Drain Repair · Part 3 — Drainage repair — job done!
By Greg the Geeza · 10 October 2026
320 litres of soil, 16 litres of gravel and a fair bit of bloody graft. After the rain washed soil away, this repair is finished. Now let’s see what the next downpour brings.
Filling the trench
I moved around 320 litres of soil to backfill the washed-out trench leading to the outlet. That filled the hole and gave me soil to support the outside of the drainage pocket as I built it up.
Mesh, fabric and gravel
I fitted a 28 × 28 cm galvanised mesh screen at the terracotta outlet. The cut edges were covered for fitting, and the joining wire was bent away from the geotextile.
With the geotextile in place, I started with a first layer of gravel, then built the gravel up inside while adding soil around the outside to support the pocket. Around 16 litres of gravel went in altogether, approximately 15 cm thick towards the garden.
The fabric separates the soil from the gravel while allowing water through. I folded the surplus fabric over the filled pocket, then gently covered it with soil and tidied the surface.
The next rain is the test
The work is done, but I’m not calling it a proven fix yet. I’ll monitor this outlet for soil loss and settlement when heavy rain returns, and check the other outlets for signs of washout.
This is a record of what I did on our own garden project. The finished video includes my voiceover and AI-created Greg the Geeza caricatures.
Right, time for a beer. Cheers!
Tools away, repair finished—and a KEO toast to close the video. This is my own creative ending, not a sponsored post or an existing brand partnership.
Catch up on Disaster in Klirou · Part 2
— Greg the Geeza
Update: see the first rain test
