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Professional Driveway Drain Ideas and Advice

Professional Driveway Drain Ideas and Advice

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As a homeowner, imagine that our good old British weather is doing what it does best and raining as hard as it can. So hard, in fact, that your gutters, storm drains and driveway are all overwhelmed and completely flooded. The water has nowhere to run off to because there are no drains, so it sits there for days, potentially causing damage that will need a large amount of repair work done. This sounds time (and money) consuming and worrying, doesn’t it? Fortunately, there is a simple solution, in the form of different driveway drain ideas.

At Coastal Drains, we are passionate about what we do, and what we do is provide specialist advice and help in all matters relating to drains. Whether you need a guiding hand in choosing the right drainage system for different areas of your property, or need a team of dedicated and trained engineers to help when they are blocked or in need of repair, get in touch with us today. We are always on hand to take your call when you need us most.

Helping Your Driveway to Drain Off

In order to give your driveway drains the best chance of working to maximum potential, they should always be placed in the spot that normally receives most water. This means that if your driveway is sloped, the drain should be at the bottom, ready to catch the water as it runs off anything from concrete or asphalt to block paving and gravel. 

Common Problems with Poor Driveway Drainage

Many homeowners with their own driveways will have come across the same common drainage problems on driveways, a few of which we have listed below:

Property Flooding: Many homes, especially those with downward slope-facing driveways, will often experience a large amount of flooding when the weather turns bad. This may lead to damp forming in walls, or can even result in damage inside the home if the water gets in through gaps, such as the undersides of garage doors.

Standing Water on Driveways: If there is nowhere for the water to drain away to or be absorbed (especially if you have a concrete, tarmac or gravel driveway), then this can result in pooling water remaining on your property for some time. In the colder months when there isn’t as much sun to help the water evaporate, this may mean having large puddles of water in your driveway for days.

Damage to Driveways: When water is allowed to pool in a driveway for a long time, this can result in extensive damage being done. This is especially true in autumn and winter, when the water has the potential to freeze and expand in cracks and gaps, opening potholes on your driveway.

Mould and Moss Growing: If you have cracks in your driveway surface, or even if you have block paving or bricks, there is the potential for trapped water to lead to the growth of moulds and moss, as well as weeds and other unwanted plantlife.

Freezing Causes Accidents: If your driveway has nowhere for the water to drain away and it freezes over in cold weather, there is a chance the resulting ice will be almost invisible to the human eye (this especially happens on bricks and block paving). This will make it very easy to accidentally step and subsequently slip on, causing a painful accident.

All of these problems can easily be avoided, as long as you have the correct system of drainage for your driveway type. Some ideas for drainage, for instance, may work best if you have a concrete driveway rather than a gravel driveway. Luckily, there are a variety of options for you to choose from when it comes to picking your driveway’s perfect drainage system. 

Ideas for Your Driveway Drains

Here, we have listed some ideas that you might like to use for your driveway’s drainage system, and have provided details on where they will work best, and which driveway types they are most suitable for.

Channel Drainage: Also known as “linear drainage” or “trench drains”, channel drains are long, fairly narrow drains (resembling a small trench) with a grate cover that collect water and carry it away before it can reach an area a property owner doesn’t wish to have flooded. 

There are two types (one with built-in fall for easier drainage and one without because there is already a natural slope) and both are commonly used for edging around driveways of most material types, making an easy and efficient method of keeping surface water off your driveway. 

Gully Drains: Like channel drains, gully drains are long, trench-like drains with grate covers that are often used for edging. However, the difference between the two is that gully drains only drain water at one point, rather than the entire length of the drain. This type of drain is also commonly used for car parks.

It must be noted that, owing to the size of gully and channel drains, they can easily become clogged. To keep them in the best working condition they can be in, you will have to remove the grate and clean them out regularly. Alternatively, you may consider calling a professional drainage firm to do it for you.

French Drains: Like channel and gully drains, French drains are also a trench-style drain. However, they differ from both previous types because they are dug to a gradient and filled with an aggregate, such as pieces of gravel. These will be finer pieces on top, which gradually get larger as they move downwards, which helps the water to flow and filters out debris from the system. 

Often, a perforated drainage pipe will be added to help carry large amounts of water away very quickly. This may be especially useful if your driveway often becomes overwhelmed by large amounts of rainwater during storms.

Soakaway Crates: Once you have finished installing channel drainage, or French drains, or any other type of drain pipe that will help to prevent your driveway from flooding further, it will be time to consider where this water should drain to. In most cases, we would highly recommend that you install a soakaway crate to allow the water to seep (or soak) away naturally into the ground. 

The pipe which runs from your chosen surface water drainage system will lead straight into the crate, which is packed with more aggregate and gravel. The water will then run through this system so it discharges naturally into the ground, preventing flooding or waterlogged patches around your property. A crate could even take rainwater straight from the gutter, to get it away from your house in no time at all!

There is a chance that, like any other drain or gutter, debris will still get through the system which could cause the pipe to your soakaway to become clogged. In these cases, it is our expert opinion that you should call a drainage company or firm to unblock the problem for you. This will save you time, money and potential damage that may be caused in attempting the work yourself and will see that the issue is taken care of right away.

Our Services for Driveway Drains

We take great pride in the fact that our expertise covers all areas of drainage, including driveway drain types. This helps us to provide our customers with a greater array of services, keeping them happy and all the drains in their system clean and clear.

Whether you have been looking for ways to keep your driveway from constantly flooding when the weather takes a turn for the worst, or even if you already have a system set up for your outdoor drains but they are clogged and need to be cleaned out or repaired, we know that we will have the answer. Here, we have listed all the services we will be happy to carry out for the drains protecting your driveway:

  • Drain unblocking
  • Drain cleaning
  • Drain repair and maintenance
  • Drain installation and replacement

Our friendly staff will be ready and waiting when you call for any of these services, and will be happy to help even if you simply need a free quote or some advice on keeping your drains in the best possible condition. 

Looking for Help with Your Driveway Drain?

If your driveway drains have become clogged and need a clean, have cracked over time and need repair or replacing, or even if you don’t have a drain for your driveway and need one installed, then you are in the right place. At Coastal Drains, we commit ourselves to providing excellent services for all types of drainage systems, and we will do everything we can to see that your outdoor drains for your drive are working exactly as they should. 

From taking a little more runoff rain from a gutter, to protecting your garage or even to use as edging to stop water pooling there, we can help to ensure you have the right solution for the problem you are currently facing. Everything we do will also be carried out to the highest of professional standards, so you will be getting the service you deserve, to the standards we expect.

Our services are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so there is no bad time to give us a call or send us an email if you have any questions. Contact us today and we will be there to discuss what you would like for your driveway and its drains, before we send out a team of our engineers as soon as we can to get the job done.