I am building a french drain about 20 feet long that is only needed during very heavy storms, sloped correctly, that will terminate at the spot I want a few inches below the ground surface. Will the flowing pipe water be strong enough to make the short upward turn to utilize an emitter, or should I end the drain with some other method like a box, etc?
French drain – emitter or other water dispersal method
french-drain
Related Solutions
I assume you are talking about this.
I have seen this product used twice before in this type of application.I have never used it in a french drain, however, I packed some into the end of a downspout so the water wouldn't drill a hole into the ground.
I have also seen it used as a substitute for rock in a drainage ditch along the outside wall of a house. Months later they wound that the rubber was compacting under its own weight and the weight of the dirt above it and began to lose its functionality and actually prevented water from leaving the area. The surface area is too great along lateral edges,(it lays flat) so it begins to clog up.
I assume that your question steams from worrying about the difference between rock and rubber. In your case I would NOT use the rubber because the rubber mulch could settle in the drain and block up the pipe, especially if the mulch is longer than it is wider. I'd use rock. It won't bend or flex, plus it's proven.
I had to draw a small diagram to see how the area was around the house. I drew a swale in to show what is there already, or hopefully something that can be created
What looks troubling here is the concentration of runoff heading to the house IF there is no swale there, that is why I hope there is one there, if not you really need to get the flow away form the house. It is bad enough that it is sandy, the water can still perk into the foundation, though it will be minimized with a swale. The clay base on the north side, sounds exactly as you describe, a bowl.
You need to do whatever you can to minimize the water infiltration, to start. It may not require to pipe the downspouts away from the house to a drywell or into a French drain, well not a French drain as you may plan around the house. French drains return the water to the ground, and in turn the crawlspace. What I mean is terminating the downspouts into an in ground pipe that daylights downhill of the home. A drywell would work too, but it is much more than may be needed.
This is the minimum I would suggest, although it is still a lot to do. I would also consider waterproofing the foundation, it may work on most of the foundation, but I think the runoff would still migrate under the foundation on the south side since it is still on sand/ clay mix presumably.
All of this is still tempered by the symptoms created by the water in the crawlspace. If there is no evidence of black marks (mildew) or white fuzzy stuff growing in places from the excess moisture in the crawlspace, if none of these symptoms exist, al least extreme measures are not needed. Regrade if needed, would be the minimum, downspouts to daylight away from the house the next active remedy, drywell addition the next, and if you are doing all that digging, waterproof the foundation, all these measures combined are the extreme I mean.
Edit 1/26/13
Aside from the shape of the house and other extensions from it, it shows the same thing happening except your swale that exists is more of a collection point. It appears the rain runoff takes the same path, but the house is in the way. The swale in the above sketch I posted would divert the rain water before it gets too close to your home. Is this a possibility to happen? It can be done by lowering the grade or if the house is high enough above grade, the grade can be raised, but that has implications too. The water in the swale may be of no concern. I would draw more concern to the south and west side where the rain looks like it is path is unencumbered to the foundation.
I will edit your drawing to show a more accurate idea and post it.
Back at the downspouts that I mentioned earlier, if the grade looks like it can daylight a underground lead would help reduce the amount of water at the foundation. Yet the addition of the swale will redirect the downspout water as well.
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Best Answer
Ending the perf pipe slightly below grade will cause the water to back up and not drain.
I like placing large rocks (2” - 6”) around the pipe outlet. This allows the water to flow out and is dispersed out on the surface without eroding the ground. (I try not to use small rocks, because they get “washed” out in heavy rain.)