A drain daylights when its outlet exits on a slope face, into a ditch or onto lower ground instead of tying into a pipe system. Crews say a drain is daylighted, or ask where it daylights. A drainage layer that never daylights only stores water, so finding and clearing outlets is part of every drainage inspection.
Heard on the job
Where does the wall drain daylight? If nobody knows, it isn't draining.
Also heard as
- daylighted
- daylighting
- outlet to daylight
Related terms
Drainage
Carrying water along the plane of a geosynthetic to an outlet, as in wall backdrains and leak detection layers.
Burrito
Site slang for a trench drain of stone completely wrapped in geotextile, often around a perforated pipe.
Geocomposite
Product that combines two or more geosynthetics, most often a geonet core with geotextile bonded on one or both sides.