Message: Sorry to bother you with this. WE are here in NJ and want to collect the water from our downspouts (which currently dump within a couple feet of the house) and the sump pump (which dumps out to the street) to dump into the woods on our property.
A friend of a friend gave us the name of someone that did good work for them. They gave us a price of $4,000 to run a 200′ 6″ line to the woods and $5,300 to run 225′ of 4″ pipe around the front / back of the house, go under a sidewalk in 1 spot to gather the water from the downspouts and sump. This is on a flat piece of land. Mind if I ask if this sounds at all reasonable?
I don’t know of other people’s skill / quality to ask for a quote from others.
You know your stuff (you don’t do work in NJ, do you : ) ? so I thought I’d ask you.
Take care!
David
AAA Home Drainage to David
show details 5:00 PM (33 minutes ago)
Hello David: Thanks for your questions. I am not licensed in New Jersey, but I am happy to help you if I can. I do phone counseling by the hour for extended project development, but this post is free to you for the asking.
In Oregon, where my business in located, I hand excavate 4 foot deep by 4 foot in diameter dry wells in the dirt and clay, that are round, clean, and contain 3/4″-1 1/2″ river rock, and weed cloth, topped off with soil or river rock left exposed.
Cracks form naturally on the bottom of these clean dry well vessels, and the groundwater perks almost straight down. Two or three rains or hose water additions to a dry well will usually break them in fine. Some dry wells perk right away.
Your contractors proposed system sounds dumb, and especially favors someone who owns a trencher, back hoe, or ditch witch. He probably does only that basically, and as often as possible too.
I am not impressed at all. Good call on your part David.
The length you need to go to day light vent an entire merged home system, as he is suggesting, is the tail wagging the dog. 6″ pipe is for city sewers and massive subdivision drainage systems. Most important, you are running too far in length, even if he can alter the depth to make water in solid pipe run downhill. You are getting less slope with every lineal foot you travel away from your home, where the rain drain discharge is installed.
I advise to install a new rain drain system to vent perhaps 2-3 downspouts per system, with a french drain if needed as well, in the same excavation, depending on the size of the home and the downspout locations, as well as the size of the total roof collection area.
Rain drain discharges are always installed in solid pipe, abs above grade, and perhaps ads below grade, and both the 3″ flex solid and 3″ flex perforated pipe are laid on the bottom of a hand excavated french drain aqua duct, which has a hand finished grade.
If a downspout is the only issue however, which it sounds like you are describing, it would just be plumbed in solid 3″ abs glued pipe above ground, 10″-12″ above grade at the foundation wall, and perhaps connected to solid flex 3″ ads pipe underground to the dry well, after being glued to a 90 degree turn at the rain drain discharge abs.
The dry well would be located in a yard or side area around 20-30 feet from the home if possible, and below grade if possible as well couldn’t hurt. In Portland Oregon the code for dry well placement as I have described is not closer than 10 feet from the foundation of the home. All rain drain discharges are plumbed in solid 3″ pipe of two types, which do not leak.
Most often this long running ditch deal scenario, like your contractor wants to leave you with, leads to disaster down the line. You just get a flat ditch, with some low spots too, that plugs in a short time.
The huge pipe is not needed, but it gives the system more time to clog up more stuff before failing in a big way, for the entire home to be done over again. Tie everything together and fail everything together when the main line again fails with time, due to most often being too flat. Not the best way, or even a good way.
I doubt your contractor could even describe a french drain David. There are hundreds of failed french drain definitions out there, and he would likely have his too. They abound in the minds of the drainage mindless, all over the internet.
Always hand excavate. If you read my web site, everything is there. I would vent the downspouts at the four corners or sides of the home, y ing them together with 3″ ads solid flex, and vented to river rock filled dry wells if you can.
Hope you can find someone who understands what I am talking about. This splits up the groundwater saturation. I did this for an ex-Oregon governors home, a few years ago. This is what expensive properties deserve.
My price for such a system would be predicated on the dirt from the excavation being deposited on site near by, perhaps as a new berm or planting area. Sounds like I would do that work for around $2500. less than his proposed cost, and you would get 50 times the value, with 20 times the utility operation length at least, if not more.
The cosmetic difference between a hand excavated series of systems and his proposal is light years in quality difference right from the first day in service. Pretty easy to beat that deal David. Pass on him, is my advice, or train him right, if he can do it. And it won’t get done by starting 4 guys in different areas either. Many ways to mess it up. Read the site.
One of the crafty aspects of home drainage around the United States, is that prospective home drainage contractors have developed the ability to assess the homeowners knowledge level weakness. They are good at it. It is really quite easy actually.
These types of contractors are trying to determine what they think they can get away with, in many cases, as a result of what they perceive to be weakness of home drainage knowledge in the homeowners.
Keep reading my site David. You are on the right track. Thanks for your questions. If you have a few more, I would be happy to answer them as well. Good luck, Darrel Lundeen AAA Home Drainage
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