AAA Home Drainage

When you need to find a reputable contractor for whatever type of construction work, use Angies list. This nation wide organization is a contractor referral service powered by the members and their recommendations entirely. They have been around and know the scoop on contractors. (more…)

When it comes to home drainage solutions, do it right the first time. Don’t be one of those homeowners that throws their money away on numerous attempts to solve groundwater drainage problems by using contractors without a clue of how to really do the job of stopping groundwater below grade.

Read this website for concise information on what works and what does not work. Don’t be a groundwater problem victim more than you already are.

When you have groundwater in your basement or crawlspace, look to AAA Home Drainage for the right answer.

Groundwater damage from the lack of hand excavated french drains to protect the crawlspace or basement, and the resulting residential groundwater damage, can trash your equity fast.

A recent visit to a wonderful old classic home in the Willamette Valley in Oregon showed again exactly how years of deferred groundwater removal maintenance will cost sellers big bucks in the end. Pests, dryrot and structural repairs, and lots of lost cash. Worse than blowing your cash in Las Vegas. (more…)

Now is the time to economy proof your home. Tough times dictate bold financial moves to protect the value of your home. The real estate market has become much more demanding of quality in the last year, and homeowners need to do the groundwater problem diligence to protect their home equity or lose it. (more…)

Determine the real value of your home, and the air that you breathe. A huge amount of time is spent within the walls of a home. We raise our children from cradle upwards to aspiring adults within those walls most of the time.

We sit for hours endlessly watching entertainment and listening to the soothing sounds of music. Yet many homeowners refuse to fix home drainage problems that they know exist. (more…)

Protect your most expensive investment, your personal residence, with ” AAA Water Guard services” travel option package, brought to you by AAA Home Drainage. Don’t settle for less than the security that comes with owning hand excavated french drains.

No professional home drainage contractor in your corner of the world that you trust? (more…)

Home groundwater problems are likely not even on the homeowners radar until they eigther sell the home and get a pest dryrot and structural inspection that indicates their problem, or when the rains come and the water starts pouring into the homes crawlspace or basement.

Don’t be the homeowner that thinks the problem will just go away. If you know you have a groundwater drainage issue now, it will only get worse and more expensive to deal with it in the future.

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Seems like human nature, with respect to home drainage, is not to worry about the long known, and long time existing, home drainage problems until seasonal heavy rains and driving snow sets in.

Homeowners should not be surprised that home drainage expenses increase during these times? Installers working under severe conditions require longer times for the installation of hand excavated french drains. This translates into higher prices for the consumer. Safety issues also come into play. (more…)

If you are experiencing groundwater in your basement or crawlspace, you likely will go through the process of educating yourself on various methods of dealing with groundwater problems and solutions.

The choice of methods is most often based on your objective. Keep pumping the water out, with a guarantee that the company will always keep a working sump pump in place, or prevent the groundwater from entering in the first place. (more…)

Study groundwater removal methods, and home drainage problems and solutions within this website course on home drainage to prevent groundwater intrusion below grade, and to prevent mold and bad air from fouling your living environment and ruining your respiratory health. (more…)

If you are one of the unlucky homeowners living in an area of the world that is presently receiving flooding, you need hand excavated french drains working for you to protect your land and your home.

It would have been better if they were installed prior to the floods, but better late than never. Even if you are forced to get right in the middle of the heavy rain to install them. Tough it out. Get it done. Dress warm and stay dry. (more…)

Google is a great service. On their home page there is an option to put on your custom google page called “stuff”, among the selections is the Einstein quote of the day. I highly recommend this for fun and fact.

Albert Einstein said, “education is what remains after one has forgotten everything that was learned in school”.

The fact that few homeowners understand home drainage is not surprising. Home drainage, groundwater removal, and hand excavated french drains are not on the average study roster in college, unless you are an environmental engineering student. (more…)

When groundwater really becomes a problem, you will likely know it. A home drainage condition will usually be evidenced by one of the following factors that becomes apparent. Sometimes the same old events keep happening, and the homeowner says to themselves, “there isn’t much water, and it only comes when it rains, so why consider it a problem”. (more…)

Few things will degrade the value of your home like a bad air environment or structural damage. Many homeowners overlook this fact until it costs them big bucks. Many homeowners blow home drainage problems off to the back of the priority list because they just don’t get it.

The current home valuation and financing crisis in the United States has brought to the attention of many homeowners the fact that they have waited too long to deal with groundwater problems. (more…)

You remember those Lennon-McCartney lyrics. You must focus on solving home drainage problems before they become the stuff nightmares are made of. I wonder if John or Paul ever had a home drainage problem in those days. Just wondering. (more…)

The outlook for Oregon homeowners is wet, wet, wet. Rain and more rain. It makes us wonder if we will ever see summer again. As one of my customers said of his garden efforts so far this year, “I should have planted rice or cranberries”. Oregonians are not happy with high gas prices, dismal summer barbeques, and inflation setting in with respect to food, oil, and other services. The rain has not been much of a motivating factor for many Oregonians so far this year. The prospect of having to deal with home drainage problems makes them even more cranky. (more…)

Knowledge of sound home drainage principles is good. The inspiration of a homeowner to learn about home drainage and hand excavated french drains is great. But nothing matters unless your intuition tells you that the information on home drainage makes sense to you. Seek, study, evaluate and reflect on home drainage information, always deferring to common sense in the end. (more…)

There is much to know about groundwater removal systems and home drainage solutions. Specifically solving groundwater problems with hand excavated french drains. For a great overview of what is contained in this site, scan the titles of the posts only. A time consuming an educational task in its own right. For articles specific to your home drainage needs, use the categories section of the site. (more…)

AAA Home Drainage currently offers 315 posts on groundwater removal filled with information on the what to do, and the what not to do, of home drainage and groundwater removal.

Hand excavated french drains are not only the past, but the present and the future of home drainage and groundwater removal science. (more…)

If you are planning on building a new home in Oregon, enclosed recent 2008 information is important for you to know. ORS 701.320 mandates that a contractor who contracts to construct a new residential structure (but it excludes manufactured dwellings) must offer the owner or first purchaser, a warranty against defects in materials and workmanship for the structure.

This is not the same law that requires new home construction contractors to give first purchasers of a new home information on likely groundwater and solutions to protect the home from groundwater damage. (more…)

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 on the top 18″ of the soil around the foundation, with a compacted graded splash block against the foundation”. Well said, and very true words of home drainage wisdom. (more…)

Home irrigation systems are really cool. They allow hands off enjoyment of summer plants and keep everything looking so nice. While this is really cool stuff, and seems like the best part of the landscape at times, too much watering from pvc sprinkler lines can produce lots of excess groundwater and cause both you and your below grade neighbor lots of headaches in the long run. (more…)

Well folks, it is time to discuss something other than home drainage for a moment. Man cannot live on home drainage alone, a wise scholar once said. I forget who that was at the moment however.

We have heard so much about how the Federal Reserve is the friend of the economy, the citizens, and the banks, right? Well, guess what is happening. (more…)

I received an e-mail from a reader in the midwest of the United States. This homeowner has groundwater leaking along the basement footing and under his basement floor. He asked for my opinion with respect to his perceived need for a sump pump installed to pump out the groundwater. (more…)

The main purpose of this website is to present factual and conceptual information on home drainage, hand excavated french drains, groundwater removal, and other aspects of the geo-political and economic landscape that influence real estate property valuation, free market concepts, and real estate market trends. This information is not only specific to the pacific northwest of America, but many times, to the world in general. (more…)

If you live around the Portland, Oregon USA area, you are probably aware that our climate presents challenges with respect to home drainage and subsequently, groundwater problems caused by heavy rain fall. Count on AAA Home Drainage to help you solve your groundwater problems. (more…)

Do something nice for your environment today. When building a new home, or renovating an existing home, vent your rain drain discharges and hand excavated french drains into various hand excavated drywells located on the property, rather than storm sewers. Better yet, create stormwater retention ponds. (more…)

Does your home make the home drainage grade? I am not referring to your “smart home” technology. I am talking about how the soil grade at the foundation is engineered, and to what degree the proper slope is used to prevent groundwater entry into your below grade areas, such as crawlspaces, or basements. (more…)

We seem to love the old homes, with their craftsman style and old world charm. When buying one of these older homes, look for a bear behind every tree, so to speak. Problems may be lurking under the cosmetics.

Inspect the foundation, inside and out for evidence of foundation damage, or foundation repairs that are needed, or have been badly undertaken. (more…)

When you are looking for home drainage solutions to protect your home from groundwater damage to your foundation walls, to prevent water in your crawlspace or basement, prevention of mold and moisture in your home, stability of your spot footings that hold up your post and beam infrastructure, stability of your sloped home site and the foundation sitting on it, fixing soggy yards, and other common home drainage problems, you can rest assured that hand excavated french drains are your best source of value added insurance against these home drainage problems, when sited properly and installed correctly. (more…)

If you have groundwater entry below grade, into your crawlspace or basement, and you have concrete flat work that is poured against the foundation, with a flat or negative slope that runs rainwater turned into groundwater to the foundation, you may need to demolish the slab for at least 3 feet from the foundation after making a clean concrete saw cut. (more…)

Many times I have inspected homes with groundwater entry into the crawlspace or basement that contained holes on the outside of the home. Sometimes the grade is bad as well. This would seem to be something that would not require a professional to ascertain, but many times it does. The homeowner at times just takes it for granted that the good natured household pet, usually a hole digging dog, is just having fun, and it is not a problem. (more…)

The cream is rising to the top. Homes in the pacific northwest, specifically Portland and Seattle, are holding their values, while other areas suffer. Portland, Oregon is one of the top 3 metropolitan real estate markets in the country. In fact, Portland is #2 in the country currently, for holding property values up. (more…)

Looking for a home drainage silver bullet. The closest thing you are going to find to instant gratification with groundwater removal projects, is having a hand excavated french drain installed to solve your home drainage problem. (more…)

Growing neighborhood awareness of home drainage solutions benefits everyone. When neighbors solve their groundwater problems, the entire surrounding area benefits in many ways, both directly and indirectly. Home drainage with hand excavated french drains has become a hot topic in the Portland, Oregon metro area. (more…)

An old saying goes, “ignorance is bliss”.

When it comes to procrastinating home drainage repairs, ignorance is a time bomb likely to go off at the worst of times, in a detrimental physical and financial way.

Educating yourself on the subject of home drainage and hand excavated french drains, will protect you from buying into stupid drainage science by proposed by contractors less informed than you. Albert Einstein said, ” a problem cannot be solved by the same level of intelligence that created it.” (more…)

There is a very large difference between being focused on stopping the entry of the groundwater below grade into crawlspaces or basements, and simply attempting to put a bandaid on the groundwater problem by pumping the groundwater out of your crawlspace or basement after it has entered below grade and done the damage. (more…)

When you have a home drainage problem and you need hand excavated french drains, I advise that you question those would be drainage contractors to determine if their definitions are the same as the ones in this world respected site on home drainage and groundwater removal. (more…)

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. (more…)

When the sky seems to be falling, and fear and loathing seems to take over the mood of the day, and water in the crawlspace or basement is the problem, remember that groundwater problems are best solved with hand excavated french drains with exposed river rock. (more…)

Yes indeed folks, Portland, Oregon is a proving ground for hand excavated french drains. We get the blowing hard, long rockin rains that rock the house and saturate everything in site. This winter we had a period of days when we logged over 12 inches at my home. (more…)

Good question. Why do hand excavated french drains work better? There are many reasons. (more…)

French drains are not created equal in function, form or the ability to last a long time. That is the truth concerning french drain installation.

Not all installed french drains are built with the same engineering standards and with the same degree of expertise. (more…)

The Portland, Oregon home groundwater drainage market has various contractors that profess to specialize in home groundwater drainage. Make sure you specify a desire for a drainage contractor that is licensed, bonded and insured. (more…)

When you want to keep the groundwater from your crawlspace or basement, use hand excavated french drains in your home drainage plan. Hand excavated french drains are the oldest form of home drainage known to man. (more…)

When it comes to the growth of french drain knowledge, home drainage systems, hand excavated french drains, groundwater drainage, hand excavated drywells, rain drain discharges, and home groundwater removal, homeowners in the Portland area are seasoned veterans.

I see groundwater drainage knowledge growing by leaps and bounds in the Portland metro area. This knowledge gained is flying over the hurtles of ignorance with respect to groundwater removal systems and home drainage. (more…)

The term french drain is tossed around on the internet under many contexts. Few of these drainage solutions work well at all. Many of these drainage concepts are simply not drainage solutions at all. (more…)

French drains are the worlds oldest and most reliable home groundwater drainage systems. Hand excavated french drains continue to be the best way to keep our homes dry when rainwater threatens to saturate our home sites and fill the crawlspaces and basements of our homes. (more…)

“Home groundwater drainage” and “hand excavated french drains” go hand in hand. It came to my attention today, with respect to AAA Home Drainage and my page ranking with google, that I have the #1 page ranking on the internet and the world when someone searches for information on these two concepts through google. Google is the worlds largest and most informed search engine browser. Google commands a staggering lead over all other browsers. The page ranking is pretty amazing to me, as this blog on groundwater drainage and hand excavated french drains was started in June of 2007. It is a little over 6 months old and has been blessed with the respect of peers and internet giants alike.

This does not speak of the author so much as the content and the many readers who demonstrate the need for this home groundwater drainage and french drain information on a world wide basis.

Many people have taken a shot at this subject over the years, but like the actual business market for the installation of hand excavated french drains which solve home groundwater drainage problems, few contractors have nailed it down to workable models and methods for consistent results.

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It is a great idea to make a habit of assessing the groundwater drainage health of your home at least every 6 months. Time passes quickly, and problems not discovered become greater groundwater drainage problems if unnoticed for a long time. Make a point to do a check list of due diligence with respect to your homes drainage systems. You can save yourself much money by doing this. A little bit of time inspecting with eyes that are trained to see problems may prevent future groundwater drainage problems.

1. Clean your gutters every 6 months minimum.

2. Look at the gutters to determine if they are sagging or have bent over. Check to see they are not rusted and leaking. Are there any gutter spikes starting to protrude from the gutter where it attaches to the board that is nailed to the ends of your roof rafters?

3. Look at the rain drain discharges where the gutters and downspouts are plumbed. Are there any of the downspouts that do not appear to be all the way inside the rain drain discharge pipe?

4. Look at the base of the rain drain discharge where the pipe goes into the ground. Is there any evidence of water overflowing the rain drain discharge? Is there a hole on the back side of the rain drain discharge where the water overflows between the discharge and the foundation wall? (more…)