Hey guys first time poster. I bought a house about a year ago and I have some water infiltrating my basement during rain. Nothing the drain and a dehumidifier cant handle on moat occasions. I'm concerned for the long term problems.
I'm entertaining the idea of placing drainage tile roughly 3 feet deep surrounding my house and going to the street. Im intending to tear up my out door patio to do so on the front and cutting through the driveway as well.
Let me also give you a set up of my house... The basement is unique as it was originally a poured foundation and a crawl space (so I've been told) that was later dug out into a semi "full" basement with block placed. There is a shelf that comes up about 4 ft and a ledge that will take you to the original foundation.
The outside-the problem. The back and side of the house is about 3 to 5 ft from an ally way. This is where most of the water comes from. I'm assuming it's running off the ally way into the soil and coming into the basement. Behind the house a huge pothole i believe is the cause of a lot of issues.
The water- for the most part- only comes through the bottom of the foundation roughly 6 ft down.
One thing to note: the garage and front attached patio are additions that have no basement underneath.
So will drainage tile at 3 feet deep actually help me or do I need to go all the way to the base of the block foundation? Also, given the current structure of the basement is this necessary? I don't have many cracks in the upper foundation but the block seems to have had some swelling in the past.
Thanks everyone!
Image 1:
This is the problem area. You can see two downspouts coming out right where I get the most water. I know at the very least I want to connect these and take them down to the road. I know this will solve some issues. Ideally I would like to connect the downspouts right into the drainage tile underground.
Image 2: This area is the garage. It gets some water infiltration but not as bad as others. Most comes around the downspout. I would like to do the same as what I suggested for the above but taking it the other direction. The concrete that is surely holding the electrical post is in the way of connecting it all as one.
Image 3: this is the other side. I only get issues in either corner.
Image 4: Front: Only issues coming from the corners again. The front entrance is an additional patio. No basement underneath. I can take an additional picture if anyone thinks it would be helpful.
Image 5: This basement shot shows the corner with the electrical post. It is the biggest issue. I get leaks coming through the stairs. I'm fairly certain that is because of the ally way ponding water and the tile WILL help here.
Image 6: this image show the distinction between the block and poured foundation. Only at the stairs is it all poured.
Image 7: THis is the only concerning location in all of the poured foundation. there are some cracks but nothing too concerning. This appears to have been this way for some time.
Image 8: You can see the shelf I have referred to here. at this spot I have found a small hole in one of the shelves. I have put a coat hanger down there and noticed dirt. This was 2 feet away from the poured foundation. i don't entirely understand what is going on with.
Image 9: area in front corner (by garage and driveway) that has significant water during heavy rain.
Again my plan is to install drainage tile 3' down and connect all the downspouts. I want to start two separate lines that meet in the front of the house. I want to start at the electrical post and take it towards the driveway then through the driveway and then another around the house through the patio, meeting under the patio (i'm redoing the patio) and taken all the way to the street down the yard (or make a drainage basin in the middle of the yard if I can't make it out there). Does anyone think this would actually work?
PS- My plan for the tile is to use fabric and 57 washed stone or larger covering at least 3" above the pipe. I am considering more stone than that.
I'm entertaining the idea of placing drainage tile roughly 3 feet deep surrounding my house and going to the street. Im intending to tear up my out door patio to do so on the front and cutting through the driveway as well.
Let me also give you a set up of my house... The basement is unique as it was originally a poured foundation and a crawl space (so I've been told) that was later dug out into a semi "full" basement with block placed. There is a shelf that comes up about 4 ft and a ledge that will take you to the original foundation.
The outside-the problem. The back and side of the house is about 3 to 5 ft from an ally way. This is where most of the water comes from. I'm assuming it's running off the ally way into the soil and coming into the basement. Behind the house a huge pothole i believe is the cause of a lot of issues.
The water- for the most part- only comes through the bottom of the foundation roughly 6 ft down.
One thing to note: the garage and front attached patio are additions that have no basement underneath.
So will drainage tile at 3 feet deep actually help me or do I need to go all the way to the base of the block foundation? Also, given the current structure of the basement is this necessary? I don't have many cracks in the upper foundation but the block seems to have had some swelling in the past.
Thanks everyone!
Image 1:
This is the problem area. You can see two downspouts coming out right where I get the most water. I know at the very least I want to connect these and take them down to the road. I know this will solve some issues. Ideally I would like to connect the downspouts right into the drainage tile underground.
Image 2: This area is the garage. It gets some water infiltration but not as bad as others. Most comes around the downspout. I would like to do the same as what I suggested for the above but taking it the other direction. The concrete that is surely holding the electrical post is in the way of connecting it all as one.
Image 3: this is the other side. I only get issues in either corner.
Image 4: Front: Only issues coming from the corners again. The front entrance is an additional patio. No basement underneath. I can take an additional picture if anyone thinks it would be helpful.
Image 5: This basement shot shows the corner with the electrical post. It is the biggest issue. I get leaks coming through the stairs. I'm fairly certain that is because of the ally way ponding water and the tile WILL help here.
Image 6: this image show the distinction between the block and poured foundation. Only at the stairs is it all poured.
Image 7: THis is the only concerning location in all of the poured foundation. there are some cracks but nothing too concerning. This appears to have been this way for some time.
Image 8: You can see the shelf I have referred to here. at this spot I have found a small hole in one of the shelves. I have put a coat hanger down there and noticed dirt. This was 2 feet away from the poured foundation. i don't entirely understand what is going on with.
Image 9: area in front corner (by garage and driveway) that has significant water during heavy rain.
Again my plan is to install drainage tile 3' down and connect all the downspouts. I want to start two separate lines that meet in the front of the house. I want to start at the electrical post and take it towards the driveway then through the driveway and then another around the house through the patio, meeting under the patio (i'm redoing the patio) and taken all the way to the street down the yard (or make a drainage basin in the middle of the yard if I can't make it out there). Does anyone think this would actually work?
PS- My plan for the tile is to use fabric and 57 washed stone or larger covering at least 3" above the pipe. I am considering more stone than that.
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