Houston Yard Drainage

What is the purpose of installing yard drainage?
Yard drainage can be a very serious issue due to Houston’s flat topography, dense clay soils, and heavy forested lots compacted by years of development that have increased impervious surfaces. These elements have caused more roads and homes to become flooded during the heaviest rainfalls. As a result, local ordinances are beginning to require minimum pipe sizes, flow rates, temporary drainage systems, engineered drainage plans, calculations, topographic maps, and as/built plans.

Within those broad strokes, a well-designed yard drainage system provides proper grading, which creates positive drainage away from structures. It also takes into account neighboring properties and being cautious not to drain onto them. A different aspect involves identifying and addressing existing troubles such as poorly-placed downspouts, naturally-occurring low areas or an addition to the house that creates dams and changes the originally-intended water flow.

What else is involved in a yard drainage system?

• Catch basins, or yard drains. Catch basins can be placed under downspouts when it is undesirable or not possible to tie into the gutter. They tie into a PVC main drain line instead and carry water out through the landscape drainage system. Catch basins are usually a plastic or concrete box that uses a plastic or metal drain grate cover to filter out leaves and other waste debris.

• Channel drains. These long narrow strip drains are used between main structures and paving or at the edge of a patio or deck. • Deck drains. Deck drains are installed in patios, decks and walkways so that water is either sloped toward drains or drained into the landscape beds. They have special drain covers, usually decorative, made of metal, brass or stone. Deck drains are smaller in size than catch basins and are only intended to drain patio surface areas.

• French drainage. Designed to take water away from saturated soil, French drains are small ditches that are filled with undersized rocks or gravel.

• Gutter downspout tie-ins. Downspout tie-ins are designed to take water from the gutters to the landscape drainage system. These tie-ins are made of plastic, metal or brass and sometimes have a side cleanout with a see-through grate so they can be easily inspected for clogs.

Yard drainage impacts residential landscape maintenance in numerous ways. Since it drains water from low-lying areas, it prevents pooling water that can cause slick surfaces, insect breeding grounds and drowned plant materials. A poor drainage system is essential for proper lawn maintenance as it moves water off of your property in a timely manner, thus promoting healthy grass and allowing your maintenance crew to perform their regular lawn service duties.

“If drainage contractors embark on a storm drainage project without a thorough understanding of all these demands—at the city or county level, the neighborhood level and the ground level—homeowners may find themselves in the middle of a big, expensive mess,” says Jeff Halper, landscape design specialist with Exterior Worlds.

If you are interested in any high-quality landscape services, Exterior Worlds has been providing the drainage services discussed above for the Houston and the surrounding areas including memorial villages (Piney Point Village, Bunker Hill Village, Hunter Creek Village), Tanglewood, River Oaks, West University and the greater Houston (Hou), area since 1987. Contact us at 713-827-2255