If you’ve ever tried to slog through your basement in ankle-deep water, you know you need drains in the driveway. Flooding is a major problem that affects millions of people every year. The reasons for flooding are often varied. There are certain kinds of floods that would not be helped by a drain at all. If you have a pipe that bursts in your basement or underneath your house, it’s very likely a driveway drain wouldn’t solve that, either. There are some situations in which you could help clear the flooding faster with a driveway drain, but that’s not really what they’re for. Also, if there are overwhelming amounts of water, which are typically called flash floods, there aren’t really any drains deep or wide enough to handle the volume of water in a flash flood. These floods also result in water rising up in places other than just your driveway.
What Do They Do?
Those are the kinds of flooding that drains can’t stop. So exactly what kind of flooding would a driveway drainage channel stop? A channel drain, also known as a trench drain, in your driveway is designed to prevent water from seeping into your house when it rains heavily. In some instances, the driveway sort of acts as a channel that directs water towards your house. This is especially true and dangerous if you have a garage. A sloped driveway typically leads directly to a garage, so when it rains heavily, all of that water runs down the driveway and starts to build up at the edge of the garage. Eventually, it seeps under the garage door and floods the house. This is true of some houses in low-lying areas as well as houses in areas of heavy rain.
A trench drain is a groove cut into the ground of your driveway and lined with a non-corrosive metal. Water runs down your driveway but it falls into the trench drain and is carried safely away before it can hit your garage. The expense of a trench drain is very quickly offset by the amount of money you save when you don’t have to pay for repairs, replacements, and clean-up after a flood.
Are There Considerations?
You shouldn’t buy just any trench drain, however. You should make sure you are buying one that has a cover over the drain. It’s not enough to just have an open trench in your driveway. That will just create a problem for anyone walking or driving over it. Also, leaves, twigs, and other kinds of debris will start to build up in the trench. That will undermine the integrity of the drainage system, but it will also become an attractive haven for insects. Insects such as mosquitos love dark places to lay eggs and propagate. If you have an open drainage trench, that will definitely draw them. Trench drains come with covers over them that are designed to allow water to flow through but block debris. The designs are all different, but it is important that it is made out of a strong metal, since you will be driving over it repeatedly.