How to Install a Channel Drain | Ask This Old House

This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook helps a homeowner solve a driveway drainage dilemma. (See below for a shopping list, tools, and steps.)
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Shopping List for How to Install a Channel Drain:
- 4-inch channel drain [], to collect excess water
- End cap [] and offset outlet [], for attachment to channel drain
- 4-inch-diameter plastic drainpipe and assorted fittings [], to carry water away from channel drain
- PVC primer [] and cement [] , for gluing together plastic pipe and fittings
- Ready-mix concrete [], to form a setting bed for the drain
- Asphalt cold patch [], for patching the driveway
- Grass seed [], to plant along trench line
Tools List for How to Install a Channel Drain:
- 4-foot level [], to mark cutlines
- Water-cooled circular saw [] with a diamond blade [], for cutting asphalt driveway
- Shovel []
- Wheelbarrow []
- Small sledgehammer [] and brick-set chisel [], to chop out rocks
- Pointed brick trowel [], for smoothing concrete
- Rubber mallet [], to tap down the drain
- Reciprocating saw [], for cutting plastic pipe
Steps for How to Install a Channel Drain:
1. Mark a straight cutline across the corner of the driveway to indicate the position of the channel drain.
2. Cut through the asphalt with a water-cooled circular saw fitted with a diamond-impregnated blade.
3. Pry up and remove the severed piece of asphalt with a shovel.
4. Use a small sledgehammer and brick-set chisel to chop out any rocks along the edge of the just-cut driveway.
5. Dig a 6-inch-deep trench along the end of the driveway. Shovel the excavated dirt into a wheelbarrow.
6. Glue an offset outlet and a 90-degree elbow onto one end of the channel drain.
7. Glue a short section of 4-inch-diameter plastic pipe and a 45-degree elbow onto the 90-degree elbow.
8. Glue an end cap onto the opposite end of the channel drain.
9. Mix up a bag of concrete in the wheelbarrow.
10. Fill the trench with wet concrete. Smooth the concrete with a pointed brick trowel.
11. Press the channel drain down into the concrete, then check it with a level to ensure it's sloping slightly toward the drainpipe. Tap down the drain with a rubber mallet.
12. Use the trowel to spread an angled wedge of concrete against the back of the drain.
13. Dig a 12-inch-deep trench out from the channel drain and across the yard.
14. Use a reciprocating saw to cut plastic pipe to extend from the drain along the trench. Glue the pipe and fittings together.
15. Check the drainpipe with a level to make sure it's pitched down and away from the driveway.
16. Backfill the trench with soil to conceal the drainpipe.
17. Line the end of the drainpipe with flat stones to deter erosion.
18. Sprinkle some asphalt cold patch between the channel drain and the driveway.
19. Compact the patch with the small sledgehammer, then add more asphalt and compact it again. Repeat until the patch is flush with the surface of the driveway.
20. Plant grass seed along the backfilled trench.
About Ask This Old House TV:
Homeowners have a virtual truckload of questions for us on smaller projects, and we're ready to answer. Ask This Old House solves the steady stream of home improvement problems faced by our viewers—and we make house calls! Ask This Old House features some familiar faces from This Old House, including Kevin O'Connor, general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, and landscape contractor Roger Cook.
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How to Install a Channel Drain | Ask This Old House
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