Generally, French drains are installed at grade level to redirect surface water. Good drainage is important to ensure that a home, particularly a basement, stays dry and free of mold. A wet basement and the associated groundwater accumulation can affect the structural integrity of a home, dramatically reduce the home’s value, and cause a number of health-related problems.
For cases involving hydrostatic pressure (water pressure from things such as underground springs, rivers, ground water, etc.) and a fluctuating high water table (a build-up of ground water that lies close to the surface of the earth) an interior French drain is needed.
A shallow curtain drain can be used to eliminate problem areas on your property where water build-up can occur, such as a low spot on the lawn or a continually washed out landscaped bed. It can also be used to divert water around your house. This fairly shallow drain extends horizontally across your property, uphill of the area you want to dry out and redirects the water to either side.
A curtain drain usually consists of a trench, often lined with landscaping textiles that prevent clogging from dirt or roots and one or two perforated pipes surrounded by gravel, (depending upon sizing and redundancy requirements and always placed perforated side down), and covered with sand for further filtration of sediment.
In addition to their primary function of directing water away from your home, exterior French drains are also environmentally proactive as they can lead to a dry well, a structure that returns excess water to the supply of groundwater, or to a rain garden, an environmentally friendly invention that uses wetland plants to absorb excess water and return it to the atmosphere through transpiration.
Any retaining wall that is built into a hillside should incorporate a French drain so that the wall footings don’t give out from the water pressure that can easily build up behind the wall on the downslope.
Hydrostatic pressure is caused by underground springs, rivers, and/or a fluctuating high water table. Signs of hydrostatic pressure include water that seeps in at the cove (where the wall meets the floor) or up through the slab floor. A solution to relieve hydrostatic pressure must entail:
A hydrostatic pressure relief system requires no outside digging or destruction of property. It involves cutting a trench in the floor around the perimeter of the basement, next to the foundation walls. The trench must be excavated down to the footings and perforated pipe is laid all the way around. The system must be adequately sized so that it can carry off all the water to a collection tank sunk into the floor (sump well) and a sump pump carries it out to the yard or a storm drain. After the pipes are installed, the trench must be filled with gravel, bleeders installed in the block walls, and the trench re-covered with concrete. The channel is patched with a thin layer of concrete, except for a small gap at the edge to catch any water that comes down the wall.
If the hydrostatic pressure relief system is not properly designed, it will clog and backup, or worse yet, undermine the integrity of your foundation. So, even though a handyman or homeowner could conceivably install the pressure relief system himself, he would probably do better to engage an insured professional waterproofing contractor to do the work – and a contractor like Earthworks, who provides a lifetime guarantee so you can permanently end your struggles with a leaky, wet basement.
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.