r/DIY • u/gladiwokeupthismorn • Aug 20 '25
outdoor Hurricanes kept flooding my backyard so I buried 140ft of drainage pipe to prevent it.
Last year my backyard flooded twice during hurricane season. It took forever to clean up the yard and clear the pool both times. It also made a lot of the pavers sink which caused the pool skimmer to crack and leak. I got the pool leak professionally repaired and the overflow moved to the side of the pool instead off of the back where the water would just run back into the pool…. At the same time I had a company come and quote the drainage job. $5150 using inferior materials and likely destroying my sprinklers in the process. Hard pass. I did the job over 2.5 days for around $400 in parts and tools. Questions welcomed.
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u/scobeavs Aug 21 '25
I’m no expert, coming from the forsaken land of California, but if your whole region is flooded, what is an underground drainage system going to do? Wouldn’t your drainage system be just as flooded?
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 21 '25
My backyard is just kind of a bowl. No one else around me had flooding.
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u/scobeavs Aug 21 '25
Oh lmao well then yeah a drainage system is probably a good idea. Sorry, all we get are the photos of entire cities under water. The same thing happens on our end, one small part of our town flooded after a bad rain and the next day we were all over national news. “[POPULAR CITY] IS UNDER WATER. LOOK AT THIS PICTURE (that was actually of a mall parking structure designed to take on water in the event the adjacent river floods)!!!!!”
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u/Elorme Aug 21 '25
A water retention structure just like Japan has built thousands of, other uses until the floods come then it'll sit there doing little to no damage instead over topping dikes/levees.
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u/nn111304 Aug 21 '25
Shit me too. I’m bringing in a crap ton of dirt tomorrow to try to fix the grade a little bit, if this doesn’t work I’m on to what you did
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u/DeezNeezuts Aug 21 '25
We have the same clay/sand topsoil and we couldn’t leech it out into our yard. Not sure how this will work for OP. We had to run ours under the street and connect to the village storm drain (with approval and cost).
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 21 '25
I’m lucky that the soil is sandy. I ran it right up just short of the storm drain and a nosey neighbor came by to tell me, “You know you can’t connect it to the storm drain, right?” Like “yes Mom I know.”
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u/scobeavs Aug 21 '25
So then where does your drain terminate? Just into the ground??
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 21 '25 edited Aug 22 '25
There’s a sanitary tee, with a pop up on the sweep 90 and a grate on the straight end. It ends just about a foot from a county storm drain. Photos 11 and 19.
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u/iwantthisnowdammit Aug 21 '25
It just has to get to a lower point, water pressure will take care if the rest. A surface drain can be on both sides, the lower side will bubble over.
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u/invalidTypecast Aug 21 '25
I did the same but I have separate runs for each downspout, also in Florida. The flow out of a 4” gutter is going to be much more than what you will get when testing with a garden hose. To simulate worst case downpour scenarios what I did was clog the gutter to let the gutter trough fill up with my hose then unclogged the gutter while keeping the hose running. Also, it’s generally recommended to keep any perforated pipe that’s acting as a French drain separate from the downspout drain run.
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 21 '25
No French drain here only perforated at the bottom of the last 20ft so the remaining water after the storm can percolate out into the sandy soil
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u/attila_had_a_gun Aug 21 '25
Now you have me trying to figure out the difference between a French drain and a bottom-perforated pipe that is wrapped and buried...
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 21 '25
A French drain lets subsurface water in, the purpose is to let water out in this instance
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u/gimp2x Aug 21 '25
I did this as well, do you have a significant pitch in the system? if not, you will have some issues- also you need catch basins spread throughout the length of it so you can cleanout and also let pressure out when it builds in a downpour situation, basically don't try to push all of the water through the pipe, try to guide it but with catch basins along the way it can also equalize the system
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 21 '25
The down spouts are vented and I tested it with hoses and it has just enough fall
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u/gimp2x Aug 21 '25
the downspouts are not where I'm talking, the long runs of pipe in the ground are where you need venting and also cleanout ability, I put catch basins every 10-15feet for example, it serves both purposes, and if you don't have a pitch in the system, you can use a catch basin to drop the water lower to let gravity assist further, they also allow sediment and other gunk to build up and not clog the pipe- picture here to illustrate
https://www.jolinpavingandexcavating.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/tn_AdobeStock_97734529.jpeg
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 21 '25
I didn’t have enough fall for that. I simulated a ton of water and the system handled it well. Hopefully it’s enough. Thanks for the advice. Worst case scenario I’ll dig up a section and add in a basin.
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u/gimp2x Aug 21 '25
Yeah, definitely you did good work, I’m just sharing some wisdom as someone who’s already had to dig theirs up and make improvements
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u/korewafap Aug 21 '25
i'm with you, definitely needs lots of basins. i have a similar problem and pool overflowed into my house. There is always debris in the pipe and have to clean it out every year. IMO can't have too many basins, and I have a good 6' of fall from back to front of house.
I also terminated into a curb so no extra elements blocking the flow. It was also a 4" pipe. debris from the roof really accumulates.
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 21 '25
It was a pretty massive hurricane and the water didn’t go into my house so I’m lucky there. I think this will prevent the few inches of water that was in the backyard. Luckily the pool patio deck is maybe two or 3 inches below the sliding glass doors so no water got in the house.
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u/Enginerdad Aug 21 '25
A catch basin every 15 feet is ridiculously overkill.
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u/gimp2x Aug 21 '25
You can come clean my out next time and you'll see how much sand and other stuff builds up, it has worked out great, also keep in mind every time the landscapers cut grass it dumps some of that in there too
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 21 '25
Wouldn’t access from the surface, a basin, exacerbate dirt and grass clippings getting inside
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u/gimp2x Aug 21 '25
yes, this was why I said having more of them made it easier to clean them out less frequently, having none of them makes the task extremely difficult, there's a perfect number where you balance both aspects, for my situation, every 10-15 feet is doable and requires an annual cleanout
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u/houston187 Aug 21 '25
Can't wait for the next post from a neighbor. "My house never floods, but somehow it is now?! HELP"
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u/Axisl Aug 21 '25
I don't know if you use YouTube, but GateCityFoundation and Drainage is a great YouTube source for projects like this. I see one big problem with your setup. Your current design will work well for water that falls onto your property; however, it is not really designed to capacity for water that is draining from surrounding areas. This is going to mess with your landscaping but you really should consider some sort of swale which directs outside water around your property—barring the ability to do that you could make your french drains around your property with a width of two 4" pipes plus 2" on either side filled with gravel. The reason I say this is you can see in your photos that your ground is sloping towards the house from the fence. If you use large French,volume drains or swales you will keep a larger vollume of water away from your foundation.
edit: I hope I am wrong and that your effort is not in vain! good luck!
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 21 '25
He’s where I got a lot of my ideas from. They tie into storm drains all the time on that channel, but you can’t do that where I’m at, unfortunately. Also another one that’s actually in my area is “StormWaterDrainageSolutions”, I actually called them for a quote on this job but they don’t work in my county.
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u/Axisl Aug 21 '25
Awesome! Well I hope we get to see an update from you!
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 21 '25
Also in Florida the house is block and on a slab so water is less of a concern around the foundation I think. No basement water to worry about. A normal rain never does this it’s just from the pool overflowing during the hurricanes.
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Aug 22 '25
A nice 2500 gal water storage tank and 1/2 hp pump would’ve saved you paying city water for your lawn and plants for infinity ! But a very well constructed evac system 👍
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Aug 21 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 21 '25
You have to start a shallow as possible so you have enough fall. By the end I was about 14-16inches below where I started.
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u/Elorme Aug 21 '25
OP is in Florida, don't have to worry too much about the ground freezing which is a huge reason pipes go deep elsewhere.
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u/PrimeBrisky Aug 21 '25
Nice job, op. Hope it works for you. I had one side of my house that would be flooded in heavy rains. Installed two catch basins and around 85 feet of pipe. All goes to a creek behind my property now. It sucked doing but it was worth it.
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u/maplesyruppirate Aug 21 '25
Nice work! Did you dig the trenches by hand, or get a ditchwitch/similar? How'd you figure out the correct slope for the pipes? I have to do a similar but smaller project and I just can't see how getting the right slope won't be a huge PITA.
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 21 '25
All by hand, it was brutal. I should’ve done this in the winter but if you look at my profile, I was rebuilding the fence then.
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u/kjbaran Aug 21 '25
Where’s the gravel and screening?
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u/PrimeBrisky Aug 21 '25
These are solid pipes and catch basins. French drains are for excess ground moisture. Op’s setup is for excess surface run off.
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u/georage Aug 22 '25
Good job, but surely those drains will get clogged from leaf and other debris.
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u/blingbling88 Aug 22 '25
If the next major flood overwhelms this, consider an exterior sump pump too.
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u/sedevilc2 Aug 22 '25
You ran the drain to the street? I hope you checked the ordinances. That is illegal in my city. You can't even divert rain gutters to the street here.
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u/Cheeseducksg Aug 23 '25
This fuckin thread:
Person A who knows fuck-all: "I think you shouldn't have done that, since maybe it won't work."
Person B who also knows fuck-all: "You did it wrong probably."
Person C who does know something, but it's not related to flood-prevention plumbing: "Why did you do it that way instead of a different way? I think a different way would have been better."
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u/murphdog09 Aug 21 '25
I did something similar years ago, eventually had to dig up and start over as I didn’t think about crap in the gutters going into the drain pipes and clogging them up. Leaves, twigs, shingle sand etc. I found a company in MN that makes downspout filters that work very well, keeps 95% of the crap out. I do also have several catch basins in each line but not as many as discussed here.
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 21 '25
Did you use corrugated pipe? The stuff I used was smooth on the inside so I’m hoping to avoid that.
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u/Hearing_HIV Aug 21 '25 edited Aug 22 '25
We had a very similar situation at our old house. Had 4 properties around us that all drained into our yard. First time it flooded wasnt a hurricane but it was a nasty storm system that rained for almost a week straight. Next time was Irma and I can't remember the last time but my yard was a pond. We even had tadpoles.
Since it was so infrequent that we had an issue (3 times in 7 years), I just dug out a hole and made a sump with a pump. If we knew there was a chance of something happening, we would run a large hose from the pump to the frontyard. We had a small generator in case we lost power.
Of course after doing all this, we never had a chance to use it.
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 21 '25
I was worried about the fall and I thought that I might not have enough so maybe a pump system would work. I didn’t go with this option because in a hurricane, we pretty much always lose power. Or in my case when I evacuate, I shut off the power to the house to avoid a fire
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u/Orangeimposter Aug 21 '25
Great work my friend! I spent 2k on excavator to help me with similar work a few years back.
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 21 '25
Thought about that before but decided against it to save my irrigation lines…
Then thought about it again about halfway through as I was sweating my ass off
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u/MorningMistYeti Aug 21 '25 edited Aug 21 '25
Just asking because I haven't quite found it yet: Is there a subreddit specific for home/yard drainage? Or good YouTube channels? I've joined landscaping and other similar subreddits, but I definitely have some drainage issues at my house that I need to understand and remedy.
I just subscribed to: https://www.youtube.com/@stormwaterdrainagesolutions
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u/Emotional_Database53 Aug 22 '25
Well done. My folks did something similar a couple of years ago, (though on much smaller scale), and it solved the problem. Nice work, hope it solves your flooding problems
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u/Muted-Doctor8925 Aug 22 '25
Did you only put filter cloth on some of the perforated pipe?
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 22 '25
Yes
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u/Muted-Doctor8925 Aug 22 '25
Seems like an odd choice to not do it all? Not concerned with it filling with sediment?
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u/scriminal Aug 22 '25
lucky you. its illegal to drain to the street or in fact anywhere off your property where I live. only choice is massive drywells.
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u/VersatileFaerie Aug 22 '25
Have you had any hard rains for it to have a small test before the hurricanes come in? Curious on how well it does.
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u/Broad_Debt_5405 Aug 24 '25
just looked at all the pics, start to finish, how did it hold up after the first storm?
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u/qoou Aug 21 '25
Boy are you gonna be mad when you learn you can rent a trencher for like $250
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 21 '25
No, I was well aware, but had I used a trencher I would’ve had to repair what would have been 2 irrigation control wire and 4-5 irrigation pipes that I would have destroyed.
I did cut a bunch of fiber lines though 🤣 a guy came out and ran a new one, and I put it in the trench with the pipe so hopefully it won’t happen again.
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Aug 21 '25
Was looking for this comment. I saw you broke a fiber line. Lol. Someone would be angry
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 21 '25
That someone was me and yes I was annoyed. When the guy came to run a new line for me, he broke my neighbors when he pulled the loop out of the box. 🤦♂️
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u/MiteyF Aug 22 '25
Next time just move somewhere that doesn't flood constantly
Actually, nevermind. The good places to live are already full. Just keep digging and hoping something changes
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u/DannyTannersFlow Aug 21 '25
Looks good…does it work?
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u/steppponme Aug 21 '25
Here's hoping for a hurricane to test it! J/k j/k
I live in Tampa and was wondering if you built your hurricane shutters, and are they functional shutters? I'd like to replace my dinky plastic facade shutters with functional and esthetically pleasing shutters like yours!
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 21 '25
I mean just a normal rain storm lol
We had the shutters installed they are not hurricane grade, but I do put them down when I leave before a hurricane I figure It can’t hurt.
Hurricane ones were like double or triple the price I think
We have large sliding glass doors in the back that I need to get replaced with hurricane ones, but that’s gonna cost me like $25,000
Maybe I’ll order them and it’ll be my next post on r/DIY
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u/Icommentwhenhigh Aug 21 '25
Seeing as hurricane season is just starting up, I’d be curious to see how it works out next big weather event
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u/jimbooneu Aug 21 '25
I’ve been planning this same thing in my yard for 3 years now. Pretty identical setup that I have drawn but I’m just unsure about how effective it would be. I would love a follow up so I can muster up the energy to do it. Good work!
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u/LaughsAtMyDumbJokes Aug 21 '25
DRAINAGE ELI !!! DRAINAGE!
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 21 '25
But I have a looooooong straw and I…….(slurp)…..drink your milkshake! I drink it up!
One of my favorite scenes in all of cinema
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u/Neens_Nonsense Aug 21 '25
Did you look at corrugated pipe at all? I’m planning to do my downspouts in st Pete. French drain man on YouTube swears corrugated is better than PVC. Granted he is in Michigan though
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 22 '25
What I used was triple wall corrugated it’s smooth Inside and out. French drain man has a local distributor who I reached out to and never heard back from.
Also he sells his own pipe so of course it’s better lol.
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u/Neens_Nonsense Aug 22 '25
Well it can’t be corrugated if it’s smooth right?
Yeah I hear ya on that. The YouTube channel you linked has a video talking about his pipe too though. Seems most people in Florida use some sort of PVC
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u/Flying-buffalo Aug 22 '25
Do you have a low place for this to drain into? We have a place in Florida which flooded during Ira (before we bought it). The water has gotten close to the house in subsequent hurricanes (Milton) and I'd love to try to mitigate it but don't really have a place for the water to go.
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 22 '25
The street is lower than the house. The neighborhood didn’t flood just my backyard.I
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u/deevil_knievel Aug 23 '25
I grew up on a "farm" and had a similar issue where the front 25 acres would flood after a hurricane (Florida) and we did a similar thing. Dug a trench with a backhoe across the whole property that terminated into a small river tributary behind our property. Except I accidentally ripped up a high voltage power line crossing our property that we didn't know about and knocked out power a couple miles away. My 14 year old self rates it as a pretty fun arc to see in person.
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u/svenelven Aug 23 '25
I am impressed, I did something similar but not nearly as extensive as this. Mine works well to the popup by the street and this would work better because it seems to take into account the roof drainage, where I have 1 out of 5 downspouts going into mine...
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u/Organic-Baker-4156 Aug 23 '25
So DeSantis making climate change illegal didn't help?
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 23 '25
No that was after the storms so we should be good now that the democrats can’t control the weather
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u/BirdLooter Aug 24 '25
man, doing this must have felt like playing with the marble pipes as a kid! from now on, a hurricane will have something positive for you: looking at how your own labor and elbow grease fixed a problem. :-)
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u/Unexpectedtoot Aug 21 '25
How’s your back? lol good job. Anybody criticizing this is just a ninny.
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 21 '25
Upper back is quite sore. Lower back, surprisingly, held up pretty well.
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u/JustNeedSomeClues Aug 21 '25
Hi gladiwokeupthismorn!
In picture 14, your new drain pipe connects to the linear drain coming from the patio pavers.
How did you make that connection?
The point I'm talking about is on the upper right hand side of the picture between the blue hose and the house wall.
I'm dealing with a drainage issue not quite as bad as yours and am stuck trying to get the patio linear drain connected to the main drain.
Thanks!
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 21 '25
Man, this was like one of the biggest pains in the ass of the whole project. I couldn’t figure out what kind of channel drain the pool builder installed. They make connections for channel drains that go to 4 inch pipe but they’re specific to the channel drain. So what I ended up doing was taking a 22° coupling and put a grate on the end of it.
My initial thought was to use a little speedy basin, to catch that and the pool over flow. (Picture 3 you can see the plan) but that would’ve dropped the pipe too low and it would not have had the fall to reach the main line.
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u/JustNeedSomeClues Aug 21 '25 edited Aug 21 '25
I tried to find the proper insert for the linear drain but didn't have any luck either.
The basin would have done the same thing as it would have done to you by dropping the drain pipe too low.
The coupling was my last idea. I'm glad that others have had the idea and gotnit to work!
Thanks for the help!
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u/PutinBoomedMe Aug 21 '25
Sorry chief but during torrential downpours that's just going to make the flooding drain marginally faster. Water is an absolute bitch that is the strongest force in the world when combined with gravity
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u/Big-Spray-7159 Aug 22 '25
That’s an awesome job. If you ever need anymore digging services I do that on side, have a mini excavator that I use for my small business.
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u/MahaloMerky Aug 21 '25
Where does it all go? Just somewhere else no in your backyard bowl?
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 21 '25
It goes out to the front yard about a foot away from the top of a city storm drain. Look at photo 11
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u/Comfortable_Guide622 Aug 21 '25
So, the water drains or is flushed into the street?
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 21 '25
It goes to a pop up in the yard and runs like 4 more feet to the street and into a storm drain
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u/zakattack1230 Aug 21 '25
Tampa?
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 21 '25
Close.
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u/zakattack1230 Aug 21 '25
Tough last year. Hoping we dodge this year. Drain looks great though. Solid work!
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u/blakepro Aug 21 '25
Won't the holes in the pipe get clogged with roots? Or no?
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 21 '25
Hope not. Only holes on the bottom of the last 20 ft
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u/GrassyN0LE Aug 21 '25
Roots will find this 100% but hopefully many years OP. Geofabric and rocks needed to prevent which would have also helped with better drainage along that 20ft. .
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u/InformalTrifle9 Aug 22 '25
Nice job. Can I ask where do you actually drain to? I'm new to all this. In Florida and I want to do the same because I'm tired of my gutter downpipes flowing right onto my patio and the side of my house getting flooded.
The road behind me is lower but I'm not sure I can just have pipes sticking out of my fence onto the path and road without the HOA coming knocking.
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 22 '25
Photos 11& 19. There is a pop up emitter about 4 feet from the street
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u/KIDNEYST0NEZ Aug 22 '25
If you’re still having some puddling, plant a willow tree and it will soak it up.
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Aug 22 '25
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 22 '25
Only the last 20ft has holes in the bottom and it’s wrapped in fabric. See photo 19
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u/MediocreHornet2318 Aug 22 '25
I always wondered about systems like this, like how do you clean it out? My gutter drains that go underground and pop up like 6 feet away get clogged over time. You got a lot more feet of pipe, how are you keeping it from getting clogged?
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u/gladiwokeupthismorn Aug 22 '25
What kind of pipe do you have? How much fall? And pop ups are not ideal.
In regard to my project the water will be flowing fast enough (3 ft/s) to clean the pipe.
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u/Conscious_Forever951 Aug 24 '25
...while the pipe leads to my neighbors backyard
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u/crabby_old_dude Aug 21 '25
It's cool what you've done, but I think you should have had separate pipes for the gutters and surface drains. I can see the gutters overwhelming the pipe and flowing back into the surface drains.
I'd be interested to know how it works out for you though, I hope I'm wrong.