Today a customer said something that hit the nail on the head so well. Her comment was that “The gold standard for home drainage is to collect the groundwater within the top 18″ of the soil around the foundation, and create a compacted graded clay and dirt splash block against the foundation for the best rain run off”. Well said, and very true words of home drainage wisdom.
Prevent the groundwater from laying on the outside of your homes foundation wall, and you will cut off the rainwater saturation and hydrostatic pressure that causes the leaking into crawlspaces and basements. This is assuming that the drainage health of the home has not already been further complicated by a failed home drainage attempt to solve the problem. Sometimes you just can not un-ring that bell after it is so messed up.
The homeowner that I am referring to in this article asked me to come out and look at a groundwater problem. A few contractors had looked at the groundwater damage and the perceived problem and pitched everything from sump pumps to interior crawlspace french drains, to just big ditches or exterior sump wells with pumps that would hold and soak groundwater next to the home.
The homeowner described above hired a private structural engineer to come out and evaluate the groundwater problem. She not only did not feel good about what she was being told, but she did not have the cash to blow on a stupid idea designed to rip her off because she was not familiar with the home drainage business and solving home drainage problems. The engineer suggested that she call a professional that specializes in hand excavated french drains.
It was actually the structural engineers comment originally about “the gold standard in home drainage” being the collection of the groundwater on the outside of the home prior to it saturating below grade where it can enter below grade. The engineer suggested professionally installed hand excavated french drains containing a clean flat grade of 2″ per 10 lineal feet or more in downhill grade.
Nice work Mr. Engineer. Thanks for spreading the word on state of the art home drainage engineering for home drainage with hand excavated french drains and saving my customers home environment from mold and bad air as well as possible structural damage.