Prepping for Water Maintenance

When planning to build with concrete, many people overlook water maintenance and fail to ensure that their planning drains. Poor drainage is one of the primary causes of structural damage to buildings, so it’s vital that your property is equipped with the appropriate drainage system. To best defend your home or building against surface water, you must first identify which drainage system suits your needs.

Rincon Ranch project

Assessing the Need

When water is flowing downhill, it is likely to pool in low-lying parts of your property. Although your yard, walkways, and driveway might appear consistently level, even slight slopes can cause water flow that leads to erosion. The placement and natural slope of your driveway alone are likely insufficient to ensure proper drainage, especially if your home sits below street level. If you need walkway and driveway drainage, underground downspout drains, preformed trench drains, and regular swales are optimal solutions. If you need landscape drainage, bioswales are typically best for dealing with water that pools on your yard's surface, and French drains are great for managing water that seeps through the ground immediately.

Underground Downspout Drains

An underground downspout drain is a pipe that connects roof gutters that run down the side of a house to underground drainage systems. Downspout drains protect homes from water damage by dumping collected rainwater into city stormwater systems. Concealed in underground trenches, downspouts typically lie near a home's corners at the steepest possible angle. Downspout drains are commonly made of PVC pipes, making them very durable and effective at preventing moss and mildew buildup on roofs and walls.

Preformed Trenches

Channel drains are great at preventing water runoff from pooling on impervious surfaces or damaging nearby structures. If your walkways are perpetually slippery or your driveway consistently washes out, you can install a trench drain. Trench drains are made from preformed concrete channels and grating and stretch across the entire width of a driveway. They’re installed in excavated trenches and set in concrete to prevent movement and effectively stop water flow before it can reach garages, basements, or foundations. Most driveways use pre-sloped channels, but neutral channels are also an option if a property requires a different application. Trenches can quickly collect and drain large amounts of water by taking advantage of gravity, and they don’t get clogged with debris thanks to their grated coverings. Grates are practical, but they can also be decorative and enhance the overall design of a hardscape. In addition to working well for driveways, trench drains are also great for managing excess rainwater in concrete areas such as multi-level parking lots, high-traffic walkways, busy entrances, and even around pool edges.

Regular Swales, Bioswales, & Bioretention Basins

​​Swales are another great solution for directing water away from residential and commercial properties. Regular swales are shallow depressions that are wider than they are deep, and they can be created along one or both sides of a driveway to provide a place for stormwater to collect and re-enter the groundwater.

Bioswales and bioretention basins are one of the most popular landscape drains. Bioswales are a type of channel drain designed to gather, slow down, and purify stormwater runoff by removing debris and pollution. They direct captured water into bioretention basins, which are vegetated “pond” areas that store stormwater and can be landscaped to look like creek beds with river rock and water-loving plants. Bioswales, like regular swales, have shallow depressions and flexible sitting requirements. Since they are typically vegetated, mulched, or xeriscaped, it is easy to integrate them into residential properties and public spaces.

French Drains

If you’re building a retaining wall on a hillside, often have a soggy yard, or a wet basement after heavy rain, the French drain might be for you. With this drain, water runs through a gravel-filled, slightly-sloped trench into a perforated pipe to divert water away from your building’s foundation. Pipes are typically covered in landscaping fabric to keep dirt, weeds, and other debris from clogging the holes in the pipe. For french drains to be able to reroute groundwater, there does need to be an adequate slope on your property and a suitable place for water to go. If there isn’t a viable basin, street, or municipal drain to deposit the collected water, you should consider a different drainage solution.

How Matt Shaw Concrete Can Help

When built well, drains can enhance the design of any hardscape or landscape. At Matt Shaw Concrete, we take pride in creating functional and aesthetically pleasing spaces that meet clients’ needs. If you’re unsure what type of drainage solution would work best for you, let’s chat. At our initial consultation, we’ll discuss all available options, get to know your material preferences, and help you devise a water maintenance plan that protects your property.