Installing HydroBlox

Installing HydroBlox Is Much Faster And Easier Than Any Other Drainage System

One material vs. Three. No pipe, fittings, aggregate, or geotextile filter fabric

Step 1

Determine the design layout for your system based on your goals. It may be helpful to mark the layout with a can of marking paint or chalk. Note that in most cases we will be able to advise you on how best to design a solution or system.

Step 2

Dig a trench just wide enough to install the boards. For a level run, there must be at least 3” of backfill cover on top of the boards. (good quality soil or sand. No clay-heavy soil.) If there is slope, the 3” rule above does not need to be followed. Your goal should be to achieve at least a 2% slope, which equals 2 ½” drop per 10 feet

Step 3

Slide the hydroblox boards into the trench vertically. (almost all applications use the boards installed vertically. A few applications are well suited for boards laid flat.)
Be sure to “butt” the planks together solidly to ensure efficient waterflow from board to board. Some installers will choose to overlap the ends and some will even use a screw to hold the ends together. (almost noone uses screws, but some folks like that extra insurance.)

Step 4

Hydroblox must be backfilled with good soil (soil that will absorb water.) or sand.
Do not backfill with:
-clay soil (surface water needs to get to the hydroblox boards for the boards to work, and clay is the enemy of absorption.)
- gravel (unless using hydroblox in a gravity fed system)
- gravelly soil (unless using in a gravity fed system)
- brick, block, stones (unless draining subsurface waterflow. As with clay, the surface water needs to get to the hydroblox for the hydroblox to work.)
Backfill the sides and top of the boards. It’s a good idea to tamp down the sides and cover to minimize or avoid soil settling

HydroBlox Curtain Drains

When a solution calls for water to be captured and drained over a large vertical area, we build what we call “curtain drains”.

These are usually built by stacking the boards on top of each other to the height (depth) desired. Curtain drains can also be built by orienting the boards on end. With each board being 7 ½ feet long, you can quickly cover a lot of surface area.

Because HydroBlox is 75% lighter than aggregate, the difference between using gravel vs. a HydroBlox curtain drain for a deep drainage application is night vs. day.

How To Install