Drainage
Drainage issues are a constant challenge here in the Southeast United States. The solutions to drainage issues can be complex. Sometimes the solution is adjusting the existing grade. Other times the solution involves soil amendments. But often, the solution is the installation of a French drain or a series of French drains around key areas of your landscape.

The Anatomy of a French Drain:
Originally, a French drain was simply a trench filled with round river rock. The purpose of the trench is to give nearby surface water a place to sit while it slowly dissipated into the soil below.

Here in the Florida, we've come to use the term "French drain" to mean more than a simple trench filled with rocks. With the amount of rainfall we get, simply giving the water a place to 'sit' isn't usually enough; we need to give the water a viable outlet. This is accomplished by adding a drain pipe in the trench covered with a geotextile sock in order to keep it free of silt and debris. The drain pipe is connected to a sump well, greenspace or other outlet.

If the French drain is placed underneath your lawn, we will encapsulate the drain in a landscape fabric and replace some of the soil and sod on top. If the French drain is outside of your lawn, you will see what looks like a 6-8" wide river bed on top. This is both decorative as well as functional. Surface water goes straight through the river rock down to the pipe below and is carried away to the water outlet.

Each year, Cornerstone is hired to take care of many drainage challenges. Over the years, we have developed a great deal of experience providing with solutions to handle unique drainage challenges.