AAA Home Drainage

If you do not have hand excavated french drain groundwater removal systems installed on the outside of the home, also containing a compacted grade of dirt on the side of the home where you believe the groundwater is actually entering; I do not recommend installing sump pumps prior to construction of the outside french drains. Do the exterior french drains first.

The amount of groundwater that can be collected and drained on the outside of the foundation is much greater than the groundwater that can be pumped out once it is in the crawlspace or basement. Work your rain/groundwater caused home drainage problem from the outside in, not visa versa.

Have a drainage-mason professional install your sump pump if you do decide that a sump pump installation is what you want. The quality of workmanship will be much greater with an installation by a professional. I recommend that you discuss the necessity of the sump pump with a home drainage contractor that does not only advocate installation of sump pumps, as many do. Make your choice of a home drainage professional one that installs hand excavated french drains.

To properly install the sump pump, use 1 1/2″ abs hard glued pipe with a back flow device installed. Support the sump pump by using plumbers tape nailed to the floor joists in most cases. Plumbers tape is a metal band with holes in it for attaching pipes to wood floor joists within the crawlspace.

Do not connect sump pumps to the rain drain discharge system without being sure that the pressure will not make your rain drains overflow at the point where the downspouts go into the discharge pipes next to the home.

Some rain drains on one level ranch homes were constructed to daylight vent into one location at the street, at a curb cut, with a pipe traveling flat all the way around the home on the outside of the foundation footing.p> These systems will likely create excessive pressure in the rain drain discharge system venting the downspouts and the rain drain discharges will overflow because they only exit on one side of the home and overflow as a result at the foundation, which recycles the same water against the side of the foundation only to saturate under the foundation footing and get pumped out over and over again.

Have a professional drainage contractor review your needs, and install a sump pump system that vents to a hand excavated drywell, or to a daylighted vent for best quality and length of operation. Most cities would rather you did not vent a sump pump at a curb cut at the street. Drywells or bio-swales are a “green” way to dispose of this sump pump water.

Construct the sump pump within 14″ o.d. concrete tiles or larger if you can handle the weight of them, that have a concrete top for the least noise of operation heard through the floors heard in the inside of the home. This is especially important if the sump pump is located under your bedroom floor. This can make for a cranky nights sleep between sump pump discharges during hard rains. They are not very quiet.
Install interior crawlspace french drains only if your professional drainage contractor advises this. Have the professional home drainage contractor propose what is best for the home, not just the cheapest way to get away as the seller in a real estate transaction. Seldom is the cheapest way the best way. Exhibit compassion for the next homeowner that must sleep over the noise of the sump pump during hard rains. Better yet, install hand excavated french drains on the outside of the foundation, which will silence any existing sump pumps already installed.

Replace the crawlspace moisture barrier if it is muddy or shows effloressence from flooding groundwater. Do this after installing exterior hand excavated french drains, or after the installation of an interior crawlspace french drain if this is your ultimate choice. Always install hand excavated french drains on the outside of the foundation first, because most groundwater problems are rain caused, and seldom are sump pumps or interior crawlspace french drains needed.
Open foundation vents to dry out the crawlspace during the summer. Close vents during the winter.

If the sump pump is constructed first, groundwater that entered prior to the exterior french drain installation will be sitting in the sump pump enclosure for long periods of time, as the sump pump well will likely contain not enough groundwater to trigger the sump pump. This will add additional moisture to your home and the crawlspace or basement if installed there. Exterior hand excavated french drains, if properly constructed and placed, will most of the time shut down those sump pumps forever.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 3rd, 2008 at 12:22 am and is filed under Sump pumps, drainage Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.