How deep should I put drainage pipes?
I am looking to regrade and re-cover the walkways on both sides of my house. The walks are about 2.5 feet wide and five feet wide respectively. There is currently just dirt on the skinny walk and gravel and patio stones on the wider one. I was planning on grading a "V" into theearth and running drainage pipe with screen down each side of the house. I plan to cover the pipe and walkway with gravel and spaced out 1x1' or 2x2' patio stones. Is this the right approach and how deep should I put the pipes and at what slope? How deep should the gravel be? Is there a preferred gravel type for this type of job? Also, I'm having new siding put up on just the back of my house and would like to know which material - dirt or gravel - I should put up against the new aluminum siding where it meets the ground.
Expert
Maestro
The approach that you are suggesting is acceptable. There are two slopes to consider. Firstly, you are suggesting the use of gravel which is a very porous material. Therefore any water landing on your walkway between the patio stones will quickly percolate down through the gravel. Therefore, below the gravel, you should have a very heavy polyethylene sheet, sloping away from the house at a rate of 1 in. per foot. Parallel to the house, the drainage pipe should slope at a rate ofroughly one quarter inch per foot. The top of thedrainage pipe should be at least 8 in. below the gravel. Ideally, river bed gravel, or at least gravel without sharp edges should be used so that it does not puncture of the polyethylene sheet below. If you must choose between earth or gravel to put up against the new aluminum siding, where it meets the ground, we would choose gravel. It will not splash dirt on the siding, and water will percolate through the gravel. Having said that, the bottom of the aluminum siding should terminate 6 to 8in. above grade level to avoid with soil contact. See the link below.
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