Installing a Channel Drain to Solve Erosion Problems

The driveway in question is quite large, but its size belies one major issue: erosion. As the host explains, water tends to run down the center of the driveway and concentrate in certain areas, causing damage to the yard. This is especially problematic when it rains, as the water can create channels in the soil that lead directly into the backyard.

To address this issue, the host suggests collecting the water at the edge of the driveway and directing it away from the yard. He decides to use a channel drain to accomplish this task, citing its effectiveness in capturing and conveying water. The chosen model is a medium-duty channel drain with black grates on top, which will collect the water as it comes off the driveway.

To install the channel drain, the host makes a cut in the asphalt and removes a portion of it to create a trench for the drain. He uses a Worm Drive circular saw with a 7-in diamond blade, equipped with a water attachment to keep the blade cool and reduce dust. Once the trench is prepared, the host begins excavating, aiming to dig about 8 inches deep.

The channel drain is then placed in the trench, with an end cap added to ensure a secure connection. The fittings are glued into place while the concrete sets, and the pipe is carefully positioned to prevent water from accumulating at any points. The host takes the time to inspect the setup, ensuring that the pitch of the pipe is adequate to facilitate proper drainage.

With the pipe in place, the host moves on to completing the trenching process by digging an additional 12 inches deep. A new piece of pipe is then inserted into the trench, which runs from the channel drain down to the backyard. The host takes care to clean and prepare the end of the pipe before inserting it into the trench.

As the last of the fittings are secured in place, the host completes the installation by using a fitting to change the direction of the pipe. He notes that the rest of the run is relatively straightforward, requiring only a straight connection from the channel drain to the backyard.

The final step in the process is to complete "daylighting," which involves cutting through the soil to create an opening for the pipe. The host uses this opportunity to add protection to the pipe by placing stones around and above it. He takes great care to ensure that debris does not accumulate near the pipe, as this could cause clogging.

Once all of these steps are complete, the host moves on to filling in the space left between the channel drain and the asphalt driveway using an asphalt patch. This is a cold, bagged material that is applied and compacted to create a smooth surface.

Finally, with the trenching process complete, the host uses a hammer to compact the newly applied asphalt patch. As he works his way down the length of the patch, he instructs John to follow along behind him, filling in the space all the way up to the top of the existing driveway. Upon completion, the channel drain is now fully installed and functional.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwe can probably fit six to eight cars in this driveway that is a big driveway yes it is however one of the things that's bad about the driveway is as you can see with the rain last night all the water just seems to run right down the driveway right well we have water coming down this way and then this side is pitch so it helps wrap water around here and it all gets concentrated and goes into the backyard and here and here's where the erosion occurs and that's what happened that water is all concentrated and speeds up it's actually come through here and CED out a channel in the soil I know we used to have grass here at one point but now we just don't know what to do with this area I have an idea I think what we'll do is we'll collect the water up there at the driveway put it in an underground pipe and run it out at the back of the yard that sounds great to me okay now I'm going to use a channel drain to collect that water as it comes off your driveway this is one model it's about 3 in wide really lightweight and I don't think it's big enough to carry all the water we're going to get coming off your driveway so what I want to use today is this medium duty one it's 4 in wide it comes with black grates on the top and this will really collect that water as it comes off the driveway all right now in order to install this I have to make a cut right there and remove this asphalt okay I'm using a Worm Drive circular saw with a 7-in diamond blade it has a water attachment to cool the blade and keep the dust down there you go perfect we're off to a nice clean start all right all right now we got to do some excavation but we don't have to do a lot we got to be down about 8 in here so I want want you to dig out about 6 in of this soil put it in the wheelbarrow I'm going to break off some rocks I found here so we can get this Channel all set for our drain all right sounds good all right that looks good now we're going to take this channel drain and it's going to be sitting right in place just like this a couple inches off of our cut but before it goes in place we have to put an end cap which is this piece and this will accept a 90° angle to get us down into the pipe so when this goes in like that we're going to be able to set it and come down here and get into our pipe which is going to go to the backyard great so I need to glue these fittings in place while I'm doing that I need you to mix up some concrete absolutely just keep bringing it in all right John let's try fit out draining you going bring that right around you can see where I attached a pipe and another connection on the end of it we want it to set in right about there the one thing I want to check I want to make sure we have pitch coming down this way we got to go we going to come down just a little more on this end all right that looks perfect now what I want to do is just put a nice wedge in to hold it in place keep going okay right here now we're going to let this set up for a little while while we're letting it set up we're going to take and continue digging our trench about 12 in deep all right we're ready for another piece of pipe now this one here is going to be 84 in long you take care of that fun I can do that great all right just bring that up to the trench for a second okay yep you go clean the inside of this I need to clean that end I'm put some glue on it okay all right going take that in put it right in the trench down okay push push good okay now I got to put a fitting on there we got one straight run the whole way down all right that's the last of our fittings now we use the fittings to change the direction of the pipe the rest of our run is pretty much a straight run so we're going to be able to use the pipe itself on one end of the pipe is a bell end and that opens up so that it will receive if you grab that pipe right there we'll be able to slide Hold the End we'll be able to slide the two pipes together without having it put a fitting in so it's even faster okay go right in the trench hold your end up so it doesn't get dirty come down to me push push push perfect hey John take a peek over here let me show you how I finished off this pipe this is called daylighting where the pipe just comes out and opens right like that now to protect it I've put some Stones down in front of it and one on top of it what I want to do is keep leave and debris from getting in there and choking that pipe it's very important that you keep that pipe from getting clogged all right I can do that great well that's good the trenching pot's done and back fill we only have one thing left to do all right what's that that's up here at the trench drain remember we left this space between the drain and the asphalt driveway we want to fill that in now what we're going to use is called asphalt patch it's not hot it's cold and it comes in the bag and we're just going to take and put it in we're going to go about halfway up on this and then we're going to pack it and then we'll put another layer in will you grab the bag now and just go down there and we'll just drop a little in work our way okay SL it out nice and easy good we don't want to get too too much out okay that looks pretty good so now what we have to do is compact this and I'm just going to use the hammer and I can't get in there with anything else with this but you can see how much it's compacting yeah okay I'm going to work my way down what you can do now is come behind me and start filling it in all the way up to the top of the asphalt the existing driveway well John I think that does it I think I've solved your drainage problem\n"