Need some DEEP French Drains, how can I do this or hire someone?

[Egon]

Actually there has been soil tests but not for our home yet. I will be obtaining a neighbors soil test that from what they said, is right next to our house ..so ill post that.
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Mancho; there is a good possibility the problem covers your entire subdivision . Localized testing may be good but will not tell the fellows what is going on overall.:thumbsup:

 

[Coyote machine]

The problem is as you stated, too many cooks, too much broth...literally.
No one can give you a certain answer as to what they will do for whatever amount of money will definitely and permanently solve your foundation/ water/drainage issues once and for all.
Please address the question of considering moving your house to a new lot with none of the water issues. This would eliminate the possibility of failed attempts and wasted monies that would end up with the same results your neighbors already have. And, when it comes to resale at some future date you will not be living in mud-canal where you could get slammed on resale even if you solve your own home's plight.

Ten year guarantee is worthless if the solution does not solve your issue. Companies doing the kind of work you have estimates for won't likely do more work free to fix a problem their initial solution did not solve.

 

[mancho]

From the drawing you posted and looking on Google Maps, it looks like your lot is relatively flat, as is the whole development. Plus you property is surrounded on 3 sides by paved right of way. How will the French drains drain? Where will the water go? If there is no where for them to drain too, they become water sinks.

This is incorrect. Our property sits on a hill.. if you do a google "street view" you can pan around and see this entire area is VERY HILLY, and most of it is probably fill dirt.

 

[MicroPilot]

This is incorrect. Our property sits on a hill.. if you do a google "street view" you can pan around and see this entire area is VERY HILLY, and most of it is probably fill dirt.

I guess it's a matter of perspective. In my area your house and development sit on ground that would be considered flat. I would estimate that the elevation difference in your area from the lowest point to your house is maybe 70' over a distance of about 1300'. I can walk out my front door, walk 200' and be 70' below my house.

 

[inveresk]

Yes this is my delima ... I was over next door and this morning they were digging the neighbors 10 to 14 foot trench on my side where a majority of the ground water is evident and they have water of 6 inches sitting down at 10 feet .. I saw it.

Funny thing is, one french drain expert says that 36 inches from the bottom of the foundation beam is more than adequate ... even if there is a river running under the house.

I don't have to dig anything like 10' deep to hit the water table here. 4 - 5 feet would do it. There is also some seasonal shift - it probably drops a further 18" - 24" in summer - but the movement in the water table isn't enough to cause the clay to heave discernibly. (I also have that swale on the uphill side of my house which I'd still recommend you install).

Surely the clay can only be heaving so much in your situation because your seasonal water table movement is so much greater and possibly you're clay more expansive (although we have pretty heavy clay here).

It seems to me you might get some answers if you monitor the shift in the water table over a year. It would mean opening up some test pits and leaving them open so you can measure the rise and fall in the water table. This isn't going to make your yard look pretty but it's a cheap way to determine what the water level is doing. Once you know the seasonally lowest point, installing french drains at that level so the water table is kept there would mean you have a stable state. Difficulties would arise if you find that the lowest point of the water table is way below the 10 feet that your neighbour has trenched. if this is the highest point in the water table and it drops considerably during the summer, you're getting into a depth that french drains aren't likely to be a practical solution. The fact they haven't worked for your neighbour suggests this might be the case. If it is, then piling might be the only answer short of moving the house.

I'm partly grasping at straws here, but a methodical and cheap means of determining why the clay heave is so great surely makes sense in the light of the fact that none of the engineered solutions your neighbours have tried have worked.