Foundation Drainage

[nealtw]

I would not use the corrigated pipe with a sock on it at dirt will infiltrate thru the gravel and plug the fabric where water is entering the holes and you are digging it up again.
The gravel alone will transport the water and the pipe gives it a quicker path to get away, so you need to protect the gravel too. The same fabric they use on that pipe can be purchased in width.
I would dig a trench a min. of 12" wide lay wide fabric in the trench add 6" of gravel then the hard pipe with the holes on the down side, cover the pipe with gravel, 6 to 12 inches above the pipe and wrap with the sides of the fabric. That will protact the gravel from dirt infiltation and will take much, much longer to get plugged. When if ever it does fail and the pipe begins to plug up the hard pipe will give you and opportunity to clean the pipe with out digging it up.
All that takes care of the water below the surface and allows you to replace the top soil and grow grass over it.
A certain amount of water is on the surface during rain storms so the yard drain is a small man hole concrete with a cast iron grate or one of many plastic units available in the market. Shape the lawn so surface water runs to these man holes.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmmdGiEh1Mw[/ame]
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UfIgbadQXE[/ame]
See the fabric but I would not use limestons as it will pack like concrete and defeat the job over time.

 

[zeramant86]

Thanks, good info all around there. I didn't know they even made drains like that myself.

 

[nealtw]

We have lots of subdivisions on hills and mountains here, every lot has at least one surface drain like this, they come in all sorts colours and material.

 

[zeramant86]

So does the surface drain just go in a low area, with a light layer of soil over it, or can you actually see the surface drain, flush with the ground?

Hopefully, I'll have an update in a week or so. I'm trying to get everything lined up to start working on this next week.

Also, the perforated pipe, I've seen at lowes and other hardware stores. Do you just use standard solid pipe fittings for turns and such and glue the joints, or is that even necessary?

 

[nealtw]

flush wth the lawn and visable and yes they glue the fittings

 

[Wuzzat?]

Are there any other possibilities besides
-surface water staying around after heavy rain due to non-porous soil
-groundwater at a temporary or permanent high level due to whatever
?

Once all the options are listed, there might be some way to eliminate the unlikely causes.

I have a half-baked idea that you can use a utility pump to troubleshoot this problem and from my sump pump experience you may have to wait a day to see if a fix works.
A variable GPM pump would be helpful and you can make one with a valve that allows some of the pump output to flow back to the pump inlet.

I recommend leaving a cylinder-shaped bucket or can out as a rain gauge. The diameter doesn't matter.
Mine pretty consistently shows more water than the newspaper reports.

 

[stadry]

we often use exterior buried sumps & pumps to resolve bsmt wtrproofing issues,,, our std pump's an automatic on/off zoeller m-53,,, installing a standpipe makes pump replacement easy if its ever necessary,,, gravity is the key to draining surface water incl proper grading,,, no knowledge of variable pumps - never used 1 or even heard of 'em,,, zoeller recommends a 1/8" hole just below the check valve to drain the stub's wtr thereby making startup easier on the pump

 

[Wuzzat?]

"GPM of Water @ 10 Ft. of Head 34"
Not a bad choice.

My pump is 1/6 hp and my sump refills at 1 GPM and this flowrate needs to be raised ~7'. I could have gotten a 40w pond pump to do this but the price was the same and I needed a water level switch for either.
A 100% efficient pump would take only 1 x 7/3956 = two millihorsepower.

The garden hose output makes installation very easy.

 

[stadry]

whenever we use a pump, we always use a pump bushing on the pump outlet to 1 1/2: pvc,,, zoeller pumps use a positive float on s/s guides - some pumps use the ping-pong ball switch but we've seen too many problems w/them,,, the m-53 is a standard go-to selection of the waterproofing trade

we NEVER use garden hose for anything 'cept watering gardens :

 

[zeramant86]

Just an update, I've got half of the drain installed. I can already tell a huge difference. It actually rained pretty hard during the install. Did notice one thing that is a problem to be fixed, the city's storm drain is at least partially stopped up. It's 12", and it wouldn't carry all the water out while it was raining. I've still got the other side to do, so I should be able to update with pics fairly soon. I did use the extra dirt to add to the backfill of the house.

 

[stadry]

where's the city storm drain in relation to YOUR discharge line ? 12" is fairly small,,, nevertheless, an ' ATTABOY ' to you :

 

[nealtw]

Give the city a call about their pipe, but it might be at it's capacity when it rains.

 

[Wuzzat?]

Given that there are one year floods, ten year floods and 100 year floods, anybody know how municipalities size their stormwater systems?

I'd hope it would be at least for ten year rainfalls/floods.

 

[nealtw]

Given that there are one year floods, ten year floods and 100 year floods, anybody know how municipalities size their stormwater systems?

I'd hope it would be at least for ten year rainfalls/floods.

The same peope wanting bigger pipes complain about their taxes.:

 

[stadry]

nothing says a 100yr flood can't follow another the next day, tho,,, we do the best we can - reasonable & prudent are the key

we wtrproofed a wall this spring to resolve a leak,,, 5wks later, we got a frog-strangler & her bsmt flooded all around the sole plate,,, go figure as our system worked fine thru several downpours

 

[Wuzzat?]

. . .nothing says. . .

Probability (based on the past) says it shouldn't, any more than you can flip 10 heads in a row which is one chance in 0.5^10 with a fair coin.

Had a girl friend who was a nurse who got pregnant after seven years of birth control with her first husband.
Did the numbers and found out that after seven years of rolling the dice with very reliable birth control the odds eventually got down to 50-50 that she'd get pregnant, depending on how many times/week they rolled the dice or rolled in the hay.