Garden drainage tap into rainwater pipe??

[bettz]

Hi i'm looking at putting in some drainage, perforated pipe gravel and membrane as our garden sits on a lot of clay.

I'm going to tap into the rainwater pipe, I'm hoping this is ok?

Has anyone done this? Would it be best to use the flexible perforated pipe or just normal pipe and drill some holes?

I'd be looking at putting the pipe diagonal with bits running into the main pipe on either side.

Also how best would it be to tap into the rainwater pipe?

 

[bettz]

Not sure what's going on but this is the pic I took after pulling out the shrub

And today it's now like this we only had a tiny bit of rain what's going on??? Seems to be filling up with water

 

[bettz]

Yep it's a new build.

I'm about to pull the trigger and buy 25m worth of perforated pipe with 3 y junctions to branch off,along with fabric to cover the pipe.

Now I just need to work out how to tap into the drainpipe it's about 15 inches below the surface I'm hoping that's enough fall

 

[bettz]

I'm not to sure but that pipe heads out towards the driveway where there's a manhole cover.

I was going to put in a soak away create at the top end of the garden but the hole where I took the shrub from is now half full of water so putting a create there will be pointless I'm not really left with much choice.

During the winter the gardens terrible constantly waterlogged and boggy having the dog doesn't help.

 

[bettz]

I would do a bit more research personally on your own plot

Dig down, go deep, about 1M and see what you find, if you get below the clay level you may find sand or something far faster draining
If so you can dig a big pit, fill with gravel, (very large at bottom so half house bricks etc) and graduate up, use some perforated pipe to take the rest of the garden to this point.
Have 9-12" of topsoil over the top and you should be grand

Well I've dug holes in 2 places now I get about a shovel & half depth down and hit solid clay then water

 

[bettz]

Thats not that deep though

Your other option to test the depth is an auger, something like https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product...fl_title_26?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

That will get you 1M down. Its hard with clay as its possible its 9 inches deep, but could be 9 feet, all you can do is go as deep as your willing to go

The auger is also handy for doing multiple holes, you may find you have a natural clay slope and you can use that to your advantage to drain the water

Like all these sorts of things, its luck and how much time your willing to invest to see if you can get a good solution

Ive another spot near the fence which also pools water so I can try digging there. If I put the pit in the middle of the garden it'll be to close to the garage? Doesn't it have to be 5 metres away?

Would the perforated pipe not be easier

This is what the garden currently looks like after the rain we've had. Water starts pooling down the fence

 

[bettz]

Right thought I'd post an update we've managed to add drainage and we tapped into the drainpipe. Fingers crossed it works all I need now is a good downpour.

We put a good layer of pea gravel in the trench followed by the geotextile fabric then a little more pea gravel in then added the pipe which was wrapped in a geotextile sock then added a little bit more pea gravel then wrapped it round then covered with more pea gravel then top soil.

We've been adding more top soil and compost to the trenches to build them up level and have added grass seed which has started to grow already