Jeff Halper offers the following royalty-free article for you to publish online or in print. Feel free to use this article in your newsletter, website, ezine, blog, or forum. ----------- PUBLICATION GUIDELINES - You have permission to publish this article for free providing the "About the Author" box is included in its entirety. - Do not post/reprint this article in any site or publication that contains hate, violence, porn, warez, or supports illegal activity. - Do not use this article in violation of the US CAN-SPAM Act. If sent by email, this article must be delivered to opt-in subscribers only. - If you publish this article in a format that supports linking, please ensure that all URLs and email addresses are active links. - Please send a copy of the publication, or an email indicating the URL to [email protected] - Article Marketer (www.ArticleMarketer.com) has distributed this article on behalf of the author. Article Marketer does not own this article, please respect the author's copyright and publication guidelines. If you do not agree to these terms, please do not use this article. ----------- Article Title: The Elements Of A Quality Drainage System Author: Jeff Halper Category: Landscaping Word Count: 511 Keywords: drainage systems, drainage contractors, French Drainage Author's Email Address: [email protected] Article Source: http://www.articlemarketer.com ------------------ ARTICLE START ------------------
You've seen the headlines: Alicia, a major hurricane, hit the Upper Texas Coast in 1983. Hurricane Ike made landfall in 2008. In April, 2009, unnamed thunderstorms dropped record amounts of rain throughout the afternoon, five to six inches in some places. Houston has a drainage problem. If for no other reason than these naturally occurring, yet unpredictable, weather patterns. The solution? A quality drainage system that protects your property, home and family from unwanted water. A quality drainage system is all-encompassing. That is, it addresses all drainage issues including proper grading, the engineering process that creates positive drainage away from structures. A properly designed drainage system also takes into account neighboring properties and is careful not to drain onto them. Your drainage system should include site-specific solutions. Sometimes the problem is the soil. Houston's clay soil is infamous for its near-impermeable surface. Your Houston lawn service crew can help that situation with regular aeration. If you have drainage problems around garden beds, one solution is to raise the beds, a process that will lift your plants out of the waterlogged soil. Drainage systems should have little negative visual impact. Like all good infrastructure, it should do its work beneath the surface and without a lot of fanfare and notice. Downspouts and gutters should blend with the architecture of the house. French drains and channel drains should be filled with decorative gravel and stones. Deck drains can use specially-designed covers, usually made of metal, brass or stone, that actually enhance the look of your deck or patio design. The right amount of drains is another critical aspect of a quality drain system. By using enough drains, you are able to keep the landscape relatively flat. Otherwise, surfaces have to be pitched and slanted so that they drain to the few installed drains. You could easily end up with a landscape that resembles a Wal-Mart parking lot. A quality drainage system can be installed with little to no harm to trees and other vegetation. Tree preservation is critical during any construction project, but especially those where digging is involved. During the pre-planning phase, make sure measures are in place to take care of all your trees. When interviewing drainage contractors, be sure to ask them for references from customers for whom they've installed drainage systems. When you speak to those references, ask them how the lawn looked two to three weeks after the installation. If it's a top-notch job, the grass should be back to normal by this time with no disrupting lines showing where the pipe was laid. If the contractor failed to care for the existing lawn and the grass was not in good shape within a relatively short time, move on to the next name on the list. Drainage systems provide many benefits, but if you still need incentive, glance at the headlines again: Tropical Storm Frances struck the Upper Texas Coast in 1998. Nearly 37 inches of rain were recorded at the Port of Houston during Allison's five day rampage in 2001. Protect your valuables, both life and property, with a quality drainage system. Jeff Halper has a passion for landscaping and landscape design, for more information about landscaping and gardening visit http://www.exteriorworlds.com ------------------ ARTICLE END ------------------ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
