Channel Drain or Trench Drain collects water from a concrete surface. It could be a driveway, pool patio, pavers, of walkway. Many sizes are available. It is secured in concrete and is set flush with the surface. Water floods into the channel drain and is carried away by the discharge pipe. If gravity is not available, a sump pump and be used to lift the water up and send it out to the street or storm.
Apple Drains
Orlando FL
321-200-0685
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Installing is actually pretty easy. You do need a few tools but once you start into your project, you will find it goes quickly.
Here are a few tips on how to install 5″ NDS channel drain. This is the most common type channel drain. Its available from both Lowes and Home Depot. Cost per 10 foot section with grates and fittings, just under 160.00. Be sure to buy enough to complete your project. In other words, a 2 car garage with channel drain across the front will need 22 feet or more.
Materials and Tools you will need –
5″ NDS Channel Drain, Grates, and couplings. (suggest using the 10 foot sections not the 2 foot)
Pipe or sup pit and sump pump for the discharge.
4″ Pipe works best for gravity discharge and 1/3 horsepower pump with 1 1/2 in discharge is best if no gravity is available.
Note – Sump Pumps need power.. Plan ahead.
Concrete at least 8 bags of 80 lbs ready mixed concrete for 24 foot wide drive
Tools – Concrete saw – 14″ diamond tip blade
Wheel Barrel to mix concrete and haul debris
Shovel and hoe,
Concrete finishing trowel,
Painters Tape to cover grates
Pry bar or jack hammer to remove concrete.
Garden hose to mix and wash
Your cutting a section across the drive at least 14 inches wide. You will need to make two passes across the drive so be sure to pick the right spot!
To start, determine the lowest section of the apron in front of your garage. This is usually where the water first pools during a rain.
Next you will need a concrete saw, (partner saw or cut off saw). These are available from any tool rental. Be sure to get a 14″ Diamond Tooth Blade. The cost will vary but usually under a 100 for the day.
Lay out a section of channel drain and use it as your straight edge while cutting the concrete.
Keep the side of the saw 2 inches from the straight edge. (yes you could use a 2×4)
Turn on the water (let it trickle along side of the blade while cutting. This will keep the dust down and the blade cool allowing it to cut faster.
Once you are ready to cut the concrete, Work slowly and backwards. Let the saw blade do the work! It will cut like butter but very slowly.
Try to stay centered behind the saw. this will help you keep a straight line.
Don’t worry if you curve a little bit.. (but try to stay as straight as possible) When you back fill with concrete, it will still look really good.
Be sure to cut clean through the concrete! Its about 3 to 4 thick.
Once done cutting, take your pry bar and break out 1 foot section of the concrete between you cuts. Pound the pry bar in same spot.. It will weaken the concrete and it will crack just between the 2 cuts.
If you have cut clean through the concrete, you can easily pry and lift the 1 foot section up and out. Then put in wheel barrel to haul away.
Once the concrete is removed, wash of the driveway. Keep it clean!
Now you can set your channel drain into the trench.
Notice that its almost the right depth?
You will need to trench it out a little more for a perfect depth.
Dig you discharge trench and lay the pipe connecting it to the channel drain when ready.
Once done excavating, set you channel drain in the trench.
You can go all the way across or you can center the channel drain in the middle of the driveway leaving 1 foot of concrete on each side (22 foot)
Connect the channel drain together using the coupling. Add the end caps and discharge pipe.
Place the grates in the channel drain and use the painters tape to cover them. This will keep them clean while you back fill with concrete!
Make a form for the end of your trench to hold the concrete. Use a scrape wood or even thick cardboard.
Mix your concrete in wheel barrel. 1 bag at a time..
Double check the channel drain is where you want it!
Check again!
Now trowel or shovel the concrete along side the channel drain. Fill it right to the top.
Finish off the concrete with your finishing trowel. This takes some time. work slowly but fast enough so the concrete does not set up.
The top of the grate should be just below the original concrete. (it could be lower depending on the driveway’s low spot.)
Channel drain lays almost level across the drive. If you can get some pitch great, if not, don’t worry@ It will still work good.
Cover up the discharge pipe, and you are done!
Apple Drains
Drainage Contractors
Apple Drains
Orlando FL
321-200-0685
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Underground drains work to keep your foundation and yard dry, French drain, Yard drain, Downspout Drain, Roof Drain, Sump Pump, Crawl Space, Waterproofing, Footer Pipe, Drain Tile, Channel Drain.
Micro drain, is used around a pool deck. its 1 1/2 inch wide and is install the same way as larger drain.
Byadmin
Best used for sloping driveways, sidewalks, pool patio’s, and brick or cement decks that slope toward the house.
Apple Drains
Orlando FL
321-200-0685
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Note: Working in concrete is actually a very clean install. We have the right tools for the right job and you will know..
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The First Time!
Depending on the driveway grade and depth of the garage floor, sometimes a sump pump is needed to lift the water to high enough for gravity to take over. Sometimes there is a downhill run to one side or the other of the driveway and we just need to dig a trench from the the channel drain and install some drain pipe out and away from the area.
Most of the time when Apple Drains arrives at a home in need of a driveway channel drain, its because the slope of the drive is very steep and lots of water floods out the garage when it rains.
The first step is to cut out the concrete across the driveway. We use a concrete saw with a diamond blade to cut the concrete. (sometimes called a partner saw)
We cut across the drive using the concrete saw from one side to the other.
Be sure to let the water run slowly from a garden hose or else you’ll have a dusty mess like this..
We need to cut TWO times across the driveway for the channel drain. The width can vary, but the trench after the concrete is cut and removed needs to be about 12″ wide. This gives enough room for to re-pour the concrete on both sides of the 5″ wide NDS channel drain. The concrete saw is a great tool. But like anything else, it takes time to cut concrete. The saw cuts about 1 inch every minute. So on this driveway, we are cutting both a little over 52 feet which means it takes just over and hour to make the cuts.
Next come the Jack Hammer. This is also a great tool for breaking up concrete. We use a 70 lbs hammer that easily breaks up the concrete. (well by easily we mean its better than using a sledge hammer)
The Jack Hammer works well, but it makes LOADS of debris and Rubble. This will have to be hauled away and taken to the dump. (note: remember we at working at the bottom of a very steep driveway. All this debirs has to be lifted and wheel barreled back up the hill to the trailor).
Now that we have broke up the concrete, we need to use a Pry Bar to break free the remaining concrete from out trench. You’ll notice there is a old Corrugated drain pipe buried in the concrete. This was an downspout drain drain line that we will have to re-connect, which means our trench will have to be even deeper.
The Rubble!
After all the rubble is removed we dig the trench down a little deeper and Repair the old Corrugated pipe with solid PVC. Then we cover the pipe with a base to give the NDS Channel Drain a good solid surface that runs down hill to the storm drain we repaired. On this install, we used dry quikrete the base. This was because the driveway was 8″thick! (a bit over kill but since the old Downspout Drain is under here too, we encased it in concrete like the original pour.
Next we lay out the NDS channel drain in our trench and connect. This channel drain comes in 10′ sections so we had to use a couple of couplings. NDS makes all the fittings for their product. ( a quick note: Although NDS and other manufacturers do a great job of making product, the true test of their material comes from the adaptation of its use in everyday installations. We do like NDS! We have always been able to modify their material to fit the need of the job!)
Now we check for grade. We want to make sure the channel drain is ever below the finish re-pour of concrete. We just use the trowel to double check. If the trowel touches the top of the channel drain, then we need to lower that section, but it all good here.
Next we set the grates in place. We do this all the way down the channel drain so that when we re-pour the concrete, the grates keep the channel from collapsing.
Then we wet down and wash the entire area. This so the concrete will not stick to the driveway and it won’t stick to the grates on the channel drain. This is an important step. it will save hours of clean up!
Finally, we re-pour the concrete and trowel it into the trench along side the channel drain.
Using the trowel we finish off a nice smooth surface.
The last thing to do is spray off the grate where any concrete is left. It will come right off since we wet the surface as shown and described above!
NDS CHANNEL DRAIN INSTALL. How to install a channel drain…
cutting the concrete ,
jack hammer it out,
trench the channel,
install the cannel drain with grates,
and repour cement!
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Apple Drains
Orlando FL
321-200-0685
For faster Service please use our Service Sign Up
(321) 200-0685
(704) 309-8880
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