Managing Drainage

[Bacchus]

Okay, this isn't garage per se, but I'm trying to control water runoff on my property so it doesn't go on my driveway and into my garage.

Right now, along the back property line, we have a rock bed that channels water off the property onto the next one. It actually starts about 2 houses over, then continues along mine, and into the neighbor's. We live at the bottom of a hill, and have mostly clay ground, so it runs from behind us, into this "dry creek" and runs off the property. It works pretty well for the most part.

Unfortunately it takes up a big back corner of our lot. I'd like to build a catch basin and bury a pipe across this back corner to gain more of the yard back.

I've had quotes for a 24" catch basin and 12" or 15" drainage pipe. Labor is the killer. The quotes are for about $2k. Total run is about 25 feet and is already sloped slightly.

I'd like to do this myself, but I don't know where to get the components. The local Lowe's only had up to 8" rigid pipe.

Any ideas? Should I just pay the money? I'm guessing there is about $500 in components here based on the quotes.

 

[PAToyota]

I'm thinking that Bobcats rent for about $220 a day around here and that you can probably find the drainage components for a lot less than the other $1780. Look up precast concrete suppliers in your area and you'll likely find what you need.

 

[Bacchus]

I definitely don't need concrete. Just corrugated or hard wall rigid plastic type.

I have a friend who runs a SunBelt rental store, so getting the trencher and the bobcat should be easy.

 

[boiler7904]

Where are you located? I might have a couple of ideas for you.

 

[snorky18]

A 24" catch basin sounds kind of big for residential use. But it’s all about how big of an area the catch basin drains though-that decides grate size and pipe size.

Most catch basins you see on the side of the road have a 24”x36” grate, and the rough guideline is that you should never have more than one acres worth of drainage going to each one. In a residential area you could probably get away with a bit more than that since most stuff is not paved so there is less runoff.

ADS pipe http://www.ads-pipe.com/en/index.asp should have everything you need, they have decent distribution system for their products. For what you are talking about (12-15” pipe) you would want to use HDPE (similar to PVC, but black instead of white) pipe. Concrete (pipe or manhole) would be big time overkill (unless you plan on driving commercial trucks over it frequently) and WAAY too heavy to move by hand.

 

[PAToyota]

Without seeing what you are talking about as far as how the dry streambed runs, I was thinking about the concrete endwall - like this:

 

[Wardster]

You need to determine what the watershed area is (acres) an figure a gulley-washer rain event in order to size your drainage system. Your county engineer, since he is a public employee, might be able to help you figure everything out. Maybe a 24" basin will work and maybe it won't. I would hate to see anyone spend a pile of money on something that may not be large enough to handle the volume of water.

Just my $.02

-Wardster

 

[HarashoPuck]

Rent a backhoe or small dozer. Dig trenches ever 8 feet across the flow, lay 4 or 6 inch pipe with the cloth sack over it into these trenches, tee into a plenum line at the downhill end of these trenches, run the plenum line to within a few feet of the creek.

If the rock in the "Rock Bed" is not too large, place this rock in the trenches around the drain tile, lay garden cloth (porous) over the rock, then back fill over the drain field.

NO NOT drive any thing over this area larger than a small riding lawnmower.

 

[Bacchus]

Rent a backhoe or small dozer. Dig trenches ever 8 feet across the flow, lay 4 or 6 inch pipe with the cloth sack over it into these trenches, tee into a plenum line at the downhill end of these trenches, run the plenum line to within a few feet of the creek.

If the rock in the "Rock Bed" is not too large, place this rock in the trenches around the drain tile, lay garden cloth (porous) over the rock, then back fill over the drain field.

NO NOT drive any thing over this area larger than a small riding lawnmower.

Won't work. Hill slopes in wrong direction. One side is to a retaining wall to my yard. The other is to the neighbors yard. I'll have to get some pics to see.

I've had 3 quotes. All said I need a 24" catch basin and 12" or 15" pipe. I get a LOT of water.

 

[kbs2244]

What you are describing is an artificial swale system that you may not be able to make changes to without some permits.

When the sub-divider built your project he probably had to do a surface water drain off design and submit it to at least the county Surface Water Authority (or some such government agency.)

Before you get too involved with the technical details, talk to your building department to be sure you are even able to do anything.

Taking dated pics of too much water on your property should be a help. They will be able to back track the dates to the official rainfall amounts and see how big a problem they have. You have to make something beyond a personal problem. You need to make it a community problem.

You may have to show “damages”. This means money. Find out what it would cost you to rent or buy what you would want to build on the local real estate market. Include the costs and time to get to and from a remote from home shop.

 

[Bacchus]

What you are describing is an artificial swale system that you may not be able to make changes to without some permits.

When the sub-divider built your project he probably had to do a surface water drain off design and submit it to at least the county Surface Water Authority (or some such government agency.)

Before you get too involved with the technical details, talk to your building department to be sure you are even able to do anything.

Taking dated pics of too much water on your property should be a help. They will be able to back track the dates to the official rainfall amounts and see how big a problem they have. You have to make something beyond a personal problem. You need to make it a community problem.

You may have to show “damages”. This means money. Find out what it would cost you to rent or buy what you would want to build on the local real estate market. Include the costs and time to get to and from a remote from home shop.

Nah, this is SC. It ain't that complicated. I live in a lakefront community and I live on the bottom end of a hill. The "developer" was Duke Power (Crescent Communities) and water is a problem everywhere here. It's more of a PITA than a real structural problem. The dry creek bed was build on the two properties next to mine from the east, and will be build to the west. We talked to the builder on the west today. He wants to have a pipe buried too so we may split the cost from my property down to his.

There are about 8 properties worth of water collecting and running down this dry bed.

 

[Kevin54]

Shop around for someone different that runs equipment. $2g's seems high. I had a guy with a D9 dozer for 8 hours moving dirt to fill in a third of my pond and total cost was $1500. There are a lot of guys out there with equipment that will do what you need cheaper. Also look at some of the contracting businesses that one of the guys may want to make some money on the side. Renting equipment can be costly but still cheaper than hiring someone, and you can move quite a bit of dirt with a skidloader in 8 hours. I think the last time I checked it was around $150/day for a skidloader but that was a couple of years ago.

 

[kbs2244]

Make it a BIG pipe.
If you have unbuilt above you you can't tell how much roof and paving they will put in when they do build.
I used to live on a lake and we had an 24 inch culvert that went under our road. It was the output drain for about 10 to 12 acres of forest preserve. In a good all day soaker, it would over flow the road. And there was no roof or pavment on the 12 acres. It was soaking up all it could.

 

[D KRAGER]

Look somewhere that sells ag field tile. You may have to special order large sizes. They make all kinds of drains and large pipe that you are needing.... The pipe usually comes in 20' lengths but they are starting to make in 10' lengths with couplers built into each piece. I believe that they make it from 3" all the way up to 24" pipe, double and single wall. I'm sure they can get you something that will work for what you are talking about.