You're definitely onto something with the dry well idea. A couple years back, I helped my brother set one up for his pool drainage, and it's been working great ever since. A few quick thoughts from our experience:
- Totally agree on skipping fabric-wrapped pipes—ours clogged up pretty fast too, especially after heavy rains and pool cleanings.
- We went about 5 feet deep with the dry well, filled it with chunky gravel, and didn't line the bottom either. Good call there.
- One thing we learned the hard way: double-check your soil drainage first. Ours was borderline clay-ish, so we ended up digging a bit wider to compensate.
- Also, consider adding an overflow pipe or channel just in case you get a crazy storm or something. Better safe than sorry...
Sounds like you're already thinking this through pretty well. Once you get it dialed in, you'll probably wonder why you didn't do it sooner. Good luck!
"One thing we learned the hard way: double-check your soil drainage first. Ours was borderline clay-ish, so we ended up digging a bit wider to compensate."
Good point about soil drainage, but honestly, if you're dealing with heavy clay, a dry well might not be the best solution at all. I had a rental property with similar soil conditions, and even after widening the pit, it still struggled during heavy rains. Ended up installing a simple French drain system instead—worked like a charm and was less hassle overall. Just something to consider before you commit...
Yeah, French drains are pretty reliable. We had heavy clay too and tried the wider pit route—didn't really cut it. Switched to a French drain setup later, and honestly, wish we'd done it sooner. Less stress overall...
French drains are solid, agreed. We had a similar clay nightmare—felt like digging through concrete pudding, lol. Ended up going French drain too, but added some native plants around the edges to soak up extra water naturally. Worked surprisingly well, plus it looks nicer than a muddy swamp. Just gotta watch out for mosquitoes...they love those damp spots.
We had a similar issue when we drained our pool last summer. Our yard slopes slightly toward the neighbor's property, and the last thing we wanted was to flood their garden beds. French drains are definitely solid, but we went a slightly different route—built a dry well.
Here's what we did step-by-step, in case anyone wants to try it:
1. Dug a hole about 4 feet deep and 3 feet wide (yeah, clay soil is no joke...felt like chiseling through rock).
2. Lined the hole with landscape fabric to keep dirt from clogging things up.
3. Filled it halfway with gravel, then placed a perforated drainage pipe leading from the pool area into the center of the well.
4. Covered the pipe with more gravel until about 6 inches below ground level.
5. Topped it off with another layer of landscape fabric and then backfilled with soil and grass seed.
It worked surprisingly well—no flooding or muddy messes after draining the pool. Plus, you can't even tell it's there now since grass grew right over it.
One thing I'd add though: mosquitoes were definitely an issue at first because water pooled briefly around the drain pipe entrance. We ended up planting citronella and lavender nearby, which seemed to help keep them away naturally.
Native plants around your French drain sound like a smart move too—might have to borrow that idea next time we do some landscaping around ours...
