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How to Install a Channel Drain | Ask This Old House

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By Quentin Peters
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This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook helps a homeowner solve a driveway drainage dilemma. (See below for a shopping list, tools, and steps.)
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Shopping List for How to Install a Channel Drain:
– 4-inch channel drain [https://amzn.to/2ZTvUCk], to collect excess water
– End cap [https://amzn.to/2WghCty] and offset outlet [https://amzn.to/2vHZ3mt], for attachment to channel drain
– 4-inch-diameter plastic drainpipe and assorted fittings [https://amzn.to/2WmspSO], to carry water away from channel drain
– PVC primer [https://amzn.to/2GQcbe7] and cement [https://amzn.to/2vxt6x3] , for gluing together plastic pipe and fittings
– Ready-mix concrete [https://amzn.to/2VaSVSS], to form a setting bed for the drain
– Asphalt cold patch [https://amzn.to/2UVfzJP], for patching the driveway
– Grass seed [https://amzn.to/2GWhPN4], to plant along trench line

Tools List for How to Install a Channel Drain:
– 4-foot level [https://amzn.to/2GYiBJC], to mark cutlines
– Water-cooled circular saw [https://amzn.to/2VF1B3c] with a diamond blade [https://amzn.to/2PGRiGu], for cutting asphalt driveway
– Shovel [https://amzn.to/2PHDDPk]
– Wheelbarrow [https://amzn.to/2Jhr1xn]
– Small sledgehammer [https://amzn.to/2PElXE8] and brick-set chisel [https://amzn.to/2ZQE0M2], to chop out rocks
– Pointed brick trowel [https://amzn.to/2Liqg9E], for smoothing concrete
– Rubber mallet [https://amzn.to/2LiPNzO], to tap down the drain
– Reciprocating saw [https://amzn.to/2Y212ho], for cutting plastic pipe

Steps for How to Install a Channel Drain:
1. Mark a straight cutline across the corner of the driveway to indicate the position of the channel drain.
2. Cut through the asphalt with a water-cooled circular saw fitted with a diamond-impregnated blade.
3. Pry up and remove the severed piece of asphalt with a shovel.
4. Use a small sledgehammer and brick-set chisel to chop out any rocks along the edge of the just-cut driveway.
5. Dig a 6-inch-deep trench along the end of the driveway. Shovel the excavated dirt into a wheelbarrow.
6. Glue an offset outlet and a 90-degree elbow onto one end of the channel drain.
7. Glue a short section of 4-inch-diameter plastic pipe and a 45-degree elbow onto the 90-degree elbow.
8. Glue an end cap onto the opposite end of the channel drain.
9. Mix up a bag of concrete in the wheelbarrow.
10. Fill the trench with wet concrete. Smooth the concrete with a pointed brick trowel.
11. Press the channel drain down into the concrete, then check it with a level to ensure it’s sloping slightly toward the drainpipe. Tap down the drain with a rubber mallet.
12. Use the trowel to spread an angled wedge of concrete against the back of the drain.
13. Dig a 12-inch-deep trench out from the channel drain and across the yard.
14. Use a reciprocating saw to cut plastic pipe to extend from the drain along the trench. Glue the pipe and fittings together.
15. Check the drainpipe with a level to make sure it’s pitched down and away from the driveway.
16. Backfill the trench with soil to conceal the drainpipe.
17. Line the end of the drainpipe with flat stones to deter erosion.
18. Sprinkle some asphalt cold patch between the channel drain and the driveway.
19. Compact the patch with the small sledgehammer, then add more asphalt and compact it again. Repeat until the patch is flush with the surface of the driveway.
20. Plant grass seed along the backfilled trench.

About Ask This Old House TV:
Homeowners have a virtual truckload of questions for us on smaller projects, and we’re ready to answer. Ask This Old House solves the steady stream of home improvement problems faced by our viewers—and we make house calls! Ask This Old House features some familiar faces from This Old House, including Kevin O’Connor, general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, and landscape contractor Roger Cook.

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How to Install a Channel Drain | Ask This Old House
https://www.youtube.com/user/thisoldhouse/

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Ask This Old Housechannel draindiyDIY Ideasdo it yourselfdrainagedrivewayhome improvementHome RepairHow To BuildHow To FixHow To InstallIrrigationlandscapingNorm AbramrainfallrenovationRenovation Ideasroger cookrunoffThis Old HouseTom Silvatom silva constructiontom silva housetom silva this old housetom silva toolstommy silva

About The Author

Quentin Peters

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Comment (0)

  2. "Well John, I think that does it. I think I've solved your drainage problem." … by illegally funneling all that water into your rear lot abutter's back yard, where (S)HE'LL have to have a perimeter drainage system installed around his/her foundation to keep his/her basement from flooding. Yup, this is illegal nowadays, as you're not allowed to worsen an already existing water runoff into an abutter's property. That's why you see silt fences and hay bales around property boundaries during construction. Civil codes protect people from this, so poor John, I'd like to know if you've had trouble after this?!

  8. Roger is ok, but he is a bit sloppy. The drain pipe should have been on the left side, away from the corner foundation of the garage?. The way he installed it some water will run over the drain and gradually cut into the foundation. Also I can hear the neighbor in the White House yelling about the water being dumped into his lawn. Could have whyed the drain pipe to drain to three different areas.

  9. Running that pipe directly to a few feet of the neighbor's property is against the law in Pennsylvania. If you do that, you'll find yourself in court paying for any damage you've caused his house.

  12. That pipe needs a screen at the end of it. Animals go in and make nests, I know because I made that mistake and had to fix it. Zip tied screen on and no more nests!

  19. As a Polydrain trench drain sales engineer, I recommend a concrete shoe to lock the trench drain in place. Plumbing engineers insist that the bell end face the water source & the spigot face downstream. Precast trench drain inverts this preferred configuration. However, in this application it should suffice.

  31. I don't understand why the drain was routed off to the corner of the property. I would want the drain more centrally located in the yard so the water could filter out and benefit my grass, trees, and garden plants. Am I missing something?

  39. The backyard neighbor had some choice words for the new drainage system. Unfortunately, he died, because his house fell into a sinkhole caused by the new drainage system.

  40. I got my 2nd covid shot earlier today and i am afraid that if i sleep i will die, so now i’m going to watch every episode of Ask, This Old House!

  42. I love how all these losers on here complaining about the neighbor getting a lake in his yard.. this show has been on for 40 years they clearly know more then any loser dipshit pretending to know anything about home improvement… everyone writing a comment thinks they’re so smart, why don’t they have a show?? It take an obscene amount of water to do any sort of damage, and that damage would occur regardless if the rain is that torrential.. there is plenty of square footage for the water to drain into the earth without it collecting.. but these comments are funny.. you Karen’s keep saving the world one youtube post at a time

  46. In the clip pic for this video it looks like dudes about to take the host out with the level or whatever the hell is in his hands….. with a smirk on his face like he had it planned to kill you in his backyard….. then the camera man….. then the world

  47. How much was the PVC pipe alone? What size is it and did you add your own seep holes in the piping? Thanks I have a few acres to cross and have to find a way to save money.

  52. The drain channel should have continued across the brick path as well. Good news is the neighbor converted his backyard to a pond and it never runs dry.

  53. City to neighbor: We're changing your zoning to lakefront and doubling your property tax. Also, it looks like your yard is now a wetlands, you're gonna need a permit… for everything.

  54. Couple of thoughts. When applying the purple glue and pressing the fittings together, the glue can push the pipe back out some as it goes through its chemical process, so if you twist the pipe about 90 degrees and hold pressure for a minute before releasing, that will prevent the push out. Also, the soil fill around the pipe can be uneven, so some installations will include little gravel bed in the base of the pipe trench and make sure the pipe is well and evenly supported to carry the weight of soil fill, water and traffic above. The gravel also has the added benefit of making any slope adjustments much easier (by simply moving a little gravel) and also provides additional drainage for any excess water that might be coming through that passage. And lastly, the "daylight" can include a grated end-cap on the pipe and can be buried in gravel and then put your decorative rock or other landscaping over it.

  59. Missed opportunity to put in a rain garden, dry well, or many other methods that would actually cause the rain to soak in as Ma Nature intended. Instead, this will shoot all the water as storm water runoff into the neighbors yard. Not expecting the homeowner to tear up his existing driveway, but this is a good opportunity to show that using permeable paving systems prevents this sort of problem in the first place. Good tip for homeowners planning to put in and/or extend their driveway.

  62. As shallow as you you are burying this pipe you almost have to use PVC because there is little cover to properly haunch the spring line of the pipe to support the top of the pipe. Why aren't you using an SDR35 PVC sewer pipe and fittings that are less expensive than sch40 DWV and quite suitable in this non-traffic area? PVC will not allow roots to enter joints, corrugated HDPE pipe joints can be taped with the appropriate underground waterproof tape to accomplish the same goal. Also, a professional would shoot the grade elevations with a laser or transit prior to even beginning such a job. Water needs a 1% drop or 1' of fall for every 100' of pipe. Obviously, your installation worked, but someone watching this doesn't know that and could spend a lot time and money building something doesn't work. If you haven't calculated for your lowest point(minus depth of cover) and are simply using a very short torpedo, as you lay from the highest point, you may find you are too low at the bottom of the fall to dump the water. Sure it may emit form an outfall pipe, but the pipe will generally remain full of water and organic activity in the pipe will grow over time. Notice the algae already growing in your pipe. Also, you have installed no cleanout access in your pipe line, which would normally be at beginning of the line, midpoint and any major bend. You have a trench drain and rain gutters feeding your pipe but silt will still collect in it over time.

  63. Why use asphalt patch when you cut a straight line? Seems silly to put a substandard patch when you took all the time and effort to cut a straight line.

  67. When adding plastic or PVC pipe underground it is wise to put some scrape steel pipe or iron in the trench before burning the pipe. This way you can use a metal detector to locate the pipe should you need to excavate in the future.

  68. I love this show, however the PBS station in Pittsburgh WQED channel 13 fell off the radar screen and can't get this nice information any longer, bummer. Love this old house, and I also love Todays Homeowner with Danny Lipford to.

  69. Man o chivits… I can not believe the decline of TOH over the years!!! Reminds me of America this past year. The finish of this project, 7:15, is humiliating and embarrassing!!!

  74. Why not an above ground french drain? Finish the edge with some nice river rock and funnel the water into your yard. Could even plant some grapes or a fruit tree and use the water. Seems like an over-engineered solution that doesn't look that great and has lots of fail points.

  81. No gloves, didn’t glue the ends properly, the drain itself was too high and the drain wasn’t long enough. Should have pulled some bricks or just built a small concrete berm to collect the water. Ugh

  83. One thing not mentioned…"Before we start digging I called the utility company to come out and check for pipes and wires under the ground…this area is clear"…

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