How to Repair Drainage

Use garden stakes to mark the center where soft spots and puddles occur. Refer to the diagram of your drainage system and identify which areas lay directly over drain pipe.

Dig out a canal with a shovel measuring about 8 inches wide and 6 feet long, dumping the soil in a pile. Continue digging until your reach the layer of gravel covering the trench.

Shovel out the gravel into buckets. If you see dirt clinging to the rocks, soak them in warm water to clean it as much as possible.

Disconnect the pipe at the connector or cut out a section with a hacksaw or power saw. Make your cut lines straight and clean. Remove the cut section of pipe and look inside for any clogs.

Flush out debris from the rest of the system. Lay a hose in the exposed end of underground pipe and turn the water on high pressure to dislodge dirt and other loose debris.

Unclog remaining debris by placing a hand auger, or drain snake, with the corkscrew end in the pipe. Slowly turn the handle to guide the auger or snake down the pipe. Once you feel resistance, screw the auger into the clog, then reverse the direction of the handle to pull the clog towards you.

Remove the clog from the end of the auger. Repeat Step 7 until the auger glides through the section with no resistance.

Fit rubber couplings over the two exposed ends of the pipe where you removed the section. Return the removed section of pipe or replace it if the pipe is cracked. Extend the coupling over the joint on both ends so that half the couplings are on the old pipe and half over the cut section. Use a screw driver to tighten the coupling around each joint.

Refill the trench with the cleaned gravel. Mix the dirt with sand, then return the patches of grass to the exposed soil and water generously.