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Landscape Design Exterior

Gutter Drainage under concrete pad

4 years ago

I am about to pour a concrete patio but want to run a gutter drainage line underneath it. This will prevent gutter runoff rom running over the concrete.

How deep should i bury the pipe below the concrete And rock bed?

which type of PVc should I use? (Solidcore sch40 or sewer and drainage pvc?)

Comments (9)

PRO
Yardvaark
4 years ago
I'm betting that this is 90% likely to be a bad idea in the long run. One could not be certain, though, until one knew the entire path of drainage, including the elevations. You'd need to spell out every detail. Pictures, that include surroundings, always help.

In the vast majority of instances, people are not going to use the patio during the rain. So using the patio as the splash block, directing water onward, is usually no problem at all. Whereas, many times, buried drainage becomes a problem. (It depends a lot on how it's configured.)
Rob Jackson
Original Author
4 years ago

not the best picture, but an idea... the yellow outline will be the new pad (rip out old pad and repour) and you can see the current gutter. I will run it from the house wall out to the right where there is a natural drain area in the yard. It will run about 14' under the concrete then run an additional 25 feet in the yard to daylight. I plan to use PVC pipe under the pad then use dual wall corrugated for the longer run.
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Those that suggested "it might work"...evidently don't have a lawn and no nothing about drainage. The reason there's lawns in front of homes is because there's soil under them and water drains away after the grass takes what it can use. Since there is no possible way concrete or rubber, or plastic, or anything else that you try to substitute to rid the place of water, then there's no way to grow grass on them. If you want a lawn, then commit yourself...break the concrete up, remove it, and replace with good soil. Then use either sod or seed. If you wish to not remove the concrete, might I suggest you invest in a look-a-like grass---much like they use on baseball fields. It looks real, can be cut to measure and you wont need to buy another seed of grass...ever. There is only the problem of cost....it does cost a prety penny....and an even duller dollar. There's many dealers in this product so choose wisely.
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This is a 48'x80' shed that I am building. I am just using it to give you a visual idea of what you could do with the existing pad. If you wish to use the pad but make the shed larger than 6x10. Say 10x12 for example. Dig down below the surface of the outer edges of the pad (much like digging a ditch) to the desired size. Measure and set the post to the size shed you want. On the bottom outside of the post nail 2X's (4,6 etc) so that they are level with the pad. Then fill the void with gravel base and then concrete to make the entire pad level. Build the shed. You can go back later and paint the pad which is now your floor to make the finish even between old and new construction. Once I have the roof finished on my shed. I will go back and remove the grass and run a compactor over the surface. Lay a bed of compacted gravel over that. Then nail 2"x6"'s level around the outside of the post. and pour the concrete using them as forms. The yellow triangles are to show how this will be done. This does a few things. It allows me to drill the post and run rebar rods through them to covered with concrete. Makes the walls even with the outside stringer. Places the siding out away from the concrete pad 1 1/2" for drainage (stringer will be even with the pad making it weather proof). Adds another 6 inches of support to the corner post on two sides and three on the side wall post. Just an Idea of my way of building sheds for you to consider.
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If I took a picture of the hole, would you guys be able to tell me if it was a hydraulic hole or one used to drain oil and gas? We have thought about going the air compressor/jackhammer route with a dumpster. They want $400 for just the dumpster and then charge the dumping of it based on weight. I was hoping to have a guy around here take it and use it for "fill". Okay, the real reason I want this done is this: Because it was an attached garage there are/were no windows on the lower entire side of the east side of our house. I hate how it looks. It runs along our living room, kitchen etc and I want to plant trees to hide that fact. Our entire first floor is cinderblock (hidden under vinyl siding) so getting windows put in would be a major pain. The neighbors said try the window route and pave the slab and make it a nice patio. But I want a yard there, and to plant trees there and possibly get a window in somewhere. DH is a little intimidated about doing it himself. He's a suit and tie kind of guy, (I don't mean that pejoratively obviously) and learning to drywall was a big step for he and I, which we did this year. But the jack hammering of such a large slab is something he isn't sure he wants to take on. He's not sure how long it would take, and the safety of doing it ourselves, and since it was an attached garage, the concrete slab abuts our house. We can't tell how complicated THAT would be, getting that close to the foundation. ETA: Ken, the gravel pit is right down the road; their soil is our native soil. After what you said about the Feds, and this being NY, there is no way I'm going to have a soil test now. lol This post was edited by ilovemytrees on Sun, Oct 6, 13 at 12:19
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1. Don't assume.Verify. Drains can be interconnected, though it is unlikely they run UNDER the house, more likely along the outer foundation. Snaking a fish line through and then pulling a soft foam "pig" would reveal a lot. A little detective work on your part could aid your decision here. Not knowing your area, unlicensed contractors could be problematic, though otherwise able. Since California generally suffers from droughts, have you considered a storage system that could handle temporary excess flow?
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alley_cat_gw_7b
4 years ago
What if you went the shorter distance ?
Rob Jackson
Original Author
4 years ago

The short distance will drain into my driveway... here is a Ariel view of the patio... the yellow line shows the ~40' drainage run... i need to get it out beyond the white thing as there is a retaining wall (in red) with concrete for that RV there... the blue line shows the natural "ditch" that water runs down and runs into the road drainage ditch.
alley_cat_gw_7b
4 years ago
For me it's all about the grade.....How thick is the patio going to be? 4" ? 6 "?
I'm thinking if you have enough grade to plumb it directly to daylight it should work......Your shedding a small roof, probably have a 4" downspout.....can you stay above ground after exiting the new slab and only using pvc?
I'm sure your gonna want some fall on the slab to shed rain n snow away from the house.
PRO
Yardvaark
4 years ago
You're telling us WHAT you want to do but not WHY. Why is this necessary, and if it's not necessary, why do you want to do it? We don't have any idea the slope of the lawn area. How much pitch to you expect to have on the underground run of pipe and will it be uniform to the end? Is water draining away from the house without issue presently?
Gregory Guay
3 years ago
Rob - I’m about to do the same thing but multiplied by several gutters Plus a channel drain between new pool and house. How did it work for you? I’m using schedule 40 PVC of course, and considering pouring my patio right up against my crawlspace which would in case the vertical run of PVC going up to my gutters. Just wondering how this would hold up with natural concrete shifting over the years. Of course I could just leave at 12 inch radius of rock around the circle entry point at the patio but I like the idea of solid clean concrete.
alley_cat_gw_7b
3 years ago
How big is the patio gonna be?
How thick? rebar? wire? plastic?
Rob Jackson
Original Author
3 years ago
Finished this last year sometime... I used sch 40 pipe (with a wye clean out) under the concrete then about 2 feet into the yard transitioned to dual wall smooth corregated pipe

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