Tip of The Week

April 28, 2007

This week’s tip comes from our “Put Your Socks On” file.

We get lots of questions about French drains, when to install one, how to install one, etc.  One question that comes up frequently is, “how do we keep the silt from clogging the drain over a period of time?”  The solution is pretty easy.

After you dig the trench and fill it with gravel, but before you lay the corrugated pipe into the trench pull a “silt stocking”  (that’s silt not silk) over the sections of pipe.  The silt stocking can be purchased at most any home improvement store or garden center.  It is a cloth that lets water pass through but filters out the silt.

Once you have the silt stocking on the pipe lay it in the trench cover it with stone and then before covering the stone with the final layer of dirt lay a piece of landscape fabric over the stone.  This provides one more layer of protection against silt.  This will keep the water moving silt free for many years.

Thanks for visiting Ask John and Dave.com and we’ll see you on the air,

John and Dave

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