New homes need hand excavated french drains installed for protection
The budget for construction of residential housing most often includes rain drain discharges and sometimes footing drains, but more important than footing drains are hand excavated french drains on the surface levels between 8″-18″, with a properly compacted splash block at the foundation.
When you have properly installed hand excavated french drains, the groundwater will not saturate the area, creating the need for the footing drains, unless there are underground springs.
If there were underground springs, the building lot would likely not have been approved for building. The stories about underground springs that builders come up with are most often b.s. as the lot or site was approved with a geo-technical report probably saying there were no springs when the subdivision was approved.
Places on the landscape that have underground springs are usually not granted lot approval and are made common area attachments to the subdivision, or used as stormwater retention pond areas.
Geological maps exist that show areas within flood zones and those sites that may have underground water problems, even if the building site is not in an approved subdivision.
Resist the urge to dig the area around your foundation for 2 feet from the foundation wall, once it is backfilled. Use this area to serve you, sloping groundwater into the hand excavated french drain installed in that area, which contains exposed river rock.
When you want a dry crawlspace or basement, this is a must. This is especially true if your homesite sits below grade to neighboring properties, drains road surfaces, or does not have a compacted grade of at least 6″ per 10 lineal feet away from the foundation.
Avoid creating berms in front of the foundation that can trap rainwater against the foundation wall, or make sure a hand excavated french drain is installed in that area to remove any groundwater that would have otherwise been trapped.