THE STORM DRAIN
The FIRST project, upon moving into Hollyhills was to stop rain water that was flowing down the hill in back, into our crawl space. We decided to construct a FRENCH DRAIN accross the whole back of the home.
Starting at the SW corner of the home, a trench was dug, on 1/4 inch down grade toward the destination outlet on the street. Plastic covered the ground, folded so that no water could enter under the home. Then coarse gravel lined the bottom of the trench.
The image above displays old railroad tie on the hill and that siding on the home was white and yellow.
The image above displays old railroad tie on the hill and that siding on the home was white and yellow.
The 4 inch drain pipe had 2 lines of holes drilled the length of the pipe, One line on the left of bottom, center and one on the other. The pipe was placed on the gravel and more gravel poured to cover the pipe. Next a special cloth, designed for this purpose, was placed over the gravel. Only water can pass through the cloth. Sand was then placed over the cloth and smoothed. 1 inch concrete blocks where then placed as a walk way over the sand.
At the NEast corner of the home, the French drain design was stopped and the 4 inch drain pipe continued on the same downgrade to the street. At this corner of the home, the first downspout from the roof was "T"ed into the drain. At the shed, a second downspout was "T"ed in. Then a drain Clean-Out was placed in the drain line. Around the corner, at the SE corner of the shed a 2nd Clean-Out was placed. Right next to it a capped "T" was placed to accommodate any future downspout. The last Clean-Out was placed in line with the SE corner of the home and the drain continued to the street. At this last Clean-Out, a second feed to the drain was placed to drain the gutters from the south side of the home.
The KITCHEN was being remodeled at the same time as the STORM DRAIN, in 1997. It took a couple years to complete the kitchen cabinets, cabinets in the bathrooms, relocate heat vents, revise electrical wiring and re-carpet the whole home. In 2000 more work started outside. Replacing the home skirting.
You can notice several things in the photo above. the house was still white, The old back porch was still there and there was no tunnels.
For replacing skirting along the east and north sides of the home, a shallow trench was made with sand lining. A treated plank was placed with treated risers up to the home. Easy lift-out doors were placed using existing plywood from an old structure that was attached to the back of the shed.
For replacing skirting along the east and north sides of the home, a shallow trench was made with sand lining. A treated plank was placed with treated risers up to the home. Easy lift-out doors were placed using existing plywood from an old structure that was attached to the back of the shed.
The east side skirting was finished off by extending the existing driveway to the skirting.
Vern pounded the asphalt to a smooth finish, using a metal straightening tool.
Vern pounded the asphalt to a smooth finish, using a metal straightening tool.
