Things You'll Need:
- Round point shovel
- Gravel
- Heavy gauge construction plastic
- Wheel barrow
- Razor knife
- French drain with couplings
- 2 French drain 90 degree angle couplings
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Step 1
Call your local utility marking service to come out and survey your property before digging. This service is free and required by law.
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Step 2
Dig a trench along the uphill side of your rock wall. Use your shovel to make a trench two feet wide and three feet deep. Dig from the center out to both ends gradually making the trench deeper at the ends. Continue the trench at a 90 degree angle from each end for ten feet.
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Step 3
Line the bottom of the trench with plastic. Roll out your plastic beside the trench starting at the downhill side. Cut the plastic four feet wide and fold it so that it has two layers, two feet wide. Lay this into the bottom of the trench and cover it with three inches of gravel. If you must overlap lengths of plastic, be sure that the uphill side is on top of the downhill side.
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Step 4
Lay out your French drain pieces onto the center of the gravel bed. Be sure that the slotted side of the drain is facing up. Use proper couplings to attach the sections together. Attach a 90 degree angle coupling at each end of the wall, and add one more section of drain to each of these couplings.
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Step 5
Reinspect the entire drain to be sure that all of the slotted pieces are facing up. Cover the drain with gravel. The finished drain will be one foot deep with the gravel and drain. Cover the gravel over with soil removed from the trench. Rest assured that your wall is protected from water.
