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I have a problem on a house I am working on. The grade around the house is about 8′ higher than the walk out portion and the basement floor. When there is rain (or more recently snow) they have had problems with water coming up from cracks in the floor and coming through the walls. They have removed all shrubs and trees from around the house and have drained the spouts about 6′ away and down hill from the house. What is the most economical solution for a next try? Would adding 8 inches of topsoild and slopping it away in about 10′ give enough pitch to solve it? They are concerned about the money? What are some options I can help them decide between?
Scott W. Whitten
Anchored & Co.
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Scott:
Some more information would be helpful. I assume the house is on a hill, what type of drain tile system does it have, is there a sump pump, or gravity feed? Does any water drain towards the house instead of away from it? Is the site low in relation to the surrounding area? How old is the house?
This could be as easy as unplugging a clogged gravity feed drain tile or much more … tough to tell without seeing the site but try to give some more info …..
*From Scott via E-mail:Thanks for your comments on my basement. The house is below grade for all but 25% of the back wall. Here the driveway is at basement floor level and there is an overhead Door as marked below. Here it is below grade.______////////////_____________________________________I I II I II I II I II I II I II I I------------------------------------------------------------------------I am not sure what other information can be gathered I have a septic tank and drains in my floor of my basement either run there or the previous owner though maybe just out to nowhere. The house is 50 years old. The drains handle all of the water that comes in. But that does not dry out my shop before it gets there.From JJScott don't be afraid to post at FHB discussion, there is a entire group of guys here with alot of experience. What I don't know someone else might... As far as the basement goes, I suspect that there is something wrong with the foundation drain tile, if there is any. If you don't have a sump pump or drain tile, surface water has no way of getting away from your foundation, and ends up in your basement. This situation is common in 50 year old houses (1950). Do you have a sump pump, and are you the lowest house in the neighborhood ?
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My impression on this subject is that there are many opinions but only sure solution would have been to build in a drainage from the beginning. This is what I heard as simple solutions. Direct water away from the house with channels and sloping. One said building a slope with clay soil and another said 2 sloping layers with thick plastic liner in between. Depending on your water table, it seems good gutters and redirection can help a lot. Some vegetation also absorb a lot of water. Also caulk the joint between the foundation and walkway if you have one. Hope this helps.
*No, I do not have a sump pump. The lot in question is a deep and narrow 1.3 acre lot that is about 450 ft deep. The front quarter of the lot where the house is is about 8 feet above the rest of the grade. There is a creek running through the back yard and even it is about 4 feet below the grade of the basement and well over 300 feet away? I doubt if there is any drain tile and I am not sure how expensive or difficult it would be to add?Scott WhittenAnchored & Co.
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I have a problem on a house I am working on. The grade around the house is about 8' higher than the walk out portion and the basement floor. When there is rain (or more recently snow) they have had problems with water coming up from cracks in the floor and coming through the walls. They have removed all shrubs and trees from around the house and have drained the spouts about 6' away and down hill from the house. What is the most economical solution for a next try? Would adding 8 inches of topsoild and slopping it away in about 10' give enough pitch to solve it? They are concerned about the money? What are some options I can help them decide between?
Scott W. Whitten
Anchored & Co.
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Scott:
With the house on a hill, I would make a serious effort to find drain tile. During the original construction it would have been easy to run drain tile around the foundation and gravity feed it into the creek. (no sump pump) I would try to find if and where this drain tile opens out to daylight.
A low spot in the yard near the creek would be a place to start. We had a situation where a tractor lawn mower ran over this gravity feed drain tile and clogged it. It was a simple matter of digging the drain tile back out and letting it drain itself.
If, in fact, there is no drain tile around the house, I would first get as much rain water away from the house as possible. Your suggestion of adding 8” of topsoil will help. The 8” of topsoil in 10’ is equal to 6.7% pitch, which is plenty.
You can also install a sump pump and pit without drain tile. This will give you a low spot for the water to collect, if the water can get to the pit. No guarantee that this will solve the problem.
In the end the final solution to getting rid of the water may be installing drain tile into a sump or into a gravity feed to the creek. Get some quotes, see what kind of money it will cost, and then weigh the options. It sounds like all the landscaping has been removed, so now would be the time to do it.
Good Luck ! JJ Hamer