Oregon gets pounded by rain
We are off to a wet 08. The past 2-3 weeks have tested the patience of homeowners with groundwater drainage problems. The homeowners that have it bad, do not have hand excavated french drains installed. Hand excavated french drains that were installed prior to this period of hard rains have been running like fire hoses at times. Many customers have called to share their absolute joy as they say thanks for the french drains. No more groundwater problems. No more drainage hysteria. No more drying out the basement room carpets and pumping out the crawlspaces.
I looked at one home this week that has about 300 gallons of groundwater in it. It is located in a high dollar neighborhood of million dollar homes in a hillside community of Portland. The homeowners built it without concern for groundwater drainage and groundwater removal systems as part of the plan. The home is now being sold, and the low point drains that were installed to remove groundwater in the crawlspace were not constructed properly.
Many times builders do not install low point drains properly, and this is a very common issue of repair. Lot’s of builders simply pour a 3″ or 4″ abs pipe into the concrete foundation stem wall and backfill it with dirt on the outside of the foundation. The low point drain vents to nothing, and therefore backs the groundwater into the crawlspace. This produces a failed low point drain. Foundation inspectors miss this item of due diligence often.
As a result, hand excavated french drains will be installed on the side of the home where the groundwater slopes to the foundation and saturates the foundation footing resulting in groundwater invasion into the crawlspace.
These homeowners called me under the pressure of having to get a proposal out asap, and arranging for the installation of hand excavated french drains along with a new low point french drain passing under the foundation footing. The low point drain under the foundation venting into a daylighted vent location will be much more effective than the original attempt would have been even if it was installed properly.
The homeowners are pleased to be able to get on the construction list in a short period of time. Without the french drains installed, their real estate transaction would not close in time for the buyers to get financing and meet their deadline to move in, as their other home is also sold and closing. Cutting it close is the name of that tune.
This scenario is becoming most common in the groundwater removal and drainage business. As the real estate markets get tougher, the hysteria gets worse and worse. Buyers and sellers are both under the gun.
Install hand excavated french drains when the home is constructed, and save yourself the crunch at the last minute. You might luck out and get your hand excavated french drains installed, and then again you might not be able to get the drainage contractor of your choice in time to save your transaction.