I need some objective way to determine if a French Drain would be sufficient, or if I need to dig a trench and waterproof the outside and add gravel drainage.
My garage has one leaky wall, which is below grade. It is the right side of the front of the house. The driveway goes down a slope to a parking pad then turns left 90 deg into the garage doorway. There is a retaining wall beside the driveway; so the foundation at that corner of the house is 6-7 feet below the ground level of the front of the house. The natural slope in the front yard goes down and somewhat diagonally towards the driveway side. They leveled the ground with sandy fill behind the retaining wall, covered with some topsoil. The usual evergreen foundation plants in front of the house.
The left half of the house (basement area) is dry even though all 3 walls are below grade.
B = below grade perimeter of house
b = transition slope
A = Above grade
base = basement area (dry)
room = living area
gar = garage (front right quadrant of the house, wall 20-24 feet)
R = retaining wall
g = ground level, slight slope towards house
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
.....................STEEP SLOPE.............
ggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg
BBBBbbbAAAA... parking pad area (asphalt)
B...base..room.A... parking pad area
B...base...gar..A... parking pad area
BBBBBBBBBB.R.driveway
gggggggggggg.R.driveway
gggggggggggg.R.driveway
gggggggggggg.R.driveway (asphalt)
The garage is very humid & mildew-ey. I can't keep anything in there which I would want to bring into the house.
They should have created drainage from this area going UNDER the wall & driveway, when the house was built. The wall is bulging & some mortar lines are opened up from the water pressure over the decades (built 1966)
Drain holes thru the wall would spill onto the driveway creating a freeze & slip hazard. But even they would not be sufficient since there is a 2" gap between the wall & the house, where water does weep -- but the inside wall is still damp.
Either way, building the drainage path is an expensive portion of the job. Need to dig up the driveway to lay underground pipe. The back yard has a steep drop, so the pipe can spill out. The existing gutter drains do this, emerging a couple feet below grade.
I might have them built an open grate in front of the garage door area, so in torrential rain the runoff down the driveway cannot wash thru the garage doorway.
My garage has one leaky wall, which is below grade. It is the right side of the front of the house. The driveway goes down a slope to a parking pad then turns left 90 deg into the garage doorway. There is a retaining wall beside the driveway; so the foundation at that corner of the house is 6-7 feet below the ground level of the front of the house. The natural slope in the front yard goes down and somewhat diagonally towards the driveway side. They leveled the ground with sandy fill behind the retaining wall, covered with some topsoil. The usual evergreen foundation plants in front of the house.
The left half of the house (basement area) is dry even though all 3 walls are below grade.
B = below grade perimeter of house
b = transition slope
A = Above grade
base = basement area (dry)
room = living area
gar = garage (front right quadrant of the house, wall 20-24 feet)
R = retaining wall
g = ground level, slight slope towards house
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
.....................STEEP SLOPE.............
ggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg
BBBBbbbAAAA... parking pad area (asphalt)
B...base..room.A... parking pad area
B...base...gar..A... parking pad area
BBBBBBBBBB.R.driveway
gggggggggggg.R.driveway
gggggggggggg.R.driveway
gggggggggggg.R.driveway (asphalt)
The garage is very humid & mildew-ey. I can't keep anything in there which I would want to bring into the house.
They should have created drainage from this area going UNDER the wall & driveway, when the house was built. The wall is bulging & some mortar lines are opened up from the water pressure over the decades (built 1966)
Drain holes thru the wall would spill onto the driveway creating a freeze & slip hazard. But even they would not be sufficient since there is a 2" gap between the wall & the house, where water does weep -- but the inside wall is still damp.
Either way, building the drainage path is an expensive portion of the job. Need to dig up the driveway to lay underground pipe. The back yard has a steep drop, so the pipe can spill out. The existing gutter drains do this, emerging a couple feet below grade.
I might have them built an open grate in front of the garage door area, so in torrential rain the runoff down the driveway cannot wash thru the garage doorway.
