# Home Improvement: Draining garage entrance **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 21, 2008, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-improvement-draining-garage-entrance/438596 "2008-02-21T17:57:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-improvement-draining-garage-entrance/438596/1 "2008-02-21T17:57:23Z")
I have a garage which, unfortunately, has a foundation a few inches lower than the alley from which you enter it. Needless to say, water will puddle up near the dirt/gravel entrance and seep in under the garage door; not a big deal in the summer, but this winter it has left a sheet of ice at the entrance and made it tricky to get the car in safely. I’d like to drain this, perhaps putting something like a French drain straight across just in front of the garage door and draining the water out under my yard. But I don’t know if such a drain would survive being driven over day in and day out. Or would it be smarter to dig up the dirt entrance, level it and fill with gravel to make a slope up from the garage to the alley? Any tips would be appreciated, thx:-) ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-improvement-draining-garage-entrance/438596/2 "2008-02-21T18:27:49Z")
A below the grade foundation is a no no. A well-buttressed French drain should be no problem if you have it down by a competent contractor. [http://www.odsnews.com.au/news?cid=11459&pid=3343825](http://www.odsnews.com.au/news?cid=11459&pid=3343825) ---
**Author:** ![Purgatory\_Creek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/74df32/32.png) [@Purgatory\_Creek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purgatory_Creek)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-improvement-draining-garage-entrance/438596/3 "2008-02-21T18:31:33Z")
I just happened to catch something about this one day on [Ask This Old House](http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/asktoh/question/0,,1585857,00.html). If Tommy Silva thinks it’s all right, it’s probably worth checking out. ---
**Author:** ![masterofnone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@masterofnone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/masterofnone)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-improvement-draining-garage-entrance/438596/4 "2008-02-21T19:08:56Z")
I’m not sure I understand you correctly. Does the water have anywhere above ground to drain onto if you install one of the drains described above? Or do you really want to drain it under your yard? If you want to drain it underground, you will have to dig a large hole below frost level and fill it with stone. These are called dry wells around here. Whether they work or not depends on the soil structure. A dry well in clay will only catch as much water as it can hold at once, as it takes forever to drain. A dry well in sandy soil can drain a lot of water away pretty quickly. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-improvement-draining-garage-entrance/438596/5 "2008-02-21T22:39:59Z")
[QUOTE=CJJ\*] would it be smarter to dig up the dirt entrance, level it and fill with gravel to make a slope up from the garage to the alley? [/QUOTE] This solution would be the easiest to maintain, over time, since it requres no effort once it’s done. Silva recommends (in **Purgatory** ’s link) a slot drain “if you can’t regrade your driveway”.