I'm putting in a 20' patio trench drain and I'm looking for ideas for something nice other than the pre-fab drains with a grate in top that you set in concrete. I'm considering making one using concrete , then a concave drain the length of the patio formed by using a section of 8" pvc, then smoothed out with a trowel to blend into the brick surface.
This is for surface water only.
Contributor
We put in a drain above my son's house.... it was about 8' deep, 2' wide with #57 stone...some kind of cloth that let water thru, but no dirt about 12" from ground level..
This allowed water to flow into it but had dirt & grass on top of it...
If you did not know it was there, you would never know it by looking at it...
Hi Ed. Having to bulge my eyes to get my mind about your post, but it's kind of you to share your experience. Thank you.
Contributor
How about stick with your original idea but fill the 8" half pipe with river rock?
Thought about that, but set the stones deep and cover them with resin with a smooth finish. The patio has a full Pinoak canopy. Lots of stuff that would be caught in the rocks.Originally Posted by Doug Garson
Contributor
Not sure how the water would drain thru the rocks if you set them in resin. It would require a lot of resin. Not sure how the resin would stand up to the UV in that application.
Member
I would lean towards sloping the patio, something like 1 to 1.5 inches in eight feet. No drains to clog and broom maintenance for the deck and the tree litter.
Member
"slope the patio" Yep.
Member
+2 on sloping unless you are really up for a "design feature" You could just turn your "trench" into a water feature/stream.
Contributor
Where do you live, does it freeze there, how deep to permafrost? I assume you want a trench because a drain pipe will freeze solid in winter and take forever to melt enough to flow liquid in the summer when the snow melts. Most people in the lower 48 prefer a buried pipe since they can easily keep it deep enough to prevent freezing.
Bill D
Contributor
While I agree with sloping the patio it is not a replacement for a drain. The slope of the patio will direct the water to the bottom of the slope, if you don't have a drain at the bottom of the slope the water will just accumulate there. I had that problem before I installed my French drains with river rocks on top, when I power washed the patio the dirty water had nowhere to go so it just backed up on the patio when it eventually soaked into the ground it left the dirt behind on the patio. Leaves do accumulate in the rocks but a yard blower/vac clears them out with reasonable effort.
I think I may have caused confusion as to what I want to create by referring to it as a trench drain when I should have referred to it as a channel drain.
I'm wanting to build something other than the small 3"x4" or so channels that are available. They are designed to be set in cement near the lowest point of a sloped patio to drain rain water away. They sit just slightly below the surface of the bricks and are sloped to one side where they connect to drainage pipe that is buried and sloped away from the area to a lower location in the yard where they either empty out at the surface or to a buried container filled with gravel and has holes to allow the water to slowly leach into the underground.
They used to sell concave tiles to build trench drains on the surface near the edge of a patio/driveway, but I think they are no longer available? Perhaps due to people falling because they are smooth and create a slippery surface. Leaves and such make them worse. Anyone who has spent any time riding motorcycles know that fallen leaves on a wet surface is like riding on solid ice.
Member
As I recall, code requires that the exterior grade start at least 12 inches below the foundation sill and that the exterior grade slope away from the house at the rate of 12 inches in 12 ft. (Going by 20 yr recollection) Water will accumulate at the bottom of the slope unless the yard also slopes away. In some very wet areas, this is handled by a submerged drain that starts some distance below the soil and directs away from the house and patio, perhaps into a seepage pit. (it is similar to a french drain, but surrounded by a soil cloth to keep the ground from filling in around the rocks. In some areas this keeps valuable run off water on the premises and provides an easy path for it to become part of the water table. Wen my house was built, we ran such a drain around the outside of the foundation, just below foundation level and it directs away down a steep hill into a seepage pit that is well below the house's basement level.
Member
Could https://www.bing.com/images/search?v...ist=0something like this be okay?
Hi, Perry. Glad you decide to share your thoughts.
I have already purchased drainage pipe to fix a bad situation for my attached garage foundation.
I have plenty of both perferated (sp), some with sock and some with some sort of plastic media wrapped with a sock and non-perferated (sp) as well as some hard drainage, some with and some without holes across perhaps within 35-40° off what is the bottom.
Some is for other areas of the property.
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