French Drain Material...Opinions Wanted

[Brian G]

I found this stuff last year while trying to help a client. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this stuff, or had any particular opinions about it. It seems sensible, but you never know till you try. It installs with a standard trencher and coarse sand, fairly straight-forward in theory.

http://varicore.com/

Brian G.

[Scottpat]

Brian,

This product is being used by the DOT for highway drainage along the shoulder of the roads across the country, it is well tested and works well at moving water. I have seen it used a few times, at homes but it cost about 30% more than the conventional way of making a french drain from what I have been told.

Most of it is made by Advanced Drainage Systems (ADS) http://www.ads-pipe.com/us/en/index.shtml

[Brian G]

Originally posted by Scottpat

I have seen it used a few times, at homes but it cost about 30% more than the conventional way of making a french drain from what I have been told.

Does that included the cost of labor? It looks like you could put this stuff in in a fraction of the time it would take to do a traditional drain.

Brian G.

[rfarrell]

The landscape architect used this stuff on the last big addition I did. You still have to dig, line the trench, fill with rock and cover. In this case it allowed high volume collection from a shallow trench because of increased collection area, or at least that was the theory. I don't know how long it has been available.

[Brian G]

Originally posted by rfarrell

You still have to dig, line the trench, fill with rock and cover.

Rich,

When you say "dig"...do you mean they didn't use a trencher? The general instructions on the website say trench, drop-in, fill with very coarse sand, and cover. What did they line the trench with?

Brian G.

[rfarrell]

Brian,

This goes back a few years but as I remember the landscape contractor dug a normal width trench, lined the trench with Mirafi or similar filter cloth. Down this way sand would not be the choice for a drain field and in this case the top of the trench was left exposed next to a driveway. I noticed on the website that they show the end of the collector pouring out water from what looks like a pile of gravel. I would have to wonder how long the sand would take to seal up. It looks like a system designed with the installer and salesman in mind.