Trying to remedy water issues in basement...

New sump pump and drain tile install-Is there a complete guide somewhere?
I am installing a new sump pump and drain tile system in my rental property, the contractor I had doing it quit with $ in his hand. When he was cutting up the floor around the perimeter of the house he saw that just below the footing there was standing water when they went to shovel the dirt out of the soon to be new drain tile trench, so he bailed from the job .

Anyways now I am trying to finish as much of the install as possible and was hoping for a "How To" book on installing drain tile and sump basket/pump with the proper way to do the install, from grading the tile, how many holes in the sump basket and where, what size rock to have around the tile and basket, what methods are used to get to water away from the house.

So what is making this fun is that we are digging the drain trench and sump hole while there is water there. We have a small transfer pump that is moving the standing water out, this makes the things a little easier but the next day the water level is back up to close to where it was the day before. I'm wondering if I am shooting myself in the foot here with what I can only assume the water table being so high. Will my pump always be running? Will it ever "dry out" under the foundation?

I wanted to have the discharge go outside and down into the ground then to the edge of the yard and drain into the alley, but I don't know what materials to use for this. I can plumb the 1 1/2" pipe for the discharge from the pump to the outside, but that is where I get stuck, some pics of examples of what to do here would go a long way...should it be vented...what kind of vent...?

 

The first thing I would do is determine the true status of the water table. If it's that high, then some of the surrounding houses should also have sump pumps. Is that the case? Have you spoken to any of your neighbors? If it's not a water table problem, the idea is to stop the water before it enters & avoid the use of a sump pump. Knowing the source of the water is the first step.

Also consider the pitch of the land, the condition of the rain gutters & cracks in the foundation. Even hairline cracks can be a problem.

 

I have talked to the neighbors and they were saying that the homes on that block were built on a pond 75 yrs ago, they just filled it in. One neighbor has a sump pump and doesn't have water problems, another doesn't have a sump pump and he gets water seeping though cracks at times. So I'm pretty sure that the water table is high. There is standing water that I pump out and returns without there being any rain. I do think that the water table is higher now that it has been in the last 9 months. I have done some grading around the house but there doesn't seem to be much of a difference.

Also the houses around there are only about 10-15' apart so down spouts don't have a whole lot of choices where the drain to. So that is not helping...

At some point I would also like to have my gutters drain into a drain tile and bring the water away from the house, the problem is that the front yard is only about 30 deep and then there is a sidewalk there. The back has about the same depth and it backs up to an alley. I was thinking about having the sump and the gutters drain towards the alley so walkers by don't have to walk through the discharged water.
I don't really know what to do when I get the 1 1/2" pipe outside, I don't want the discharged water freezing in the colder months and I want to get it from the house to the alley...

I have done a decent amount of research on the subject I just am having troubles finding info on the details.

I'm not sure if I want to have weep holes with rope or tubes and/or cactus board (if you know of a similar product please let me know I would like an air tight seal between the vapor barrier and floor so no radon gases escape into the basement)..., I just want what is going to be the best at curbing my water problem, that is why I went full perimeter drain tile and sump pump.

Will I ever lower the water table under the house with the sump pump? I have been told that I can but it can take a month or more.

 

From what you are saying, your house is probably in the middle of the pond. How much of the foundation is still exposed? Is the water entering just on one side of the house & is that the exposed side? Does any of the water appear to be entering through the floor itself?

Can you post some pics to photobucket.com ?

 

dig sumps - you may need 1 on ea side of the house - mud pumps will keep it drained allowing excavation to continue so you're not always working in the muck,m,, careful where you locate 'em as you don't want to undermine the home's footer,,, dewatering systems aren't difficult.

 

Replacement,

All the houses in my area have sump pumps. They are really common in IL because everything is flat. I've never seen what the drain tiles looks like, but as I understand it the water is collected from around the foundation and drains through a pipe into the sump pit, which is located in the basement. The sump pit has a pump that pumps the water up in a 1.5" PVC pipe, through a check valve, and out of the house.

Imediately after the pipe exists the house roughly 12" above the ground line it turns straight down and dumps into an open 4" pipe. The 4" pipe then goes straight down until it is below the frost line and then turns and goes away from the house. There is a gap of about 4" between the bottom of the PVC pipe and the start of the 4" pipe. The idea behind this is that if the large pipe were to get clogged or collapsed underground that the water would spray out near the house rather than overload the sump pump.

Something else that you might want to consider is a back-up sump pump. They are not cheap, but if your sump pump fails or the power goes out then you could have water that comes into the basement. I didn't have a backup until I finished the basement, but now that I have finished it I've put on in just in case.

The sump pump seems to be pretty effective at keeping the water out of the basement. I've been in the house about 3 years now and I've not seen any water coming in. I did dig below the concrete flow to install some drains for a bathroom that I put in the basement. I found that about 12" below the floor level of the basement there was standing water. I had the hole open for quite a while as it took me a few tires to get the plumbing right. The water level seemed to be pretty constant even with the hole open to the air. My pump typically runs frequenty when it rains and then less frequenty the longer it has been since the rain. It doesn't run at all during long dry spells or when the ground is frozen.

 

you could look at the diagram on our w/site ' John Bares | It's Really Concrete Serving Athens, Augusta, Marietta, and Newnan, Georgia ' for some help

we pump discharge to a height from which gravity takes over,,, we use 2" foamcore & bury it,,, water will run forever if you slope the pipe to drain downhill pitch your pipe 1" in 10' so you won't have to concern yourself w/frost/freezing discharge

IF your bsmt's in a high wtr table area, the pump WILL run constantly & there's always a chance of flushing the fines out of the soil which may lead to instability,,, consider having a hydraulics or wtr specializing p e look at the situation.

we use #57 stone & drill 30 - 40 7/8" holes into the sumps.