I tried finding the drain opening that I knew was there (but covered up with sod) by using our twist tiller that has five sharp spikes. I inched it along by pushing it into the ground, but all I found was rocks. Since I already had one drain uncovered, I took out my pick again and dug a narrow trench, following the pipe all the way down to the other drain. I finally found it, but I'm not sure if there's a third one. The builder finally responded yesterday and added a bunch of dirt in both corners of the backyard. Today we are having a pretty good rain, and the water is doing exactly what it did before I dug the trench along the fence line--huge puddles that will never go away, eventually killing the grass. I just don't think these people know what they're doing. Plantation Homes is a horrible builder, and if anyone reading this is considering them, as a homeowner my advice is to run in the other direction.

Unless you're driving over it, black corrogated pipe will be fine. You can use a combo here if you must cross a driving path, putting solid piping under the place with the biggest load, and lighter stuff elsewhere. The black stuff is also better if you must do a curve. But, ya know, French drains (at least the ones I'm familiar with and have installed) don't actually have pipe, just coarse rubble. They are basically rubble-filled trenches. Trenches with pipes are called tile lines (in the old days the pipes were terracotta). However, if you are tying your down spouts in, then I'd definitely use pipe on the whole length as that amount of water over short periods might overwhelm a rubble pathway. Another thing, is that I wouldn't delay getting those trenches backfilled. I'm not sure what your climate is, but you wouldn't want spring run-off to enlarge the ditches and threaten the stability of the earth close to your foundation. And I wasn't sure if your question about the drainage related to two buildings (barn and house) or if you were jocularly referring to your house as a barn? Have you thought of installing a good-quality vapor barrier directly on the soil under the buildings to interupt the upward migration of soil moisture to protect the wood components? Molly~

I've got a 36" single bowl with a right rear drain. The sink is 7" deep and I have a high arc pulldown faucet (Waterstone 5500 PLP). My faucet is set up dead center so the water doesn't hit anywhere near the drain. I don't have any issues with splashing. I wouldn't want to set my faucet further back from the sink just to line it up with the drain. I think I'd get really tired of reaching for it plus I think it would look strange.

I'm doing some second-guessing. The photo does not show positive pitch away from the house. It looks more like level or even slightly pitched toward the house in the 8' or 9' beyond the foundation. It needs to be a positive downward slope away form the house. The drainage around the house would occur outside of the deck, not below it. Given that you're immediately into a hill sloping the wrong way, there's not room to create a swale in the present configuration. A low wall could move the hill back 3' and provide room for the swale. I realize people in this situation slap all kinds of band-aids on the problem. It can work to a degree, but usually it's not pretty. If you end up piping water, you'll need to size the pipe for what comes in a massive rain, not a light sprinkle. I would choose 6" over 4". But then again, I can't see the hill and don't know your area.