Water seeps into my basement

[ror105]

Ken45101-Downspouts are on the opposite end of the house on both the front and the back but there is definitely a slope toward the house to the left of where the tractor is in the gravel. That needs fixed and I hope to have a maximum 4-inch slope away from the house on the patio for the 16 foot depth.

Kevin-i wasnt down in the ditch at all, I cut the pipe with the teeth on the bucket (no, not intentionally). When I go into fix it, the plan is to bench the hole and have the hoe down where i can grab it to get out, 12 inch width doesnt make for a lot of room for my 34 inch waist.

 

[Dutch445]

i struggle with the same condition but don't have the time or equipment to redo the
footer drains.
i did run shallow drain with an outlet to daylight, but in spring or heavy rainy periods
we still get some seepage. currently i have a tenant in the house so it's sort of out
of sight, out of mind, and it's not always wet.

i agree with solid pipe vs that cheap corrugated stuff, a good recommendation for any that
you replace. it would be really nice to know if that drain you have uncovered terminates to
daylight or not, as that would be the best scenario. my fear is it doesn't, and as the water
table rises water sits against the block and seeps thru. and if it is groundwater, it could
be coming from quite a ways from the house, not just down alongside the foundation.
one option would be to waterproof that entire side of the foundation, there are rubber
membrane type systems that go over the paint on tar stuff.
another option would be the dryloc type of paint for inside the block wall, i have heard
that they work pretty well, and if you only have a small unfinished area to do it might
not be a bad product to try. (my tenant says it's working in 1 corner of the basement)
if you dig under where you put the patio, it would require extra time in compacting the
soils as you backfilled, and once finished water will be pitched away from the house so
that will help move water away from the house there.

 

[SPIKER]

If it is a single area you might want to look at cutting the floor inside and installing a subpump system to pump it away. Time costs and effort might be with you that way. if it is groundwater (coming up there) then not much is going to help you drain it away with the drain around the outside. I agree with others on be safe fixing the drain in narrow hole and NOT digging up the area you intend to patio without lots of compaction prior to concrete work.

M

 

[Ken45101]

it would be really nice to know if that drain you have uncovered terminates to
daylight or not, as that would be the best scenario. my fear is it doesn't,

When we had a house built in 1974, they did not install any drain tile. Later, down the street, they started installing drain tile: in a loop around the foundation, with NO drain to anywhere! :: Wow, that was a big improvement!

This was the same outfit that did not understand that water does not drain UPHILL. After a year of mowing grass under 2" of water, we had them regrade the yard and resod it. I think these were they guys that originated the "green side up!" joke

 

[ror105]

So the basement has been dry for over a month....and then we had a lot of rain through the night last night. Basement now has that darn little puddle that annoys me so much. Again, looking where the patio is going to go, there is the suspect puddle that tells me "go look in the basement. If I had to guess how much of the yards rain is ending up pooling down there I would say approximately a 100' by 75' section is a good guess.

Time to build the patio and slope EVERYTHING away from the house. I now have a project that I was hoping to hold off until I finished staining the house and moving the 40 tons of rip rap into the creek. Going to be a long summer.

I hope to do most of the site work on my own to prep for concrete. I believe we have settled on that. A guy at work got a quote to have 700 sq feet installed at $9500. I need around 600 sq ft and three sets of steps. Doing a majority of the work myself, I hope to get away with a cost of $3k max.

Let the fun begin!!

Thanks for all of your inputs guys.

 

[MotorSeven]

If it is a single area you might want to look at cutting the floor inside and installing a subpump system to pump it away. Time costs and effort might be with you that way. if it is groundwater (coming up there) then not much is going to help you drain it away with the drain around the outside. I agree with others on be safe fixing the drain in narrow hole and NOT digging up the area you intend to patio without lots of compaction prior to concrete work.

M

x2, this is the best way to take care of water under a slab if you have already done everything you can on the surface.

 

[ray66v]

The secret is very simple, good footer drains, (I like to put the sock on the pipe), and washed stone nearly all the way to the top of the hole.

Landscaping fabric on top of the stone, and dirt if landscaping is desired.

With stone all the way to the top, no pressure can develop. So you will never get any water in your basement. Even if you had a big hole in your foundation, you won't get any water, because the water drops straight down into the footer drain, before it gets a chance to go anywhere else.

Dry wells, and french drains are not a good way of getting rid of foundation water. Sooner or later, they get overwhelmed, and the water starts to back up. You need the water to have a clear, and consistent way to be removed, either by gravity or pump.

 

[BuilderML]

I didn't read every post so i apologize if i am repeating what others have said.
So you have water getting in?
Step 1) Install stone, ridgid perf pipe, and landscape fabric lower than the slab level.
Step 2) Drain to daylight with solid ridgid pipe.
Step 3) Install drain board against house to reduce water pressure against foundation wall.
Step 4) Install solid pipe to collect gutter leaders and drain to daylight.
Step 5) Backfill and have a cold beer as you just worked your butt off to do the 5 steps.
Step 6) Enjoy your dry basement.

If you can't do the above listed cut about 12" of the inside slab along the foundation wall. Remove and install stone, and pipe going to a sump pit. Have it pump far away from the house.

Also NEVER use that black roll of perf pipe for your footing drain on the exterior. to much weight for that pipe to support for exterior application. For an inside drain under the slab it would be ok. I think you said that your pipe looked ok. It may be ok where you dug but that pipe is famous for collapsing.

Hope this helps and have fun with your big project.:thumbsup: