Which Way Do the Holes in Drain Tile Face?

Planning

• Before you break ground to lay drain tiles, you'll need to create a building plan. Tiles work most effectively when they are laid in a straight, direct path as the more curves the path has, the more chances there are for the pathway to become clogged. Identify the waterlogged soft spots and areas where puddles form. Make a simple sketch of your yard, and draw a pathway to run through these areas to the outlet.

Preparation

• Digging out the trench for the drain tiles is the most laborious part of the process. The trench should be 8 to 12 inches wide and about 18 inches deep to accommodate 4-inch tiles. Dig the walls on a curve to form a U shape, and slope the bottom surface down on a 1-inch decline for every 4 feet of distance so water flows towards the outlet.

Installation

• Once the entire foundation is dug out and filled with a 6-inch layer of gravel, you can lay the drain tiles. Set them in the center of the trench with the perforations facing down. As you lay each length of pipe, pull a drain sock over it to protect it from small debris particles. Use elbow connectors to joints tiles, if the path has any curves, and T-connectors for straight portions.

Concealing Tiles

• Once the tiles are laid in the trench, concealing them is simple, but keep your building diagram in case you need to access the tiles in the future. Cover the pipes with another 6 inches of gravel to slow the flow of water and block debris. Fill in the remaining trench with a mix of sand and dirt, and plant grass seed over the surface so it doesn't wash away.