We have a high water table and we live in central florida. 1 expert landscaper told us we need a french drain to remove water from our yard, especially in the rainy summer. Today another expert - a builder - told us that if we put in a french drain, we would have problems in a year or two since our yard is relatively flat. Hubby and I are in our 60's and do not have a clue.
Any info from people in the know in central florida would be helpful. Also we are not very handy so any simple explanations would be great.
I guess I can see both sides - sort of. If you do french drains, you need a place for the water to drain to, so you would need a deep drywell since your land is flat. But again that may just add to the water table. Your soil must not drain well. Are you on a slab, or do you have a crawl space?
You won't know if you can do something if you don't try.
I'm in VA but I'm also on the coast of the bay with low area and high water tables. I had to run all my gutter drains into a sump and the pump in the sump runs the water out into a ditch along the street.
joecaption
Posts: 11219 | Location: Halieford VA | Registered: Jan 31, 2004
we're in islamorada often where the wtr table's 1'-2' down,,, even in my mid 60s, i remember water runs downhill if there's no place for the water to travel, you'll be building a retention pond, not a french drain,,, that land flooded for centuries before you found it & it will after you're gone,,, if its a problem, raise the sidewalk driveway to allow access during the rainy season.
Did your advisor say why the french drain would stop working after a while? If the drain will work for a couple of years there should be a way to build it so that it works for longer times. My guess is that the fine sandy soil would gradually sneak into the drain and eventually fill it up. There are fabric socks for the drain pipe that will filter the finest sand out and let water run right through.
Find out why the drain would stop working in the future. Then deal with that.
JdN
Posts: 7528 | Location: Elkader, IA, USA | Registered: Mar 07, 2004
thanks to all for info. Our land is sandy and does dry well except following a tropical storm. We do not get water in the house. We live in an active adult community and cannot to anything to effect the common areas. I have emailed the builder to have him explain why he thought a french drain was a bad idea. I really thought we could make a channel for run off with decorative rocks and new plants. Any ideas on that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again . GrammyLynn
just sticking in my nose where it don't belong did ya'll recently move in? If you moved in within the last year{check your contract] any water issues outside is the builders problem to deal with, under contract
Posts: 1623 | Location: i i live in southern mississippi | Registered: Jun 01, 2008
if there's no place for the water to travel, you'll be building a retention pond, not a french drain,,, that land flooded for centuries before you found it & it will after you're gone,,, if its a problem, raise the sidewalk driveway to allow access during the rainy season.
