How To Find Grade | Drainage And Landscaping 

Line levels don't go through an extensive quality control process. Remember to check your level. Once it indicates level, flip it around and see if it still indicates level. This has saved my fanney on a few occasions.

Excellent presentation! Concise but thorough, articulate, good photography. Thank you!

Your videos help in wiping the fear about sump pumps and it gave us peace of mind in case we are faced with the problem which is most likely because we have three sump pumps because of the size of the house. Again thank you.

I use the rise over run method. Rise (change in height) divided by the run ( distance). So a rise of 24 inches over a run of 30 feet ( 360 inches) would give a slope of 0.067 or a slope of about 7% rounded. (24 /360) .

I found his string & knot explanations months ago too ... fantastic!!! And used these methods in the garden couple weeks ago. Right on !!! Keep yer helpful videos coming

I agree, I have been watch Scott of the Essential Craftsman for years and learned a ton. Well rounded guy.

Fantastic. And very helpful for my ongoing 90’ drainage project.

Essential craftsman is a master at everything, love watching him .

Love the closeup of knots.

I came to find the level and learned so much more!!!! Well done sir!

Thank you, you are very well spoken and easy to listen to, not to mention informative

Another outstanding post just in time to help me with my son's house. Thanks a million Scott!!

This was really, really useful! I'm building my own board-on-board fence and I learned a lot just from this video. Thanks!

Love your channel - quick, to the point, great content, no fluff or hacks. Thanks!

Very clear explanation, the close ups help a lot. Congratulation!

Explanation easy to follow. Audio and diction is superior to a lot of videos out there that are virtually impossible to hear or understand. Great job of teaching useful skills and methods!

This is a great landscaping tip. Thanks!

great video clear and easy to follow--thanks for the help

For those trying to do the math on slope, you need at least 1-2%. The easy math is a 10 ft pipe is 120 inches so 1% = 1.2 inches in 10 feet. 2% is 2.4 inches in 10 feet. Maintain this pitch and your water will always drain away.

I think this May help me setting up my new pool..😮😮😮 .. it’s been quite the project!! Thank you

Really good tips on those string line knots. Thanks for the video.

Very nice. I hope you show us the installation of the irrigation system. Thank you for sharing

Thanks! Putting to use today on purchasing my first home, to check drainage away from the house

AMAZINGLY HELPFUL!!!

Very good video, straight to the point.

Thank you man, you’re a lot of help!

Fantastic. So simple

Thanks for showing the knobs

Super helpful! Thanks.

Wow thank you for posting this

You're a genius mate!

Great! Well done man 👍👏

Thanks for your information and video 📹👍I appreciate you

Straight up MacGyver simple n effective my Man got my sub ✅🎯💯🤙🏽

Nice work!

I dont know, but you have a wide range of knowledge and the hands, dont look now, you are a Pro, and you have the stones to try new things, "Everyday Pro". Good job.

Nice shirt. We lived in Champaign for 5 years!

Your content is so immensely helpful and always presented so clearly. And now I see you’re a fellow Illini alum? Oskee wow wow! 🧡💙🧡💙

New subscriber. Thanks for the video from Davenport Iowa

Good tips. Thank you.

Let's see ya dig it! Great Video!

When Adam Wainwright retires from the St. Louis Cardinals and pursues his passion of starting a youtube channel! You are his doppelganger!

Thanks for the knot tying tip

might try a clove hitch on one end and a taughtline hitch on the other. I'll try the cow hitch sometime, looks intriguing. That's a great tip to rub dirt on the line to scuff it up some to make it hold better.

Many thanks Scott !!!

yes EC its a good youtube channel

Awesome video, I have a yard that is about 120' x 120' and when I bought the house it had plenty of trees and bushes, I rented a skid loader to remove them the only thing I could not remove was a few stumps. But when I got filler dirt and it rained I noticed it had a slope going away from the drain that was towards the front of the yard so I had a pond pretty much. I have a concrete slab in the center of the yard and wanted to know what would be the best way to fill the back and have the water go around the concrete to drain.

Thanks so much

Great and simple video. I have 2 questions. I am going to grade my 60 feet by 30 feet backyard. If I grade the yard from the back of my house wall till the end of the backyard wall, will the foundation of my backyard wall not become weak? My second question is.. doesn't grading make you feel as if you are going to tumble?

Thank you!

Thank You Sir 👍

I have extensive water damage in my condo, can you use this trick inside?

VeryGood way to leval a Mobile home too!

Holy Moly, you are exactly the guy I need to do such measurements without the sophisticated tools. Tools I wouldn't know how to use because they are too sophisticated...hahaha

Thanks!

My yard is quite small, literally about 10 feet, rectangular, and about 60 feet along a fence line. It slopes gently downward from the home, and at about the 1/2 way point, maybe just a little less the drainage exists. I have an increase of hill dirt after that drain line that I want to take away but leave enough rise to prevent water ponding on a finished patio I'm planning. In some ways, I feel like I can "eye ball" this, but really want to do this correctly. Can this method work, and I'm wondering how much slope I should shoot for? Thanks for any advice.

It's also possible to get a very accurate level with a length of clear vinyl tube. Fill with water so there is no air in the line and the level of water will always be exactly the same at both ends of the tube. You can do it with a hose but it's easier with a clear tube because the water level will be more visible.

thank you

How do you dig the slope with the string line above the base of your trench?

Very nicely filmed and edited.

Personally I use a transparent hose filled with water. the water level is the same from left to right. Thank's for your nice vidéo.

So wood u run the corrugated pipe at the level of the top soil to keep in line with that 12 inch slope?

Can you do a video on how to make a water collection with 55 gallon drum from gutter?!

Scott, great video! I was wondering, if there is no positive slope from the house to where you want the discharge, can you create this slope underground???

Quality!

This may be OK for a short run. But if you check the level all along a LONG string you MUST be exactly halfway, no matter how tight the line, or it will slope toward the middle (look at power lines). A "professional" septic designer used this method to put my drain field VISIBLY slightly uphill from my sand filter about 100-feet away (design was completed before I purchased the land). The installer caught this, and we found his broken sewing-thread tied to stakes. I contacted him about it but he wouldn't even come out observe my findings with a laser. Because the permit was already accepted by the county, he wanted cash-up-front for a redesign. I hired someone else to modify the design, and ended up with a big mound for the sand filter, which probably should have been all along, given the terrain. It looks like some mysterious ancient ceremonial feature in an Irish landscape (with a manhole on top).

If you have the 1st half of a 125' run with nearly 0° of slope, but the 2nd half with 5° slope, will the 1st half still flow?

❤ OMG YOU HAVE SOME A MY AMAZING EYES. AN THANKS FOR THE INFO ON THE GRADE AN THE KNOTS,

I need to grade my yard down some. I just had a new expanded driveway added and it is almost 8 inches below the grade or top of the soil. can someone tell me how to DYI issue?

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There's an easier way. Just use wooden stakes with 1 inch increment markings. Measure the distance then you have you rise over run. You can convert to percent. Done.

For the most accurate reading of the line level bubble, the line level needs to be positioned on the line midway between the two stakes (equal distance from each stake).

I have two very large trees, and in the middle it's become very swampy . What basic question I should asking?

So if im connecting multiple drains from dofferent gutters do i slope each trench i dig or just the main pipe for drainage?

One way to make this easier is to tie the first line at a simple to use height, like 10 inches or 20 inches. Mark the stake then tie the line at the mark. By the way, there is always a small amount of sag in every horizontal cable or in this case string no matter how much you tighten them. I won't go through the Physics of why unless someone really wants to know and asks. I taught Physics for 33 years before retiring so I assure you this is correct. Yous sting is light enough and the distance short enough so it is not enough to worry about, but it is there, nonetheless.

I would recommend not corgated pipe, specially for burying down spouts. Leaves and stuff will build up eventually in it. I recommend pvc. Still economically friendly for small projects like these ❤️

How do you figure what height to tie your string off on the stakes ?

thanks for the cow loop, but isn't there the 'professiona' engineers loop that EVERYONE uses? - and that I still can't figure out how to tie it!

For drainage pipes, when I worked at the DOT we had a minimum design slope of 0.5% to help reduce the possibility of material buildup in the pipes. Just FYI. Your video example has plenty, 2.77% if I did my calculations correctly.

So since you have 36ft long and 12 inches of change. How do you know what your slope is for drainage ?

Did you have leakage in your basement prompting this fix? Wondering if this fix will help some minor leaking in my basement. Great video.

Are you near Delaware/Maryland peninsula? Only place I've heard people pronounce 'taut' as 'taunt'.

What if my elevation change is less. Is there a minium is has to be?

For those looking to build a foundation without a laser and have a slope going away I expand on what he did. 1) follow these steps to establish your current slope. Math for you: rise/run×100=%slope. 2) use Pythagorian theorem to find your hypothneus using your dimentions. (a2+b2=c2). Using 2 tape measures. (1 run the length/width (depending which one you measured first)) then cross that with the hypothneus will create a square measurement for your 3rd spike. Repeat for the 4th spike. Use this so you don't have a crooked square. Running a tape measure point to point without the hypotheus as a second will not give you a squared measurement. 3) use string to level remaining stakes. I draw a line where it is. 4) calculate your %slope and measure either up or down from your level by your %value. Make new mark on the grade stake. 5) add a stake halfway between each of your corners and find your grade from string. Mark it 6) find your center by crossing hypotneus of both tape measures with the value by 2 (since the tape measures cross at the halfway point. Stake and string across. Mark line for grade. 7) using a tenths ruler measure from ground level to your marks. Write the value on the stake. I use tenths of a foot rather than inches since you can add/subtract really easy with it. If you want to learn tenths and converting to your inches diesel and iron had a great youtube video that explains it. You'll find it's much easier and faster using tenths than a std tape measure. 8) add up all the foot values you wrote and divide by #of stakes. That's your avg 9) take area (LxW) times volume (your avg) to get expected cubic feet 10) divide by 27 (cub ft to cub yds). Remember this is known as TIGHT yards. Tight yards means dirt is compacted and undisturbed. Dirt you buy is loos since it isn't compacted or settled. If you're buying sand multiply your cub yds x1.3 (swell factor) 11) call local dirt guys and order some. If you're not sure call local construction company. Alot of them sell the materials. If not they'll tell you who to call. If you have questions please ask. It's hard to explain from just texting.

A clear tube with water running to both sides can also do this

If your aim is bad/to prevent splintering wooden stakes I like to use a 2x4 to set flat on top of the stakes. I do landscaping and often have to drive hundreds of stakes in a hurry so I’m not sure if anyone else has that problem lol

I can't get my line taught enough. I'm guessing I'm having trouble because my stakes have rounded edges...

👍👍👍

You should get 3 stakes. Level from #1 to #2 and 2 to 3 and back to 1. You should be at the same level if the thing works and get a sense of the error/confidence level.

Water level. 20 ft clear 3/4” clear pipe at $0.50 ft. Gives perfect level every time

The place a line level is most accurate is near the end of the run. In the middle of a sagging string it will always read level and fool you (and yours had a noticeable sag…difficult to get it tight enough unless you set up batter boards or something more solid). Personally I’d forget the string and use a water level

the string line will sag in the middle, so having the level near the end of the string line will not give you an accurate reading, to get an accurate reading the level has to be in the middle of the string line.

A little problem with the wind at the beginning of the video.

👍🏻

Love all these videos, but MY problem is not from the downspout, it’s water accumulating against the house. Apparently the grade runs down from the far side of the yard to the house.

Fighting Illini

USING A LINE LEVEL - IT MUST BE EXACTLY, dead on, to an 1/8" between the tie offs at the ends. The closer the line level is to one end, the lower that end will be from the other. No matter how tight you pull it, it sags; your example here is not very tight. Also, check accuracy by turning the level end for end on the line. Shooting elevations with a transit, the instrument is between the points; reading, then sighting at 180 degrees cancels any error.

I believe that these string line spirit levels can be dodgy and inaccurate, especially if the hight of the two clips are not 100% the same when it's hanging. The way to find out if it's accurate is to hang it facing one side and then turn it around to face the opposite side. If the bubble is always in the same position, the spirit level is accurate. If not, then you need to work out the average.

10 foot pipe so if you want a quarter grade its 2 inches and 1/2 for every 10 feet because theres 10 quarters in 10 feet= 2 inches in a half

Just a heads up most cities and townships have zoning codes now where your not allowed to drain eave run off into your sewer or road. Homeowners should check their zoning codes before attempting this or they could force you to plug it or remove your work.