Portland Oregon is a proving ground for french drains
Yes indeed folks, Portland, Oregon is a proving ground for hand excavated french drains. We get the blowing hard, long rockin rains that rock the house and saturate everything in site. This winter we had a period of days when we logged over 12 inches at my home.
When it rains it pours they say. Portland, Oregon may be where that saying started. Who knows. As good a guess as any I think.
When a hard rain falls, hand excavated french drains stand tall in the face of those 100 mph winds and rain.
The most damage from groundwater comes at the time that the rain volume is peaking, and that is when your hand excavated french drains are running like a river.
The nice thing is that the river is confined within a clean aquaduct with a perforated pipe for an overflow to speed the flow of that groundwater away from the foundation or other affected area before it can saturate the foundation area and start the leaking process into the basement or crawlspace.
When the sun is shining, the umbrellas are out, ice tea is on the deck table and the summer birds are singing, it is easy to forget those hard rains and why you need hand excavated french drains. If your hand excavated french drains are installed prior to the groundwater saturation that comes with those hard rains, you will likely survive the soaking, especially if your foundation grade has been raised and compacted away from the foundation.
Home drainage and groundwater removal may be out of site out of mind when the sun shines, but you can rest assured that if those hand excavated french drains are installed prior to the rains, you can sit back and enjoy the good weather knowing that when bad weather comes, you will be protected from leaking basements and crawlspaces and the damage done to your home, patience, and bank account.