Perimeter Drains - Closed Off?

Users who are viewing this thread

robb0413

New Member
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Indiana
Hello everyone,

I have a weird setup in my new house with the sump pump. In the sump pit I have 3 drainage pipes coming from the west, south, and north side of the home. The north and south pipes are closed off. One with cement (north) and the other with a large plug(south). The north drain is starting to drain water into the pit due to the cement cracking. The sump pump does work and drain the water that is coming in from the west side pipe.

Do you have any ideas on why someone would close off 2 pipes on purpose? I am getting moisture problems on the Northwest corner of the foundation in my crawl and I wonder if it is due to this being closed off. I can post pictures if that would help understand my problem.

Thanks for helping.

Robb
 

Drick

In the Trades
Messages
460
Reaction score
19
Points
18
Sounds to me like someone didn't know what they were doing. I would remove the cement (if its cracking you might get lucky and be able to drill it out without damaging the pipe). If its been blocked you may get a lot of water at first, but it should trail off over a few days as the ground drys out a bit.


As to why someone would close it off - i don't know. Maybe they thought the pump was running too much, so by blocking the pipe they could save some $$$ on electricity. Its kind of like saving money on the water bill by not flushing the toilet. Its not really the best thought out plan.

-rick
 
Last edited:

robb0413

New Member
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Indiana
more info

This house was built in 1963. The drains are clay not plastic and the sump pump is in the crawl space on the west side. The house is a tri-level. I have one downspout on the south side of the house that directs the water from the gutter into the drive way which floods if we get a lot of rain. The rain water has no where to go due to my driveway and the neighbors driveway being back to back on that south side.

I am trying to get the north side with the cement out. Not very easy to chisel inside the pit. I got a big piece out and behind it is rocks. I am assuming this was for the cement to stick to. I worked enough out of it that I am going to see how much water starts to come out during the next rain.

IMG_4267.jpg


I took the plate off the south side that was attached with a butterfly nut. Now the bolt that was holding the cover and butterfly nut is going through another plate about an inch in. I can not for the life of me figure out how they out they got plate in since I can't get it out. It almost seems to me that the pipe was built with these plates in it.

IMG_4272.jpg


Now the pump sometimes will fail to start, due to the mechanism switch sticking, and the water will get to the top of the pit and stop. It will not over flow into the crawl. When I get the pump to kick on and pump the water out of the pit more water will start to pour out of the open west side pipe again.

Thanks again for everyone's help.
 

Drick

In the Trades
Messages
460
Reaction score
19
Points
18
Um, the pipe with the butterfly nut and cap - that looks like either a sewer or storm drain line to me. I would verify what it was before removing the plug in that one.

The reason I say that is I had a similar looking line in an old home I used to live in. It served a floor drain in the basement and apparently the perimeter drains which I didn't realize at the time. It worked great until that area of town was built out and then the storm drains would overflow eventually backing up into my basement (think feet not inches of water). So a plumber I hired cut the floor and capped it off just like in your picture. He then added a sump pit and pump to deal with the perimeter drains. After that the basement stayed mostly dry until I moved.

I don't know, but maybe you have something similar going on.

-rick
 

Nate R

Member
Messages
473
Reaction score
0
Points
16
Location
Milwaukee, WI
Is it also possible that they aren't perimeter drain pipes, but gutter water pipes? Maybe at one time the gutters where plumbed to the same sump pit?
 
Top
Hey, wait a minute.

This is awkward, but...

It looks like you're using an ad blocker. We get it, but (1) terrylove.com can't live without ads, and (2) ad blockers can cause issues with videos and comments. If you'd like to support the site, please allow ads.

If any particular ad is your REASON for blocking ads, please let us know. We might be able to do something about it. Thanks.
I've Disabled AdBlock    No Thanks