Catch Basin vs. French Drain

Jason Garrett:

I’m Jason from Pearce Scapes Landscaping and Irrigation. One of the questions we get asked a lot is, “What’s the difference in a catch basin versus a French drain?” A lot of times I don’t think a customer knows exactly what they want, but this is a quick tip to try to help you understand when you would need a catch basin versus a French drain.

Catch basins, like what you see here, is designed to remove water that’s existing on the surface of your lawn. So what I mean by that is you see puddling water, you need to be able to get the water into a catch basin, exit it out. People talk about French drains. French drains are actually underground. Typically with a French drain, you do not see water standing on the lawn or the surface. The only way you find out is when you walk and that area is always squishy. That means there’s water underneath the surface of your lawn or wherever it might be where you’re having that issue. You need a French drain. A French drain is perforated pipe with holes in it. Usually set in a bed of rock, river rock or septic rock, wrapped in a cloth that will extract moisture out of the ground and run it out from your area that’s experiencing the wetness as you walk through it.