I just installed a french drain at someones house. And while I have done a few of these at my house and family members this is another story. I dug a 30 foot trench around a slight slope. ( at least a foot over the length. The trench had to round slightly to avoid the fence line. The client wanted the gutter to go underground and I let the pipe with sock go about 3 feet underground to no outlet, to fill in a gravel base of about 3.5 feet deep and 2 feet by 2 feet wide. This was more then enough at my house. The problem is there soil is a hard clay and i dont think there is no where for the water to go now. With the round in the pipe to fit the fence line the line ends about 20 feet from the hosue. 3 feet deep with a gravel base of 2 feet and 1.5 feet wide around the pipe for 30 feet, The gravel is in and I can no longer put an outlet to the pipe which is no buried. I have put dirt over gravel and fabric but not yet laid new sod. Can i install a dry well at the end of the gravel or something to allow the excess water that fills into the gravel at the end to go somewhere?

On Saturday, April 25, 2020 at 2:54:07 PM UTC-4, wrote:
I just installed a french drain at someones house. And while I have done a few of these at my house and family members this is another story. I dug a 30 foot trench around a slight slope. ( at least a foot over the length. The trench had to round slightly to avoid the fence line. The client wanted the gutter to go underground and I let the pipe with sock go about 3 feet underground to no outlet, to fill in a gravel base of about 3.5 feet deep and 2 feet by 2 feet wide. This was more then enough at my house. The problem is there soil is a hard clay and i dont think there is no where for the water to go now. With the round in the pipe to fit the fence line the line ends about 20 feet from the hosue. 3 feet deep with a gravel base of 2 feet and 1.5 feet wide around the pipe for 30 feet, The gravel is in and I can no longer put an outlet to the pipe which is no buried. I have put dirt over gravel and fabric but not yet laid new sod. Can i install a dry well at the end of the gravel or something to allow the excess water that fills into the gravel at the end to go somewhere?

Who knows? A dry well of sufficient size should work, but how large it has to be is the issue. We can't see it and don't have a way to calculate how much water it has to hold for most times, worst case, etc. What happens if sometimes it's not sufficient? Just some pounding that's no big deal or a flooded basement or garage? Another option might be a sump pump to discharge water somewhere.

On Sat, 25 Apr 2020 11:54:02 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

I just installed a french drain at someones house. And while I have done a few of these at my house and family members this is another story. I dug a 30 foot trench around a slight slope. ( at least a foot over the length. The trench had to round slightly to avoid the fence line. The client wanted the gutter to go underground and I let the pipe with sock go about 3 feet underground to no outlet, to fill in a gravel base of about 3.5 feet deep and 2 feet by 2 feet wide. This was more then enough at my house. The problem is there soil is a hard clay and i dont think there is no where for the water to go now. With the round in the pipe to fit the fence line the line ends about 20 feet from the hosue. 3 feet deep with a gravel base of 2 feet and 1.5 feet wide around the pipe for 30 feet, The gravel is in and I can no longer put an outlet to the pipe which is no buried. I have put dirt over gravel and fabric but not yet laid new sod. Can i install a dry well at the end of the gravel or
something to allow the excess water that fills into the gravel at the end to go somewhere?

That is what a "Perc test" is all about. It will measure how fast
water will percolate down through the soil. If they will talk to you,
a septic installer can give you a real good idea how it goes in that
area. The county health department might give you guidance too. They
have to sign off on perc tests. Just be sure they know you are not
trying to boot leg in a septic field.