Trying to learn a little about keeping H2O out of the basement...
Since we moved in a year ago, we've had a few issues with water in the walk-out basement. Not lots of water (usually), but enough to be annoying. Here's the set-up: house is about 46 years old with concrete block walls and poured floor. I'm told that the block walls are filled with concrete. I don't think there's any drain tile around the house - there certainly isn't a sump system. Our biggest two issues seem to be clogged down spouts and poor drainage. I've cleaned the down spouts, which took care of the water in the back; now I'm left with poor drainage in the front.
Probably the yard was originally graded to slope away from the foundation, but that isn't the case any more. Across the front, there's a gentle slope towards the house. I'm going to haul in some dirt and fix this issue, but I'm thinking of installing drain tile at the same time. Here's my current, uninformed idea: I'll dig down a foot or two across the front of the house and lay in some perforated pipe covered in a debris sleeve, then cover it in gravel. I'll fill the trench in with dirt and bring it up about a foot to 18in above current grade and slope away from the house for 10 feet or so. The drain pipe I'll run out the side of a hill about 30-50 feet from the house.
Questions: 1) Is all the work of running the drain pipe going to do any additional good, beyond my effort to build up the grade? If I do put in this pipe, how deep must it be to help and how close to the foundation should I go? What other issues/options should I consider?
Thanks,
Tres
Since we moved in a year ago, we've had a few issues with water in the walk-out basement. Not lots of water (usually), but enough to be annoying. Here's the set-up: house is about 46 years old with concrete block walls and poured floor. I'm told that the block walls are filled with concrete. I don't think there's any drain tile around the house - there certainly isn't a sump system. Our biggest two issues seem to be clogged down spouts and poor drainage. I've cleaned the down spouts, which took care of the water in the back; now I'm left with poor drainage in the front.
Probably the yard was originally graded to slope away from the foundation, but that isn't the case any more. Across the front, there's a gentle slope towards the house. I'm going to haul in some dirt and fix this issue, but I'm thinking of installing drain tile at the same time. Here's my current, uninformed idea: I'll dig down a foot or two across the front of the house and lay in some perforated pipe covered in a debris sleeve, then cover it in gravel. I'll fill the trench in with dirt and bring it up about a foot to 18in above current grade and slope away from the house for 10 feet or so. The drain pipe I'll run out the side of a hill about 30-50 feet from the house.
Questions: 1) Is all the work of running the drain pipe going to do any additional good, beyond my effort to build up the grade? If I do put in this pipe, how deep must it be to help and how close to the foundation should I go? What other issues/options should I consider?
Thanks,
Tres