About a month ago I had an internal french drain / sump pump system installed along the back wall of the house. It has been raining here for 24 straight hours and the new system is working well.

Problem is that I did not have them extend the system along the side wall of the garage, which is now leaking quite a bit of water into the garage.

Company's best offer is $500 to extend the drain for this 17 feet or so, and run it into the pump.

I am seriously considering doing this work myself (I realize it is backbreaking work, but $500 is $500).

I would like to try and match up with their system though - and they installed an "egg crate" type piece of plastic that sticks up maybe 3 or 4 inches from the floor along the base of the wall (with some holes of course drilled in the blocks behind the plastic - then water then goes down into the drain).

Supply places that I call say this is "drainboard" and only comes in 4 foot by 150 foot rolls for $150. All I need is a piece 17 feet long by 12 or 18 inches. Does anyone know where I can get a smaller quantity of this stuff?

 

Any new subdivisions going in around your area? If so drive thru early AM or at lunchtime & look for a plumber's or landscaper's truck. Stop & go find him & ask if he's got left over piece of drainboard he's willing to sell. Worse they can say is no.

 

Just a few things to consider:

1, Are you able to ( or have someone help you ) smash up the slab by hand ( sledgehammer, bricklayers chisel, mini maul )

If you can't then you will need to rent an electric jackhammer.

2, How are you going to get the concrete and soil out of your basement? can you pass it out a window in buckets? or do you have to carry those buckets up stairs and thru your kitchen?

3, Can you get someone to take away the concrete and soil for little or no cost, or can you dispose of it yourself somewhere on your own property?

If you can't do either of the above you will need to either hire someone to do it, or haul it away yourself, or rent a bin.

4, You don't really need alot of aggregate for 17ft so your best bet would be to p.u yourself either loose ( in a trailer ) or in bags, obviously slightly more expensive.

5, Not sure if they used flex drainage tile or rigid

6, If you can find someone nice enough to sell you a small piece of the drainboard ( some call it Dri-core) if not, you'll have to bite the bullet

7, You don't really have enough concrete to be delivered by truck, so you'll have to either hire someone to drop off the bags or go p.u yourself, plus are you going to mix by hand or rent a small electric mixer

cost
$20-$30 a day jackhammer rental.
$50-$75 concrete and soil haulage.
$20-$40 aggregate, depending on how you get it
$15-$20 lets go with 2 pieces of rigid + whatever else needed to join up to existing drainage.
$30-$150 drainboard
$25-$30 8-10 66lb bags
$30-$40 a day for mixer, IF you rent one.

Obviously these prices are just a rough estimate, but at $190 low to $385 high, it kind of gives you an idea of what you might have to spend, plus you still have to do all the hard work.

Believe me, as a Homeowner I like to do as much work myself and save money where I can, AND I have just finished digging and installing my own interior drainage system by hand ( 110ft ) for the amount of work that I needed there was a definate savings in doing the work myself, but in your case you would probably be better off having the company come back for $500.

Either way let us know how it went.

 

I would not even consider doing it myself. $500 is cheap. You could do it, and materails will probably cost you $400. but remember, if you do it and you screw up the other system already in place, they are really going to stick it to you when it comes to fixing the whole thing again. The price for being a bad boy. Somethings are best left to the contractor. Good Luck