Window Well Issues


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Old 06-12-14, 09:59 PM
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Window Well Issues

Hello,

I am having issues with window wells and water drainage. I know there is a grading problem in one area, but, in the other area, where there are 2 windows, there is nothing that can be done about grading due to a pool that was installed not long after we moved into our home.

The pool contractor sloped the concrete in this area toward the house, and the drain that he put in the concrete deck cannot handle the volume of water produced by the concrete area, plus, the drain does not cover a large part of the area.

The other problem is, the builder didn't put any drains whatsoever in the window wells. With heavy rain, we have 3 fish tanks around the back side of our house!

In an attempt to appease my wife and somewhat solve our problem, for 2 of the window wells, the swimming pool contractor dug holes and placed a 5 gallon bucket drilled full of holes and wrapped with landscape fabric into each window well. This to some extent, fills with the water, and pumps it away.

We need a more permanent practical solution.

My main concern, before I dig a giant hole, is do I have a weeping system down there? There is a sump well in the basement, and I can see pipes coming into the sump well, but, did the builder put the weeping system around the inside of the basement, or the outside of the house?

We had a well known contractor come years ago, but, they were going to drill holes in the walls, bring the water INSIDE, and install piping to take it down to the weeping system. He ASSUMED it was inside.

I am pretty sure I need something like what I attempted to attach below.

Any ideas would be appreciated.
 
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Old 06-14-14, 06:00 PM
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The pool contractor had the right idea but a 5 gallon bucket isn't big enough. Flo-well at Home Cheapo handles at least 50 gallons. Use that or something similar with a surface collector.
 
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Old 06-14-14, 08:03 PM
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Thanks for the input.

Here are the current issues we're having.

There are 2 window wells with 5 gallon buckets, each with a pump inside the bucket.

It seems to be working in all but the heaviest rainfall when that rainfall comes in an extremely short period of time.

The other issue is, even though the buckets are wrapped with landscape fabric, most likely via the large open hole at the top of the bucket, it, on a regular basis fills about 1/3 of the way with mud/sludge reducing the capacity and clogging the pump, requiring regular maintenance.

The 2nd issue, in a power outage, or, since the power source is quite a distance from the pumps, should we not notice that the GFCI has tripped, the pumps cease to function, hence the fish tank effect.

If the window wells were to drain the way they are supposed to drain, to the sump well, we would not have to worry about a tripped GFCI tripping. Our only concern would be a power outage which could be handled with a battery backup assuming it was not an extended outage with heavy rains proceeding.

Hope this helps.
 
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Old 06-15-14, 07:40 AM
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If you use the type of dry well that I'm describing & place it away from the window well, you won't need a pump. In other words, you place a drain aka surface collector at the bottom of the window well & attach a pipe to it that brings the water down & away from the house, into the dry well. That way the water will drain into the ground away from the foundation.

Here's an example: FloWell - Storm Water Leaching System - YouTube Keep in mind that you can modify what you see in the video. It doesn't have to be that exact product. Similar products will work. I also use gravel in & around the dry well.
 
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Old 06-16-14, 09:21 AM
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Pretty slick drywell container. Although I think some adhesive between the 3 side sections should be used, to keep things from going catty-wampus when displaced soil around the thing wants to distort it.

Also, the video is living proof that what they say about "shorts" is true--they don't care who wears them.
 
 

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