csr0831
New Member
Hi Folks…
If I am posting this under the wrong forum subject, I apologize. If someone would tell me where to go (which forum to post under), I will gladly do that. Anyway, here in lies my problem……
I live in a fairly large older (57 years) ranch home. This home has a full unfinished basement. I have primarily sandy soil. There is a drain system around the foundation that drains into a sump. I have a pump and a couple of gravity drains that I can open up to allow drainage to a nearby river. Normally the basement is dry. The drain system in place is enough to handle the ground water. However, during very rainy weather or a heavy rain, I do get a lot of seepage under the walls onto the floor. I have no gutters on the house and do not plan on installing any. My over hang is about 2 feet. I think it’s pretty obvious my problem comes from all the water draining off the roof directly next to the house (2 feet away). The way I figure it, a one inch rain equates to about 1900 gallons of water. The existing ground in the back of the house is fairly level and in the front it slopes downward for about 10 feet and then back up again effectively creating a swale that runs parallel to the house about 10 feet away, along the front. I have thought about building a gutter into the ground directly under the drip line, out of bricks….maybe 8 to 10 inches wide and 6 inches deep. This could be channeled to lower areas away from the house. Alternatively, I have thought about putting in a French drain maybe 14 to 18 inches deep with perforated 4 inch pipe also directly under the drip line and routed away from the house. Will either one of those methods help alleviate my problem and if so, which do you folks think would be the better solution??
I’ll do all the work myself, but I sure would hate to do the wrong thing! Thanks to anyone who can help!
Chris
If I am posting this under the wrong forum subject, I apologize. If someone would tell me where to go (which forum to post under), I will gladly do that. Anyway, here in lies my problem……
I live in a fairly large older (57 years) ranch home. This home has a full unfinished basement. I have primarily sandy soil. There is a drain system around the foundation that drains into a sump. I have a pump and a couple of gravity drains that I can open up to allow drainage to a nearby river. Normally the basement is dry. The drain system in place is enough to handle the ground water. However, during very rainy weather or a heavy rain, I do get a lot of seepage under the walls onto the floor. I have no gutters on the house and do not plan on installing any. My over hang is about 2 feet. I think it’s pretty obvious my problem comes from all the water draining off the roof directly next to the house (2 feet away). The way I figure it, a one inch rain equates to about 1900 gallons of water. The existing ground in the back of the house is fairly level and in the front it slopes downward for about 10 feet and then back up again effectively creating a swale that runs parallel to the house about 10 feet away, along the front. I have thought about building a gutter into the ground directly under the drip line, out of bricks….maybe 8 to 10 inches wide and 6 inches deep. This could be channeled to lower areas away from the house. Alternatively, I have thought about putting in a French drain maybe 14 to 18 inches deep with perforated 4 inch pipe also directly under the drip line and routed away from the house. Will either one of those methods help alleviate my problem and if so, which do you folks think would be the better solution??
I’ll do all the work myself, but I sure would hate to do the wrong thing! Thanks to anyone who can help!
Chris