Water draining into your sideyard from your outdoor AC is not an uncommon scenario. So if you are searching for yard drainage solutions for AC condensation drain runoff, you are in the right place!
Rectifying drainage issues are always a hassle because there is this chance that your quick fix will pose a problem for others.
Thus, calling the local authority or a landscape contractor to read the situation and hatch a solution keeps the entire neighborhood content.
So, let us see some of the yard drainage solutions that you can implement.
Components of Your Solution
Whether by an expert or by yourself, when you go to tackle the issue, your issue will involve 2 components. You will have to:
- Redirect the drain water from your AC
- Enhance the soil drainage
Redirect The Drain Water From Your AC
The first task you should do is steer some of this drainage water somewhere else. Are you in need of ideas? Let’s dig in:
- French Drain
French drains are literally ditches stacked with gravel that route water far from the underground. Its size would be needed for around 3.5-tonne maximum in a relatively warm climate.
Its drainage system should link with gravity to function. There are two ways to install it in your house.
Firstly, you can bury it around the external side of your foundation. Otherwise, you could equip another method – installing a French drain underneath your basement floor, that too inside the basement’s perimeter.
Whatever you do, don’t fall victim to common mistakes making French drain!
- Above the Ground Extension Pipe
One easy solution you can come up with is linking an extension hose or pipe to your AC drainage. Then extend it all the way downhill from your house or any thirsty flowerbed.
- Underground Drain Pipe
When the air condenses into liquid in the tray below the AC coil, you connect a drain pipe to your main plumber drain line.
Due to the gravitational forces, water from that tray would flow through the drain pipe. Note to keep this drain pipe on a slope.
Stream the condensation drain to your buried drain line, which can later be redirected downhill and further away from your yard.
- Catch Basin
Catch Basin Vs. French Drain. Often, you would see people using the terms interchangeably, but they differ in a particular way.
Catch basins are large surface-level drains attached to a basin or any box to quickly gather the surface water. In contrast, French drains are basically sub-surface rains where groundwater seethes into the soil.
A catch basin can be used in the center of your yard. It is a covered box featuring a grate above. It also has openings where underground pipes can adhere to.
Surface water rushes into this catch basin and is later directed in those covered drainage pipes.
- Dry Well
First of all, there are differences between Dry well and a French drain. Don’t confuse the two!
A dry well for AC drain can be constructed at the lowest position if the drainage pipes have no other route to escape through.
It is a hole stacked with rock and gravel, providing the runoff water to collect and later seethe into the nearby subsoil.
However, this solution requires some work. At first, before installing the dry well, do a percolation test to monitor if the dry well will do good in your yard’s soil conditions.
Next, using a digger, form a diameter to create a hole in the center. Note the soil texture. Dry well for AC drain will require soil with a perfect balance of fine and coarse particles to let the water drain through.
Clay soil is a bad choice as they retain a lot of the runoff water.
How to Know Soil Type & Why It’s Important?
Now, how will you know the soil type? If the runoff or groundwater fills the central hole immediately, you should consider some other drainage solution.
Another method would be to pour some gallons of water inside the hole and note the time the water takes to drain through. If it drains fast, pour some more gallons to ensure that it’s not dry soil.
Once the water takes moderate time to drain through, you can consider it to be a good drainage system.
- Collection Bucket
You can guess its function just by the name of this. It’s used to collect your runoff water that drains into your outdoor from your AC.
If the air conditioner unit is kept high off the ground, you can directly direct its condensation drain pipe into a rain barrel or collection bucket.
What can you do with this condensed liquid, that is, water?
Well, you could use this to water your garden in the yard. Sprinkle it on the flowers for them to bloom.
Enhance the Soil Drainage
If the air conditioner drain line outside the house dripping causes your soil to become boggy, the clay soil is probably the culprit. It does not drain well at well.
Below are some things you can implement to enhance the soil drainage for better aqua transportation:
- Soil Perk Test
You can try out the DIY percolation test to figure out the drainage rate of your yard’s soil. For improving drainage, you could just top-dress your yard soil.
- Top-Dress and Aerate Your Soil
Core aeration of the soil will remove any small plugs, gradually allowing you to top-dress your yard soil to organically add nutrients and enhance soil drainage.
If done annually, this keeps improving the quality of the soil so that your AC water can move away easily.
Be careful not to give a tick-layer covering to your soil as it might suffocate the soil.
- Grade Yard
Some of you might have a bowl-shaped yard. Try grading the land to direct your water somewhere. Take professional help to analyze the soil topography better.
- Open Up Yard
Shred the nearby shrubs or trees to send as much air and sunlight as possible to dry the soil out.
- Landscape Plants
Do not let the water go down the drain (literally!). Instead, use the excess water by planting the hydrophilic plants, which grow well in water.
Before I go, I want you to watch this video on what to do on AC condensation drainage issue.
Final Thoughts
That’s a wrap for the yard drainage solutions for AC condensation drain runoff. We have presented some of the beneficial ways to aerate your soil and not flood up your yard.
Try implementing the methods on your own. Do let us know which worked the best for you!
About Author
