How to Do Drainage for a Backyard Slope

Heavy rains throughout the year can cause your backyard to flood, potentially damaging grass and causing loss of topsoil where you have bare soil, such as in a garden. After several rainy seasons, your backyard may end up less fertile than it was previously. Installing drainage in a backyard with a natural slope is the best way to remove excess water from the soil surface and prevent the degradation of your soil. Installing a french drain is labor intensive, but well worth the hard work.

Laser level
Shovel
Landscape fabric
Washed gravel
4 inch diameter flexible perforated pipe
Soil

Instructions

- 1
  Place the edge of your laser level against the side of the house and aim it towards the end of the yard. When the laser level is held still and activated, it shoots out a red beam and measures the yard's slope. Walk the level around the house to find where the slope is at its greatest.
- 2
  Dig a 6 inch wide by 24 inch deep trench around the home, and another 6 inch wide by 24 inch deep trench running down the slope away from the home.
- 3
  Line the bottom of the trenches with landscape fabric, cutting the fabric with scissors as needed.
- 4
  Fill the trench with 1 to 2 inches of washed gravel. Washed gravel is a specific type of gravel you can purchase from your gravel supplier.
- 5
  Place a 4 inch diameter flexible perforated drain pipe into the trench, connecting pieces with a flexible joint.
- 6
  Cover the perforated pipe with washed gravel to the top of the trench, just below the soil grade.
- 7
  Cover the trench with soil and replant your grass.

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