Water seeps into my basement

[ror105]

Ok guys, I am a little frustrated with my yard and house and since I have a tractor with a backhoe I should start digging up around my foundation, right??

That is how the conversation went with my wife anyhow.

So I have been grading, cleaning up, installing bridges and cutting in around 500' of French drains. I had to install the sewer last year and while cutting through the basement this time last year I noticed water underneath the slab. I put an additional pipe in where the sewer pipe comes out under the footer and gave enough tilt hoping it would pull some of the water out from under the slab and drain it into the 2A that surrounds the sewer pipe. I thought it was working but this past spring I had water seeping in again. Not a lot and it is in the furnace room which is the only unfinished part of the basement. So annoying but not extremely disruptive.

My thought was to dig around the foundation on that side of the house and see how the French drains around the perimeter of the footer looked. Dug down 7 feet, tore open the pipe and it looks pretty clean.

Now, I think the next step is to raise the diet around the foundation to eliminate the water from coming in beside the house. Problem is to do this I have to fill in the 7' deep hole and hope that it works. In addition to this, I am putting a patio in on the backside of the house to see if that helps keep the water away. Again, if I still have a problem and need to put in new French drains, that concrete is in the way.

So not sure what to do as the temporary fixes will be expensive and somewhat permanent and if I need to dig that back up I will be upset to say the least.

Any thoughts here??

 

[TCJatko]

Were I doing it I'd probably go ahead and install the drain under the future patio. Beats tearing up the new concrete. If you don't have sufficient slope on the lot to runs the drains to daylight, you could try some kind of dry well (space permitting).

 

[ror105]

My concern with disturbing the soil where the patio will go (to the left of the picture with the tractor) is disturbing the soil when the stone is pretty packed down and the existing French drain already is located under. I am getting nervous digging around the foundation to have one of those "should have left well enough alone" moments.

To the far right of that same picture, where the AC unit is, is about where the water comes in. Maximum amount is around 2 gallons after a super heavy rain. But the concern is that it looks like where the block meets my slab in the basement it is black and probably moldy. Not stuff I want in the house.

I like the idea of the dry well and attaching drain tile to the existing French drain. I believe out to the creek there would be enough fall but if I am not as deep then when the creek rises, water back up the pipe. You get the point.

After seeing below the slab last Spring, it almost seems as though the water table under the slab rises to the point where it is beside the footer and right next to the first course of block. It comes up high enough to seep through then the French drain eventually takes it away.

I am going to verify the outlets to gutters are certainly going into the creek and they are not blocked, start to raise the grade right above where I exposed the foundation, and get ready to put in the patio. Plan to have it be 40' wide by 20' deep and slope away from the back of the house. I am thinking there is enough water coming around the foundation that it just finds its way in there.

I guess I was hoping someone would read this and say "Hey, here is this new way people are fixing this that you have never heard of....and it is cheap and takes an hour". I have not ever had any of those fixes but wishful thinking sometimes helps me get moving in the morning.

Thanks!

 

[dave1949]

Is that clean/washed stone in the french drain where you dug it up? It looks like it may have fines in it, which you don't want in a drain.

The drain pipe should sit beside or lower than the slab. If you don't see water weeping from the existing drain outlet, it's probably blocked somewhere. If you replace it you could consider rigid drain pipe with holes.

For the patio, if you use pavers they can be taken up for work and relaid, or if they settle they can be lifted to put more base underneath. I think you are right to be concerned that the backfill from the drain work will settle and maybe crack the concrete eventually.

 

[ror105]

There are the two parts of the problem, well really 3.

There are fines in the pipe, but it looks open. I also believe the pipe is above the footer not laying beside it. And I can only find one drain outlet 100' feet from the house down by the creek. And my fear is that it is for the gutters not the French drains, which means they all collect into one pipe by the house which I know is a no-no.

When I cut through the pipe running out to the creek while trenching for the sewer last summer, it was fairly deep at that point, maybe 4'. So to attempt to do anything out through the front yard with the existing drain is going to require a deep dig from the front of the house out, probably starting at 6' next to the foundation.

The other part that is hampering my efforts is where I am currently digging is the electric coming into the house as well as power for the well pump and my water line. I did manage to run a tooth of the bucket down the edge of the water line...that put things into the perspective of "should I just accept this little leak I have".

My wife and I have gone back and forth on the paver versus concrete dilemma. I like the pavers when there is no grass growing through and they are all level and I am not shoveling snow. The concrete I like when it isn't cracked. So, we all know how each of those works out.

Frustrated with this one...maybe I should just call the landlord haha!

 

[Ken45101]

You really want the ground sloping away from the house. It looks like the gravel area is level.

I also do not see gutters or downspouts. Without them, all the water from the roof gets dumped close to the foundation. You need to drain that away.

 

[Citydude]

You really want the ground sloping away from the house. It looks like the gravel area is level.

I also do not see gutters or downspouts. Without them, all the water from the roof gets dumped close to the foundation. You need to drain that away.

I agree with this. My water in the basement issue was from a flat contour on one side of the house.

 

[kevin37b]

That hole is 7 feet deep and you bent over to cut the pipe ? You are digging your grave . See the cracks in the dirt in the second pic ? You need to bench any hole deeper than 4 feet . Think about it . If that bank sluffs off , you are gone .

 

[Citydude]

That hole is 7 feet deep and you bent over to cut the pipe ? You are digging your grave . See the cracks in the dirt in the second pic ? You need to bench any hole deeper than 4 feet . Think about it . If that bank sluffs off , you are gone .

Good catch Kevin.

 

[rd_macgregor]

A couple of years after we bought our current home, we installed a drain tile line around the house and down the hill into a dry well. The downspouts were directed into this drain as was the sump in the basement (no pump!). All worked well until my wife decided to use dogwoods to landscape over the drain line. I've eradicated the dogwoods, but am now trying to figure out how to clear the line of roots so it will drain fast enough to handle spring thaw and thunderstorm runoff.