Towards a drop inlet? Having a tough time visualizing. Pics?

 

Yeah pics will help. Are you concerned about covering with sand? If so just wrap it in plastic till you're done.

 

I'm assuming it's a catch basin since a french drain would be completely buried underground and you could mow or sand however you wanted over it. If it is a catch basin you could take the top off, install a catch basin riser to the height you desire, then grade to it. Just don't set it too high or the water won't get to it.

 

Ok here are the pics. The last one shows how deep the drain is compared to the rest of the grass. It sort of funnels down towards the really green spot where my foot is. Perhaps I should get a ruler out to show everyone how it's sloped there. I tried to show how it contours down towards the drain. I'm not sure if I should follow the contour towards the drain since it's so hard to mow or if I should do something else. Not sure what the something else would be though. I realize I can just cover up the drain while I drag the drag mat so as not to get sand in the drain but it's the shape of what the sand should be that I have questions about.

 

I'm assuming it's a catch basin since a french drain would be completely buried underground and you could mow or sand however you wanted over it. If it is a catch basin you could take the top off, install a catch basin riser to the height you desire, then grade to it. Just don't set it too high or the water won't get to it.

It's a drain with a pipe under the ground that routes out to the street. Maybe French drain isn't the right term for that. It has one of those round green tops with the slats in it.

 

Yeah, sounds like a small DI. Can you pull the grass away from the green grill? You can do exactly what @jjepeto said and attach a small riser. Just dont bust the grade for water entry into the DI.

 

Yeah, sounds like a small DI. Can you pull the grass away from the green grill? You can do exactly what @jjepeto said and attach a small riser. Just dont bust the grade for water entry into the DI.

Yes I can pull the grass away from it in general. Did you mean pull it away to take a picture? I'll look into a riser but yeah I don't want to defeat the whole purpose of the drain. Most people who have some kind of slope or grade to their yard have it over a larger area so you could mow it easier. I'm thinking maybe I should use my landscape blade to lower that grass height and just embrace the drain.

 

Tbh, as you stated, that drain should be your highest priority. Even though it's small, Its there for a reason. Imho, any leveling of the grade in that DI's field of effectiveness is going to screw up the drainage. I'd even weed wack all of the grass overgrowth off of the grill to keep it 100% exposed.

 

Tbh, as you stated, that drain should be your highest priority. Even though it's small, Its there for a reason. Imho, any leveling of the grade in that DI's field of effectiveness is going to screw up the drainage. I'd even weed wack all of the grass overgrowth off of the grill to keep it 100% exposed.

I'm not sure what a DI is. The growth is really just sitting over the top of it without dirt under it so it's not impeding the effectiveness of the drain. I had landscapers here doing some other work and they are going to put a riser in as suggested so I can level a little better and it won't scalp if I go at it from a particular angle. I didn't know risers were a thing so all of this was really helpful. I think I can keep a slight slope towards it but still make it so I can mow and water doesn't pool in that part of the lawn. We'll see

 

I'd even weed wack all of the grass overgrowth off of the grill to keep it 100% exposed.

This. or even just a knife to cut the overgrowth off the drain. If not done regularly, the grass will eventually cause problems and render the drain ineffective.