Snow melt damages home foundations, without french drains installed professionally.
Snow melt damages home foundations and can cause massive amounts of seasonal groundwater to accumulate in basements and crawl spaces during spring snow melts.
When I was a kid, about 10 and beyond, my mom and dad owned a suburban woodsy home in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on the banks of Minnehaha creek. Very nice, for boys with much to do.
We caught fish in our own back yard, while sitting on a huge willow branch, hanging literally, over the creek. True story.
My brothers and I would have reminded anyone of a Norman Rockwell painting. American life in the 1950’s, for us. How fortunate.
We played hockey in the back yard on the creek, until mom called, or until our feet froze, which usually came first.
I am proud to have played pond hockey all around the Minneapolis area, when I was a kid, just because we started out with it right in our back yard. We couldn’t wait for that creek to freeze each year. The work to shovel it, was just not an issue. We just did it cheerfully.
We played our hearts out in the worst of snow storms or the best of frozen winter Minnesota weather.
We knew we could always run into the house, too late most often, with feet already too cold.
We would sit near the fireplace, and toast out again and laugh about the day.
The fire and coco felt pretty good, after a hard day on the ice with my neighbors, brothers, and buddies. Sleep came easy that night.
National geographic magazines tied over our shins, as protectors against the puck, were our standard, default, we have no more money, hockey protectors.
Oh yeh, we were a force to be recognized with in those days.
“Hey, no raising that puck off the ice now.” And that was when you were glad you were wearing those national geographics, and other essential items of hockey male protection and comfort required, as well.
Stocking caps, gloves, 5 layers. Skates. What fun.
Perhaps a warm lunch, with soup, and then back out for the afternoon. Every day.
The winters were severe at times in Minnesota, and snow piled up around the home. Right against the home actually in drifts.
It sometimes measured in feet rather than inches. Sometimes blocking window views.
The house was in a little nook called Minnetonka Mills, on Minnehaha creek. Still there. About 2-3 miles from Lake Minnetonka. Lake effect snow too. Lots of it. Big flakes.
Each winter my two brothers and I would slide down the roof of our home on sleds of cardboard.
Starting from the peak of the roof no less, covered with snow, piled around the home in huge snow drifts.
My dad did not understand french drains at that time, or any drainage for that matter. Few people did. And few still do.
Each spring our basement would flood severely, when the snow melted.
This would amount to around 2-3 feet of groundwater in our basement, and everything ruined again. It did not happen every year.
When the snow melt kicked in during the spring we would literally get around 2 feet of groundwater flooding that basement.
It was all, or at least mostly, preventable, and caused by groundwater produced from snow melt entirely.
The amount was too massive. So for me, even now, to expect complete success, would have been hard, without the french drains having previously been installed when the home was originally built, as well as, the foundation over kill graded and compacted.
Then complete, or high value success is a reasonable expectation from the installation of french drains, as I teach, from my experience.
We heard the frogs croaking under that house for months thereafter.
Caught them too.
A real hoot now, as my brothers and I still remember, this was a pretty cool house too, but with the same old story, and a new set of words: nice house and people, groundwater problems anyway. And this was the 1950’s too, so hardly anyone knew anything other than pumping.
In fact, my dad was an Insurance agent at the time. He pumped his butt off owning that home, and never stopped the condition.
If you can increase the flow of melting groundwater coming off your roof, flowing smoothly into your rain drains, when snow is melting heavily, a great deal of groundwater saturation and hydrostatic pressure next to the foundation can be avoided. This is true if the rains drains do not back up against the home, because they are old and plugged.
Some groundwater may remain in extreme conditions, such as those described above or worse, making the use of a sump pump an additional device to handle the small amount left over, within a crawl space or basement, if there is any.
If there even is enough groundwater is left to pump, if any.
Most often none exists what so ever after the installation of hand excavated french drains installed in my method.
Snow and ice clogged downspouts and gutters cause major snow melt to overflow right next to the home.
When the storm is over, and the sun comes out, and everything is still frozen solid in gutter system, look out. The storm is over, but the damage from groundwater is likely just kicking in.
A hand excavated french drain is a must in snow country, to protect your crawl space or basement from damage.
Compact the soil grade away from the foundation with at least a 6″ per ten lineal feet grade drop away from the foundation.
That is minimum code for a foundation permit in many areas of the United States, although not always followed to the tee.
Double or triple the slope of your foundation compacted splash block for best results in mountain regions where snow fall is heavy.
French drains in snow country need to be installed before the snow falls for results now. If you are finding yourself flooded now, pump it out, and wait til it thaws. Then install french drains right away to remove that groundwater next to your home, that has not saturated deeper than you can get.
This is especially true if it is still melting and running off frozen gutters on your roof, but you can see the ground is no frozen and no more snow banks exist in the path of your installation.
Get out there and getter done.