Some contractors say they are drainage contractors but they are not
The fact of the matter is that most homeowners are confused about what home drainage science really is. So many homeowners get taken financially and functionally with respect to home drainage.
Many contractors, have for years lead a campaign to convince homeowners that a ditch witch dug trench, with little to no grade, can become a home drainage solution, and that they are drainage contractors.
A decision by the homeowner to use a machine to attempt home drainage and groundwater removal is a major mistake that will cause more damage to the home or landscape.
Landscapers, gardeners and irrigation contractors all seem to have gotten on the band wagon bidding home drainage work and machine dug french drains specifically because there is lots of this work out there.
The big profit enterprise they like to promote is sump pumps. Sump pump installation, prior to the proper installation of hand excavated french drains, is the tail wagging the dog. You are throwing away your money.
Most all of these characters know nothing more about home drainage science than they can assume from shopping home depot. Watch out folks. These poorly educated, to outright con men, will take your cash and leave you with a worse home drainage problem than you had to begin with.
Unlike landscape design or other specific construction pursuits, drainage contractors do not have a standard school of certification with respect to home drainage. Drainage contractors are therefore defined by success. The important thing to discover is the use of time tested old world science, ie. hand excavated french drains, and the acknowledged referral base with respect to the successes that they have had solving home drainage problems. That is a more reliable yardstick for the value of a drainage contractor and mason.
I am not saying that you cannot find a school to learn about home drainage, but the subject is as vast as the ocean.
There are industrial, commercial, institutional, public service and sewer system based applications, land drainage, agricultural, home groundwater removal, and many other divisions of education and actually engineering.
The home groundwater removal aspect however has not been fragmented off the entire subject to provide enough people a yardstick for what actually works. Many of us drainage contractors laugh at the information that is even promoted and taught about home drainage.
It is amazing that education on this subject trails actual experience by such a large margin. The personal experience of those of us drainage contractors that have risen to the top of our game, so to speak, within the body of home drainage knowledge, advocate with a passion, hand excavated french drains.
Working the home drainage problems evidenced within crawlspaces and basements from the outside in, by capturing groundwater while it is on the surface first, rather than trying to pump it first in the crawlspace or basement is the most important concept to learn.
When you do not install hand excavated french drains and simply let the rainwater saturate the foundation area, you are doing things backward. Naturally, it will seem like a sump pump is required if you approach it backward like that because after all, there is always groundwater there, and always something to pump.
Unlike a plumber or electrician, a top notch home drainage professional will likely not have a specific home drainage certification in engineering, although they will have extensive engineering experience.
He, or she, will have a documented long list of former customers who will answer calls for them all day long on a referral basis because the customer feels the need to connect other customers to a great drainage contractor because of their experience with the success of groundwater removal with respect to their property, and what it has meant to the health of their home.
Documented experience is the real test of value with respect to ability. Experience is most important, and a documented public support for the drainage contractor, and hand excavated french drains, should be the focus, not irrigation, gardening or landscaping experience referral based customers. Cosmetic home drainage does include some landscaping and irrigation skills, but the other contractors miss the engineering specific for hand excavated french drains. This is the only yardstick for groundwater removal success, and the value of a drainage contractor.