perimeter drains


  #1  
Old 02-11-05, 07:04 AM
ann1
Visiting Guest
Posts: n/a
perimeter drains

My basement floor is 1" below the footing of my house. Water leaks between the footing and the wall and onto the floor. It's been recommended that I have a perimeter drain system installed. One person wants to cut the footing on a diagonal to make the water drain into the system and another says never to cut, it could cause instability etc., and to use a barrier material from the wall over the footing into the drain. Any comments on cutting the footing or not? or any other suggestions?
 
  #2  
Old 02-11-05, 07:15 AM
majakdragon's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: N.E. Arkansas
Posts: 7,475
Upvotes: 0
Received 1 Upvote on 1 Post
ann1, Welcome to the DIY Forums.
First let me say, I am not an expert on this subject. I have never heard of cutting a footing though and would be a little hesitant on doing so. You may be able to contact your local Building code office and get their opinion on this.
Watch this post for more informative information. We do have experts that can shed some light on the subject. Good luck.
 
  #3  
Old 02-11-05, 08:54 PM
M
Member
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 190
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
basement floor

It is very unusual to have a base. slab below the footing. The slab floor is

actually a structural component of the house, keeping the lower walls of

the basement from collapsing inward, over the top of the slab floor. Unless

this is a very old house with very thick stone walls, water on the floor could

be the least of your problems. If you have poured or block base. walls and

you have 1'' of soil exposed between the footing (which is below the

foundation wall) and the slab, I would consult a structural repair contractor

or a qualified engineer.
 
  #4  
Old 02-16-05, 10:01 AM
mjdonovan
Visiting Guest
Posts: n/a
Put in the Perimeter Drain and raise the floor in your basement

First, though I am know expert on foundation walls and footings, I would highly suggest that you do not cut the Footings as this is the structural base of the house.

Second, I have not heard of a finished floor in the basement below the level of the footing. Normally there is crushed stone brought in to at least the level of the footing. Then 4" or so of concrete are added on top of this. If you have the ceiling hight, I'd consider doing this first.

Last, I would put in a perimeter drain. I would suggest you bring a back hoe in and have them dig around the foundation down to the footing level. Then lay some gravel and 4" perforated PVC pipe around the foundation. Make sure they dig a trench away and down from the house. The PVC should funnel off in this trench and preferabbly to an opening where it can drain off or to a large Cistern. Cover the PVC pipe with more gravel and screen to prevent the peforation holes from getting clogged up. Then back fill to original grade. This should take care of your problem.
 
  #5  
Old 02-16-05, 01:39 PM
ann1
Visiting Guest
Posts: n/a
perimeter drains

I just realized that I didn't explain this very clearly. The basement floor is 1 inch below the top of the footing,not the bottom of it. A diagonal piece would be cut from the top of the footing to the basement floor.

wall
__| |__
| foot |_____floor
| |

Don't know if this helps!! Thanks.
 
  #6  
Old 02-16-05, 06:15 PM
Stevetra's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Asheboro, NC
Posts: 332
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Helps some...what year was your house built?
Where does the outside grade fall on the basement wall? is it full depth?...6ft.?....4ft?....
How does the grade of the outside yard approach the house....
does it slope toward the house or away from the house?
Whats the distance from the floor in the basement to the bottom of the floor joist for the main floor?


This is my opinion here...you might hear differing points of view, but tackling the water problem from inside the basement is just damage control.
If at all possible, stopping the water before it gets in, is going to be the preferred way to fix the problem.
If your house was built in the past 25 years, it is very possible that you already have a french drain around the outside perimeter of the basement, and it might just have collapsed or be plugged somehow.

French drains around the outside perimeter of the basement is something that can be done by the do-it-yourselfer, but depending on how deep you have to dig, and how the utilities come into the house, it is sometimes left to the pro's, I put mine in.....lots of work....but worth the trouble in my eyes.

 
  #7  
Old 02-16-05, 07:08 PM
ann1
Visiting Guest
Posts: n/a
The house was built in 1954. The outside grade is about 2 feet down from the top of the foundation and the landscaping was redone to slope and drain away from the house as much as possible...although no french drains that I know of. The distance from the basement floor to the bottom of the joists is about 6'9". According to my neighbor (who's been here for 30 yrs) the basement has always leaked in the same spots. Thanks for the input.
 
  #8  
Old 02-16-05, 07:52 PM
Duke107
Visiting Guest
Posts: n/a
Let me ad my 2 cents, I have waterproffed before and we never cut footings but we did use a specific type mortor to fill in the 90 degree angle at the foundation wall and outer edge of footing, this helps shed water away from that leak point of the 90 degree wall/footing area, I note that the mortor alone was no enough, we water proofed with a tar based product from just above grade to the bottom of wall and top of footing and than your drainage pipe and graval.

Maybe you also need a sump pump installed near that area as you may have natural ground water source there and not a ground surface water penetration problem?
 
  #9  
Old 02-16-05, 08:02 PM
Duke107
Visiting Guest
Posts: n/a
PS, always check with your local building authorities on acceptable water proofing practices in your area.
 
  #10  
Old 02-17-05, 05:35 AM
Stevetra's Avatar
Member
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Asheboro, NC
Posts: 332
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
If your only looking at 2 feet...I would say install the french drain.
Get some quotes from someone who would place it on the outside, around the foundation. Its not a complicated thing to do, but if all you have is a shovel...it is alot of work.

My old house was built in 56, I was afraid to dig close to the foundation, so I dug anout 3 feet away from it. about 5 feet deep. I layed in some gravel, a piece of perferated pipe wraped in landscaping cloth, and filled the rest in with gravel, allowing about 1.5 feet for topsoil.
The basement never leaked again.
 
  #11  
Old 02-27-05, 02:34 PM
Greenguy
Visiting Guest
Posts: n/a
I had an inside perimeter drain put in, was $6900 and the basement floor is still getting wet, the company didn't do a very good job installing it I think. They are coming back to fix it. It reduced the water coming in but didn't eliminate it like they promised. The system they put in involves tearing out the concrete near the bottom of the inside wall, installing the patented drain system in a gravel bed, plumbing it to a sump pump, and covering the drain back with concrete. For that much money, I think it should be dry as a bone, just like they said it would be. Grrrrrrr!
 
  #12  
Old 02-28-05, 03:36 PM
ann1
Visiting Guest
Posts: n/a
I've had 3 companies give me quotes for the same type of drainage system and I'm trying to decide between them. I don't know if you can post names here, but I'd love to know the name of the company you used (if it was nationally franchised) and what part of the installation you thought was poorly done and anything to watch out for. Thanks.
 
 

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
 
Ask a Question
Question Title:
Description:
Your question will be posted in: