Before the Alameda County drainage contractor you've hired leaves the premises for the final time, ask them to walk you through the job that they've done.

Take this opportunity to make sure everything about the new drain system they've installed is as you expected. The contract you signed should include specific item numbers, materials and system specifications that will help you know you've gotten the exact product and system you were hiring the contractor to provide.

If you have any questions about your new drainage system, the components, maintenance or any other items, make sure to ask now. Your contractor should be willing to answer your questions and give you any additional information you need to know. However, it will be easiest to wrap up the final details now, before the project is completed and the final payments are made.

Finally, verify any routine maintenance or care tips the contractors have for your new drainage system. You should also verify that you have phone numbers, e-mail addresses and any other contact information you may need for contacting the drainage system contractor in the future with questions, repairs, maintenance or for warranty information.

Confirm warranties with the drain system contractor before concluding your work with them. This will protect you in the case of substandard products or installation.

You should confirm in writing:

• The drain system contractor's business name, physical address, contact information and state license number.
• A detailed description of what's covered by the drain system warranty, including reservicing or money back on the drainage system.
  
• Instructions for taking action on the drain system warranty.
• The time period covered by the drain system warranty.

Drainage services in Alameda County involve different needs. Here are some common issues in water drainage:

Drainage System
The drainage system is the set of parts that allow water to drain properly out of the soil on a building site.  A good drainage system will use the right materials and be designed for adequate drainage volume and durability. Routine inspection and maintenance are also important to drainage system function. Common parts of a drainage system include drainage pipe, geotextiles for filtering soil out of the system, drainage pipe couplings, catchbasins and manholes for collecting water drainage, drainage pipe anchors, and drainage stone.

Drain Pipe Installation
Drain pipe is a fundamental part of a drainage system. Plastic drain pipe is common because it is cheap and easy to use. Drain pipe may be flexible or rigid, and will differ by the thickness and shape of the drainage pipe walls. Flexible drain pipe has the disadvantage of allowing low points that could block water drainage. The cheapest drain pipe is thin and corrugated highly flexible drainage pipe, which can fail under the weight of construction machinery or soil, and may not allow good watertight drainage connections. Thicker corrugated pipe can improve drain pipe performance.

Drainage pipe is likely to be made of plastic, and manufactured from one of three materials: polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethelene (PE), or high-density polyethelene (HDPE). Plastic drain pipe may be rigid or coiled. Rigid drainage pipe is sold in shorter lengths and requires more connections but is stronger, while coiled drain pipe requires fewer connections but may cave in or buckle under pressure. Plastic drain pipe also comes in perforated or nonperforated (tightline) drainage varieties. Perforated drain pipe allows water drainage to enter through holes or slots, and can carry more water as the size of the perforations increase.

Drains for Swampy Yards
A drain will be especially important for property that has an underwater spring or sits in a low spot. Drains may be needed for land that has a lot of clay in the soil or has bedrock rather near the surface, which can cause water to drain sideways in the soil rather than moving downwards. A swampy yard under heavy rainfall is likely to require a drain to prevent water drainage from constantly entering the basement. Drain types include French drains, trench drains (another name for French drains), soakaway drains, and slot drains.

French Drain
A French drain, or trench drain as it is also known, is extremely useful and common for relieving drainage problems from a slope above your house or poor soil drainage because of dense subsoil with large amounts of clay. The French drain is a set of 4-inch or 6-inch perforated drain pipes parallel to the surface in gravel-lined trenches 2 feet deep in the high ground around the house. The trench drains become horizontal to open onto the surface of the slope around the house, giving soil water drainage a sort of gutter for moving rapidly past and away from your house.

Full Drain System Installation
A drain system can involve much more than drainage pipes. A drain system may include geotextiles, drain pipe couplings, drain pipe anchors, and drain gravel. Geotextiles are drainage fabrics that filter soil out of the water drainage to keep the drain pipes free. Drain pipe couplings are watertight joints between pieces of pipe, and common spots for drain system failure. Drain pipe anchors stabilize drain pipes against the enormous pressures resulting from water drainage moving downhill or around a bend. Drain gravel is free-draining material placed next to perforated drain pipe.

Downspout Water Drainage / Downspout Diverter Drains
Downspout drain pipes may not always be enough to keep water drainage off your roof from ending up in your basement. A storm may dump over a thousand gallons of water on your roof. To keep all of that drainage out of your basement, you may need to have underground downspout diverter drains placed. These drains will be a little over a foot deep, made of 4-inch rigid sewer pipe that is not extremely thick but not of the extremely flimsy drain pipe type. The drain pipe should not be buried in the noncompacted soil next to the foundation where the soil could could bend the drainage pipe.

Foundation Drainage Systems
Drainage of water toward your foundation is a fact of living with rainfall. Most homes are on a slope, a prescription for foundation drainage. And foundations are surrounded with backfill soil, which contains lots of air, which wants to fill with drainage water. To keep water drainage away from your foundation, you need to a good drain next to it. Drain tile installed next to the foundation footer provides a way for the water to drain properly.

Residential Drain Installation
Residential drains can prevent ponds from forming in your yard by providing a path for water drainage. The typical building code requires a minimum decrease in elevation of 6 inches over the ten feet next to your house. This may not be enough slope to keep water away from your foundation. One easy way to keep from having to regrade around your home is to use a French drain, also known as a trench drain. A French drain is made of 4-inch perforated drainage pipe laid about a foot and a half deep around your house, with a gravel bed and a layer of gravel on top. The French drain follows the slope of the yard until it gets past the house, where it levels out and seeks daylight.

Home Drainage Systems
Keeping the water drainage away from the foundation is not the work of a single part, but the result of a complete drainage system. A French drain, also known as a trench drain, made of perforated drainage pipe surrounded with gravel in a shallow trench can be a very important part of that drain system. The drain system should also protect the foundation by drain pipe methods for moving away water drainage from the roof, the driveways, and the patio. The foundation should also be protected by preventing plantings and mulch that could block drainage near the house, and perhaps by a tile drain at the footer.

Below are some drainage terms which may be of help in understanding drain systems and communicating with your local drainage contractor:

catchbasin
A chamber for trapping soil and other drainage material below the drain outflow point.

Also known as: drain, drains, drainage, drain system, water drainage, drainage system, drainage systems

drain
A pathway to drain water drainage properly off of and out of the soil. Drains are most often installed by licensed drainage contractors who can measure the specific angles, depth and other job specifics to install the most effective drain system for the property.

Also known as: drain, drains, drainage, drain pipe, drain pipes, drain system, water drainage, drainage pipe, drainage system, drainage systems, French drain, trench drain, soakaway drain

drain system
A set of channels, drains, ditches and similar runoff pathways for carrying water drainage off the surface and out of the soil.

Also known as: drain, drains, drainage systems, drainage, drain pipe, drainage pipe, drain pipes, drain system, water drainage, drainage system, French drain, trench drain, soakaway drain

drainage
The total process by which water drainage flows off the surface and drains out of the ground to reach streams, rivers, and man-made drains.

Also known as: drains, drainage, drain, drain pipe, drain pipes, drain system, water drainage, drainage pipe, drainage system, drainage systems, soakaway drain, French drain, trench drain

drainage ditch
An open man-made drain designed to carry water drainage from the surface or the soil.

Also known as: drain, drains, drainage, drain system, drainage system, water drainage, drainage pipe, drainage systems

drainage system
A residential design made to drain away surface water and groundwater drainage through such devices as downspout diverter drains, French drains, and trench drains.

Also known as: drain, drainage, drain pipe, drain pipes, drains, drain system, water drainage, drainage pipe, trench drain, drainage system, drainage systems, French drain, soakaway drain

grade
A drainage slope, particularly the minimum required drainage slope of 6 inches in 10 feet to drain the ground around your house.

Also known as: drainage systems, drainage, drain system, water drainage, drainage system

open drain
A ditch or surface channel drain for water drainage.

Also known as: drain, drainage systems, drains, drainage, water drainage, drainage pipe, drainage system, drain system,

plastic drain pipe
Drainage pipe made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), or drain pipes made of polyethylene (PE) or high-density polyethylene (HDPE).

Also known as: drain, drains, drain system, drainage, drain pipes, water drainage, drainage pipe, drainage system, drainage systems, French drain, drain pipe, trench drain, soakaway drain

riparian
Related to the banks of river or stream water drainage.

Also known as: drainage, water drainage, drainage system, drainage systems

runoff
Water drainage that doesn't drain into the soil, but runs along a surface or through a drain pipe.

Also known as: water drainage, drain, drains, drainage, drain pipe, drain system, drainage pipe, drainage system, drainage systems, drain pipes

sedimentation
Settling out of soil or other suspended material in a drain pipe or elsewhere within a drainage system.

Also known as: drains, drainage, water drainage, drain, drainage system, drainage systems

soakaway
A drain pit for surface water drainage to be absorbed into the earth.

Also known as: drain, drains, drainage, drain system, water drainage,drainage systems, soakaway drain

subsurface drain (SSD)
An underground pervious drain pipe for collecting water drainage from the soil, such as a French drain or trench drain.

Also known as: drain, drains, drainage, drain pipes, drain system, drainage systems, water drainage, drainage pipe, drain pipe, drainage system, French drain, trench drain, soakaway drain

surface runoff
Water drainage that runs along a surface, as opposed to water that drains into a surface.

Also known as: drain, drainage, drain system, drainage system, drains, water drainage, drainage systems

surface water
Water drainage that goes directly to the drainage system, and does not drain through the ground.

Also known as: drainage, water drainage

tile drain
Underground, perforated plastic, clay, or concrete pipe to drain water drainage from the soil.

Also known as: drain, drains, drain pipe, drain pipes, drain system, drainage, water drainage, French drain, drainage pipe, drainage system, drainage systems, trench drain

tile drainage
A set of tile drains for water drainage.

Also known as: drains, drain, drainage, drain pipe, drain pipes, drain system, water drainage, drainage pipe, drainage systems, drainage system

underground drain
A buried drain pipe with slots or holes for collecting water drainage from the soil, such as a French drain or trench drain.

Also known as: drain, drains, drain pipe, drainage systems, drain pipes, drain system, water drainage, drainage, drainage pipe, drainage system, French drain, trench drain

water table
The underground water drainage level to which surface water will drain.

Also known as: drains, drainage, drain system, water drainage

Q: Why choose a Diamond Certified drain system company?
A: Because Diamond Certified drainage companies end the guessing game by offering a choice of top-rated drainage system providers who have passed the most in-depth rating process. Most drainage companies can’t meet such a high standard, which means only local drain system providers rated Highest in Quality earn the Diamond Certified award. American Ratings Corporation also looks at every Diamond Certified drainage company with in-depth and ongoing research and ratings. And your drain system purchase is always backed up by the Diamond Certified Performance Guarantee. You can feel confident choosing a Diamond Certified drain company for your home drainage needs.

Q: What is a drain system?
A: A drain system is a set of parts for getting water drainage off the surface, out of the soil, and into the watershed. Important considerations in drain systems are the use of drainage materials that will meet drain volume and durability needs. Common parts of drainage systems are drain pipes and drain tile, drain gravel, drain pipe couplings, drain pipe anchors, geotextiles, and catchbasins.

Q: What is a designated drainage exit?
A: A drainage exit is a place designated by your city's stormwater drain plan to receive rainwater runoff. The drain exit could be a sewer drain or a sloped drainage area.

Q: What should I know about different kinds of drain pipe?
A: Thin, corrugated drain pipe is cheap, but is not as strong as thicker drain pipe. Thinner drain pipe may develop low points, and may allow drain leakage at connections. Rigid drain pipe is stronger and protects better against drain problems from crushing and kinking. However, rigid drain pipe will require more drain couplings.

Q: Will a French drain system or trench drain solve problems with a swampy yard and a basement that's always wet?
A: Absolutely. A French drain, also known as a trench drain, is made of perforated drain pipe surrounded with drainage gravel in a trench about 2 feet deep. A French drain has been the miracle cure for drainage problems around thousands of homes, and will solve many drain system problems with the yard and basement.

Q: Does the French drain or trench drain system require a geotextile filter sock to go around the drain pipe or line the trench?
A: Not necessarily, and probably not. The geotextile is sometimes used to keep silt out of drain gravel and perforated drain pipe, but is not necessary unless fluffed dirt or large amounts of dirt are used on the top of the trench drain system.

Q: Will a drain system solve the problem of a muddy drainage area between houses where grass won't grow?
A: A French drain (trench drain) or other drainage system solution may keep the area drier, but there could also be a shade problem that is affecting grass growth in addition to the drainage problem.

Q: Will a French drain (trench drain) need to be dug up to remove blockage?
A: Digging up a French drain system might sometimes be necessary, if for example the drain pipe has been smashed. Often however, a snake will work to clear the drain pipe, or water under high pressure may restore proper drainage.

Q: Do I need more than downspout drains and splash blocks to keep stormwater drainage from my roof out of my basement and crawlspaces?
A: Underground downspout diverter drain pipes made of 4-inch sewer line may be a good drainage system solution. These diverter drain pipes can be fairly shallow, and will drain water away from forming drainage pools around a few downspout drain pipes.

Q: Is it possible to save and reuse drainage system water?
A: It could be, if you have the space for drain system tanks below or above ground, and if there are not downstream issues with water drainage rights.

Q: What's the best way to find a good drain system company?
A: An ideal way to get good drain system and drain pipe service is to choose a Diamond Certified drain system company. Diamond Certified water drainage providers offer advantages that are hard to beat: highest scores on random customer surveys, customer-friendly business practices, customer satisfaction principles, mediation, and great guarantees on drain system services.