the soil back and rake it. Seed is a separate note if you want it, because timing matters more than the trench.
Do you connect downspouts to it?
Only if the drain is sized for roof water. A footer drain drowned by two downspouts will back up into the basement.
Can this be done from inside?
An interior channel is a different system. We use it when the outside grade cannot fall away from the wall.
How do we know it works?
We run a hose at the former puddle and watch the outlet. If it does not show up at the outlet, we are not done.
How do I know the drain is not clogged in a year?
The outlet tells you. Water should show there within minutes of a heavy rain. Keep the discharge clear of mulch and grass, and if a puddle returns at the old spot, call before the fabric silts over completely, because a partial drain can be flushed.
Will the trench wreck my lawn?
The sod along the line comes up and goes back where it is intact, and the rest is raked and tamped. A trench leaves a visible seam while the grass knits. Reseeding is a separate step and weather dependent, since seed timing matters more than the digging.
Can it go under a driveway or a walkway?
Sometimes, if the pipe can be sleeved through or run below the slab with enough cover and the outlet still falls away. If the only path is through a root mass or under a footing, we stop and talk through the options before cutting anything.
What if the water comes back anyway?
That usually means the source was not the one we treated, or the outlet is surging during a storm. We watch the drain through a real rain before calling it finished. If the water is coming from below the footer, a surface drain was never the answer.
Other sump pumps jobs we handle
Sump Pump Replacement
A primary pump swapped in a working pit, with the float, the check valve, and the discharge tested.
Battery Backup and Secondary Pumps
When the storm takes the power, a backup keeps the pit moving.
Pump Pit Installation and Repair
A new pit cut and lined, or a damaged one sealed to stop the gravel from entering.
Downspout and Grading
Downspouts ending at the corner of the house are a loop back into the basement.
Tell us what is wrong. We will tell you what it takes.
(732) 333-7800- Call24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- Shop7 Brook Dr, Ocean Township, NJ 07712
- EmailInfo@wedoitallhandyman.com
- EstimateFree on-site look. Written scope before work starts.
Licensed & insured · NJ HIC # 13VH09886800
Free on-site look · No obligation