Why Choose A French Drain
Basements are moist for many reasons French drains address only some of them. Water seeping through unsealed window wells or cracks in your foundation will require additional measures to fix.But if the problem is poor drainage around your property, a French drain can help whisk excess water away before it takes the path of least resistance into your home.
Signs that you need a French drain include:
French drains come in two types interior and exterior.
Sump Pump Maintenance Tips
White vinegar poured into the sump pump tank/pit and activated by manually pulling up the float switch until empty will remove any debris or potential clogs in the pipes or valve head. Once or twice a year give your sump pump a nice salad dressing like this, sans the oil of course.
You may want to consider adding a backup sump pump as an extra step to ensure your home is protected from any flooding in the event of a component failure in the main sump pump. It never hurts to take extra steps of caution.
Vertical French Drain Guide
Want to add extra drainage to your yard but to prevent flooding but dont have extra room? The answer to your drainage issue may be a vertical french drain. A vertical french drain is the same as a normal french drain except it is built vertically into the ground instead of horizontally across the yard.
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What Is French Drain
A French drain is a drainage system that consists of a ditch created under a slope and is usually filled with gravel or rocks. It was invented to stop water pooling and keep excess water out.
A French drain is more of a passive drainage system since it doesnt need electricity to function and you dont need to turn it on. Its a drainage system that, once installed, works all of the time. No matter what season or what the weather is like.
Sump Pumps & French Drain Systems
Standing water in your basement or crawl space is one of your homes worst enemies. If your lower level ever smells musty, feels damp or floods occasionally, you have an issue with moisture coming into your foundation. Weather Master & Mr. Plumber offers two options to consider when it comes to removing water from your home.
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Protecting Yourself When Buying A Home With A Sump Pump
On the Vendors Declaration form, one of the questions the seller must answer is how often does the sump pump go off? If the answer is mainly during spring thaws and heavy rains, you can be reasonably certain that the drain system is working properly. However, if the answer is daily, then you know the house is in an area with a high ground water table. Is this something that would stop me buying the house? No. If there were no signs of a damaged foundation from water pressure and the humidity level was low, it wouldnt stop me from buying. In fact, I bought my own house knowing the sump pump operates daily. I made sure there was a backup battery sump pump in case the main one stopped working or the power was out. I also have a generator in case we lose power for long periods of time. My basement is finished and dry. I do check every time there is a power outage that my backups are working properly!
However, if the water in the sump pump pit is a reddish colour, I would put on the breaks and do further investigations. Red water or a reddish jelly-like sludge in sump pump pits and street ditches indicates the presence of ferrous ochre, which is a mineral that hardens when it dries and that can block French drains. I will write a separate post on this as it can be a serious issue if the homeowner doesnt do maintenance cleaning of the French drains. Just know that, handled properly, it can be controlled.
Make sure the hoof of the horse is sound!
For more information
Placing The Sump Pump Liner
First, a sump pump pit is excavated for the liner and pump to be placed in. This protects your sump pump from the mud and debris around the pump pit.
It’s important that the sump pit is large enough, but not too large. When placed in a small pit, a sump pump can pump water out faster than it can fill the liner, causing them to turn on and off quickly and burn out sooner. Sump pits that are too large tend to go too deeply into the ground, pumping out water far below your home, causing unnecessary work and electricity usage.
Sump pumps are most effective at removing water from under your basement floor when located in the lowest spot of the floor. Your certified waterproofing specialist will determine where that spot is by using a laser level. If the sump cannot be located in the low spot, a PVC feed line should be run through the floor from the low spot to the sump pump location.
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Other Ways To Keep Water From Entering Your Basement
Since water causes most foundation problems, homeowners should ensure the soil under and around their homes foundation doesnt get over-saturated with water.
- Dont plant water-hungry shrubs and flowers next to the foundation. When you water them, the soil gets soaked, and then if there are drainage problems, the water could find a way into your basement.
- Make sure your yard slopes away from your home. If it doesnt, you might need to get it regraded.
- Check to see if your gutters are working correctly. Clogged gutters can cause water to overflow and run down the side of your home and into the soil next to the foundation. Therefore, make sure you clean your gutters regularly.
- Downspouts that are too short can dump water into the soil next to your foundation. Downspout extensions will ensure that rainwater gets channeled away from the foundation.
While a French drain basement waterproofing solution is more expensive than other waterproofing methods, its highly effective. In fact, it may be the most effective basement waterproofing method around because it doesnt just stop water from getting in it channels water away from the foundation.
If youre struggling with a wet basement and youre in our service area in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri, contact us today for an inspection and estimate.
Why You Need To Know About Sump Pump Draining Into The Yard
The job of a sump pump is to keep water out of the basement and from flooding the home. If you have one in the backyard, it helps with negative grading and getting the water out of the yard. However, sometimes there are problems and it does not drain in the right spot. If it is accumulating in the yard and making a muddy mess, this is not good. Fortunately, there are reasons this may be happening and it is fixable.
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It Is Worth It To Use A Sump Pump For French Drain
Yes, doubling up the two options will be a good idea. It will be more effective as the French drain collects the water and directs it to the sump pump, which will transmit to some distant location for discharging. It will make the draining quicker than any one of the two options along would do. This ensures that your basement stays dry and reduces the impact of water damage to the foundation.
Installing A Perimeter Drain System
When installing a reliable sump pump system, it’s a good idea to install a perimeter French drain system, like WaterGuard®.
First, the floor around the edge of the basement is jackhammered, and a layer of clean stone is set down. A perimeter drain is installed on top of the stone, and is backfilled with more clean stone.
The purpose of this drain is to collect water from the basement wall-floor joint, the basement walls and from under the basement floor, and direct it to the installed sump pump.
Our patented WaterGuard® Basement Drainage System includes a wall flange that extends slightly up the basement wall to collect water that may leak from the walls. If you have one of our basement wall products installed, the wall covering will be tucked behind the flange to direct moisture from the walls into your drain.
If your home has concrete block walls, weep holes will be drilled in the blocks at the very bottom to relieve the water and the pressure from the walls.
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What Is Better A French Drain Or A Sump Pump
There is a lot of information available concerning the water-proofing of a basement. All sorts of things are recommended from waterproofing paint to digging up the outside perimeter of the home to re-tar the foundation. But more often it comes down to this: FRENCH DRAIN vs. SUMP PUMP
Before we can answer that question, we need to fully understand what a French Drain is and what a sump pump is.
The earliest forms of French drains were simple ditches, pitched from a high area to a lower one and filled with gravel. These were described and popularized by Henry French a lawyer and Assistant US Treasury Secretary from Concord, Massachusetts in his book Farm Drainage.
Drains And Sprinkler Repair Pics
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- French Drain Installation
French Drain installed under walkway.
French DrainInstalled along and under walk way to pool.
Completed French Drain under walk way
French Drains,
Sump Pumps
Oklahoma Drainage and Sprinkler Repair
French Drain Installation can be tricky sometimes. Recently we installed a French Drain in Norman with very little Fall. This means that the Intake For the Drainage System is close to the same level as the Exit. Simply Put, it is hard to make a Drain work if it isnt Down Hill, to where the water is going.
French Drain with very little fall
This was the Situation for the French Drain we installed last week in Norman. The standing water was in the back yard. There was only one direction that we could take the unwanted water to drain away. In this case it was only slightly down hill. The French Drain was installed at a shallow level in the back yard. The solid drain pipe that was attached ran from the back yard, along the side of the house to a curb outlet at the street.
In Our Case, we only had 3 inches of fall to work with.
The solution was to Cut the curb and Install a Curb Outlet.
The fact that the outlet is square or rectangular is very important.
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French Drain Gravel Size Guide
French drains are a cost-effective way to add drainage to your yard but they need the correct size gravel in the pipe in order to drain correctly. In this guide, our team will review the different factors that impact the best size gravel for your french drains. In this guide well review the best gravel
Whats The Difference Between A Basement Floor Drain And A Basement French Drain
A French drain gets rid of the water in the soil under and around your foundation before it has a chance to make its way into your basement. In contrast, a basement floor drain gets rid of water that might, for example, spill out of your washing machine or laundry sink. This is why basement floors are sloped slightly. If your laundry machine overflows, the water flows down the basement floor drain and into either the sewer or into a collection pit where a sump pump then gets rid of it.
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The Cleanup & Finishing Touches
Our sump pump installation crew takes extra care to leave your basement clean, neat, and clear of debris for you at the end of the installation.
Dust is cleaned from the basement floor and the discharge line outside is inspected to be sure that the water is being discharged to an appropriate location.
We remove all debris we create, and most times customers comment their basement is cleaner than before we started!
To allow for future testing or inspection, Woods Basement Systems, Inc. will install several “ports” in the perimeter drain, where a hose or dehumidifier drainage line can be inserted. During annual checkups and sump pump maintenance, this helps us with testing and inspection.
What About Exterior French Drain Basement Waterproofing
An exterior French drain along your foundations footing is another basement waterproofing solution. However, installing an exterior French drain in an existing home is more involved than installing a French drain in the basement of an existing home. This is because installing an exterior French drain requires heavy excavation to expose the foundation wall down to the footing. Once thats done, the contractor applies a waterproofing product to the basement wall, followed by a drainage board. Finally, a trench is dug along the footing, and then the perforated pipe is placed in it and covered with gravel. The final step involves replacing the excavated soil.
If your property has a slope, gravity will move the water away from the foundation. If not, youll need a collection pit and a sump pump.
Like a basement French drain installation, an exterior French drain works to prevent hydrostatic pressure caused by water-saturated soil. Today, most new homes with basements are built with both an interior and an exterior French drain basement waterproofing system.
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Sump Pump Vs French Drain: Whats The Difference
In your life, you have probably heard someone mention sump pumps and French drains. After all, they are two of the most popular drainage methods. Both have similarities, but they do have a few key differences. These key differences are of great importance when you are choosing a drainage system for your home. In order to make the right choice between sump pump vs french drain, its important that you fully understand what both are, what they do, and how they are different from each other. So, lets keep your basement dry and flood-free by learning more about the sump pump vs French drain.
Cost To Install An Interior French Drain
Interior French drains are located beneath the edges of a basement floor where they direct seepage to a sump pit. Theyre inexpensive when added to new construction, but installing one after a home is built is costly especially if the foundation is concrete.
On average, prices range from $50$70 per linear foot almost 80% of that is labor. Expect to pay $5400 $6900 for 100 linear feet of pipe installed adding a sump pump could drive the total cost to $9,500 or more.
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Sump Pump Line To French Drain System To Drain Yard Water
Were installing a sump pump line to a French drain system. I just wanted to show you what the system looks like. Everyone is a little different. Theyre tailor-made the hall a lot and the conditions. The soil here is low percolation, so we ran four-inch schedule, 40. The sump pump line,
We created a really large reservoir. We have two pipes. Were going to fill this full of stone. This is going to be the area collection for the water. Now theres not very good percolation to the soil here. Thats why we wanted to make this so large and so big. And we have a history of the lots and the land here. We did the neighbors house a year ago. There was water between the homes, so we ran a pipe down the side lot here, right to where these two pipes end. Then theres a pipe that goes to a storm drain, catch basin. We have a common area and all the water ends up right in this swale and evacuate. We just need to get the water to this point, so we dug until we exposed our filter fabric on a French drain system that we put in last year. And thats where this system is going to end.
For outdoor sump pump lines to daylight or outdoor sump pump lines to a French drain, give us a call at 248-505-3065.
For more tips, tricks, and information on French Drain / Yard Drainage Systems subscribe to the French Drain Man YouTube Channel.
Results Of Too Much Water
Mold- If the sump pump isnt working and water is backing up in the basement, mold will start to form. You will need to get the sump pump fixed in order to stop the problem. Then, you will need to take the time to clean up the mold with protective gear.
Sinkhole too much water in the yard can cause a sinkhole to happen. Monitor the ground and call a professional if you think a sinkhole may be developing.
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