Wet basement and down spout extension length
- Thread starter Doc_Bob
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Birdhunter1
Veteran Member
Take it far enough away so it won't dwell in an area that drains back to the house. Good rule of thumb, the farther the better. The last one I put in was about 50', I put aother one out about 20' and another about 15' even though I don't like that roll up corrugated pipe it works well for gutter drains. Best bet is to run solid pieces and not splice it. A tile spade and a shovel works well to get it done, half a day or so and you can have it wooped!
Highbeam
Super Member
The ground surface is supposed to slope away from your home for 8' as I recall. Farther is better but you need to have a disharge point that will allow the water to keep on going away from your home. With a basement I would pay particular attention to proper disposal of the roof water since it is one of the biggest reasons for wet basements.
patrick_g
Elite Member
Most of my downspouts are connected to either 4 or 6 inch diameter PVC drain pipes that drain to daylight far from the house. They drain either into a creek feeding a backyard pond or into that or one of the other back yard ponds (we have 3 ponds near the house.)
I need to saw out a section of sidewalk to be able to connect another down spout to the existing drain pipe. As I will be pretty much xeroscaping the yard between the house and the circular drive and not having anything requiring mowing or weed eating between the drive and the house, I don't need/want rain water to be dumped near the house.
My basement is excavated in an area where the ground water was about 5 feet above the basement floor but I have French drains at the height of the foundation inside and outside the basement walls and a product called InsulDrain covering the lower 8 feet of the basement walls on the outside and so far after 3 1/2 years the walls and floor are super dry.
Pat
I need to saw out a section of sidewalk to be able to connect another down spout to the existing drain pipe. As I will be pretty much xeroscaping the yard between the house and the circular drive and not having anything requiring mowing or weed eating between the drive and the house, I don't need/want rain water to be dumped near the house.
My basement is excavated in an area where the ground water was about 5 feet above the basement floor but I have French drains at the height of the foundation inside and outside the basement walls and a product called InsulDrain covering the lower 8 feet of the basement walls on the outside and so far after 3 1/2 years the walls and floor are super dry.
Pat
Birdhunter1
Veteran Member
Take a piece of 1/2" pipe and screw a fire hose nozzle onto the end and you can jet a line under your sidewalk through the dirt. Work that 1/2" line around and eventually you can get a 4" PVC pipe under there. Beats the heck out of cutting the concrete out.
CTyler
Veteran Member
Doc_Bob said:
Well all the gutters I see on homes have a short piece 32-36" long leading the water away from the foundation. Same thing on my new house. I yanked them all off and put in french drains. Used solid pipe for the first 10' then perf pipe for the next ~50' on each one.
Just needs to far enough out that is not running back to the house or pooling up near the house.
patrick_g
Elite Member
Thanks for the suggestion, I have used the water jet trick many times over the years and you don't have to have a nozzle. Plain pipe works pretty well or with a hypodermic needle style angle cut. You can put a "T" on the end and attach the hose with an adaptor on the side at right angles to the length of pipe. Put a plug in the unused hole in the "T" and then you can smack the "T" with a hammer if you need to. Where there are few or no rocks you can adapt up to the 4 inch and run the 4 inch first instead of auging out a hole for it.
Unfortunately the sidewalk in question is up against the brick wall of the house and the down spout dumps on top of the sidewalk. Except for runing the 4 inch on top of the sidewalk (a slight trip hazard and eyesore) cutting the concrete, burying the pipe, and then patching the concrete is my favored option. If I didn't mind the water in the front yard (I do mind) I could put one of those rolled up plastic things on the end and when water was present it unrolls a few feet and the water doesn't get dumped on the sidewalk. My other viable option is to turn the down spout at porch roof height and follow the porch roof line to its eave and then drop a downspout down to the drain already burried (would add a "T".) The overhead plumbing might be a tad unsightly but I will look it over before rejecting it.
Pat
Unfortunately the sidewalk in question is up against the brick wall of the house and the down spout dumps on top of the sidewalk. Except for runing the 4 inch on top of the sidewalk (a slight trip hazard and eyesore) cutting the concrete, burying the pipe, and then patching the concrete is my favored option. If I didn't mind the water in the front yard (I do mind) I could put one of those rolled up plastic things on the end and when water was present it unrolls a few feet and the water doesn't get dumped on the sidewalk. My other viable option is to turn the down spout at porch roof height and follow the porch roof line to its eave and then drop a downspout down to the drain already burried (would add a "T".) The overhead plumbing might be a tad unsightly but I will look it over before rejecting it.
Pat
PineRidge
Super Member
The further from the house the better Bob. In our case we ran the downspouts from the house to the pond to help maintain the water level. We ran the downspouts from the pole barn 100' to a wooded area, and the birds love it.
patrick_g
Elite Member
Ideally there is some slope away from the house in all directions. Getting the runoff well on its way down that slope and not letting it dump near the house is usually enough unless you have a special situation like sand atop a rock shelf that is inclined toward your house or something like that. I have that on one side so I ran some 4 inch drains together and ran 6 inch to a nearby creek that feeds a backyard pond.
Pat
Pat