Building a house is not only costly, but also very responsible. Any owner of his home wants the building to last as long as possible. To do this, the foundation must be protected from the destructive effects of groundwater by equipping a drainage system. These works should be taken seriously, having determined the type of soil on the ground and deciding what diameter the pipe to be laid should have. It may have pre-drilled water holes.
This work may seem unnecessary to many. But in fact, protection from groundwater is extremely important. If the drainage is built correctly, then this will avoid dampness in the basement and eliminate the destruction of materials at the base of the foundation. Among other things, drainage is often necessary in a country house or a personal plot, where groundwater is located high, interfering with the growth of shrubs and trees.
Where to start
Before you start laying the drainage pipe, you need to find out how deep the groundwater is. This can be done by studying the water level inadjacent wells. A well dug to a depth of 5 to 15 m is filled to the groundwater level. Among other things, the footprints on the walls of the well can determine how high the water rises during the flood.
The ideal solution to help determine how deep the soil water is poured is to conduct a geodetic examination. However, this approach will not decorate the site, so the owners quite often choose a more labor-intensive construction process.
Choosing the location of the drainage system
Before starting work, it is necessary to determine in which place of the site you will install the drainage system. There are two options for this:
- wall drainage;
- drainage along the perimeter of the site.
The first type of drainage runs only near the foundation of the building and prevents water from entering inside. As for the drainage system along the perimeter of the site, it is necessary to protect the basement of buildings and other outbuildings, as well as plantings on the territory.
Selection of materials
Laying the drainage pipe is accompanied by the use of some other materials. About three decades ago, there was no choice of pipes, so ceramic or asbestos-cement products had to be used, many holes were made in them before laying in the ground, where water penetrated. Today, there are more affordable and convenient materials - corrugated polymer pipes,which have ready-made perforations.
Before laying the drainage pipe, special products with geotextile or coconut fiber can be purchased. These materials guarantee filtration and prevent clogging of the system. The process of arranging the latter requires labor and material preparation. Before starting work, you should prepare:
- sand;
- rubble;
- geotextile;
- fittings.
To create a drainage system, you will need river sand. With its help, a pillow is arranged at the bottom of the ditch. This will prevent damage to the structure due to soil movements. To carry out the manipulations for laying the drainage pipe, two types of crushed stone should be prepared. One of them should have an average, while the other should have a large fraction. The main purpose of crushed stone is to create a filter layer. In addition, it helps prevent debris contained in the water from getting inside.
Crushed stone excludes damage to drainage pipes during soil movements. Geotextiles are made from synthetic fibers. They wrap around a drainage layer of rubble. This material provides protection of pipes from silting. But to connect the latter, fittings are needed. Couplings will help ensure that the system can be rotated.
Why choose plastic pipes
Plastic pipes should be chosen for arranging the drainage system for the reason that they are highly durable. They can be laid to an impressive depth - up to 10 m. Polymer products are ready to servelong enough - up to 50 years and more. Their connection can be made quite simply using special couplings. Pipes do not have to be mounted using special equipment, as they weigh a little. Yes, and transportation, as well as unloading are simplified.
Before laying drainage pipes with your own hands, you do not have to purchase an additional tool to cut products, because this can be done with improvised tools. In order to prevent clogging of pipes with soil particles, be sure to use filters without neglecting this step.
For the described systems, pipes of different diameters will be needed, but 150 mm and 300 mm products are most commonly used. The first ones are for diverting a small amount of water, but the second ones are for systems that are operated under increased load. For installation, you can use pipes of a larger cross section, they form the basis of the trunk line. A smaller section is used for branches.
Pipe Laying Features: Planning
If you decide to independently lay the drainage pipe, the technology must be studied. At the first stage, it provides for planning - drawing up a laying scheme. Geodetic expertise will help in this work, as a result of which it will be possible to find out what type of soil is in the territory, as well as how deep the groundwater is. The data obtained will allow you to understand what diameter of pipes to choose, as well as to what depth to lay them.
Installation works
Before laying the pipe, prepare a ditch for it. To do this, a trench is dug, on the bottom of which a 15-cm layer of sand is poured. The surface is covered with geotextile so that the edges of the canvas cover the sides of the ditch. Next comes a layer of fine gravel. A pipe is laid on top, the perforation of which should be turned down.
During installation, it is necessary to withstand the slope, which will be directed towards the collection well. The slope settings are 3° or more. Laying drainage pipes with geotextiles provides for manholes that are needed to flush the system. These nodes will also be needed to control the operation of the drainage. There must be a minimum distance of 50 m between the wells. The wells must be located in places where there will be turns in the pipeline or a change in the angle of inclination.
Depending on the type of soil, a filter is selected. If you have to work on light sandy loams or loams, then pipes wrapped with geotextiles should be used. If there are heavy soils on the territory, it is better to prefer pipes previously wrapped in coconut fiber.
Crushed stone is poured over the pipes, the thickness of the top layer of the backfill is usually 40 cm. The crushed stone layer is covered with geotextile, which was fixed on the sides of the trench at the previous stage. From above, the system should be covered with soil and closed with previously cut turf.
How to avoid mistakes
Before laying the drainagepipes into a ditch, you should familiarize yourself with the rules that will help eliminate errors. For example, in loamy soils, pipes without a filter cannot be used. It is important to ensure their bias. If the place for installing the collection well is chosen incorrectly, then this can be considered a mistake, as well as untimely removal of water from it.
How deep to lay drains
Before starting work, it is important to determine the depth of the drainage pipes. It will depend on several factors. One of the important conditions for determining the installation depth is the soil freezing line. This condition must be met so that the pipe does not freeze and is in working order during the flood. The depth of freezing depends on the type of soil, as well as climatic conditions. For example, clay soils freeze slightly less than sandy soils, because they have more porosity.
As for climatic conditions, the average annual temperature determines the depth of freezing: the lower it is, the greater the depth. Thus, the laying of drainage corrugated pipes in Arkhangelsk must be carried out taking into account the standard freezing depth of 160 cm for loamy and clay soils. As for sandy loam and sand, in such soils the standard freezing depth is 176 cm. In Kazan, the first value is 160 cm, while the second is 176 cm, respectively. For Orenburg, the depth of soil freezing with the soils mentioned above is 160 cm and 176 cm, respectively. In St. Petersburg, clay freezes to 120 cm, while sand and sandy loam freezes to 132 cm.
Conclusion
The rules for laying a drainage pipe say: the depth of soil freezing in fact differs from the standard. After all, the norms are given for the coldest case. Thus, the data mentioned above is the maximum depth of soil freezing. Usually in winter, ice and snow lie on the ground, which act as good heat insulators.
Another important condition is compliance with the recommendation: it is necessary to lay pipes 50 cm deeper than the lower mark of the foundation of the building, near which drainage will take place. This is necessary to ensure that groundwater is intercepted by the drainage system before it reaches the level of the base of the building.
