Basement contractors estimates

[The Sanity Inspector]

I've got seepage in a corner of my basement. It's right under a frequently-clogged downspout, which spills into a planter made of railroad ties, which hugs the water right against the house. I'm up on the roof every month, cleaning the gutters out. In springtime too, since with seven century oaks even the oak blossoms will clog them. So anyway, I've been calling in waterproofing contractors for estimates. I looked at

and to weed out obvious red flags. Of those that came out, I've been surprised at how many different solutions the different companies have been offering me.

Some wanted to chisel a trench on the inside, lay down some plastic conduit, and duct the water out the side of the house, with or without a sump pump. Some offered to dig up all or a part of the exterior of the house, seal it, and lay exterior drainage pipes. Some wanted to do some combination of the two.

Some gave me seemingly straightforward estimates, while one gave me the new car dealership treatment, steering me towards a particular approach, sending a manager out to give me a second pitch, complete with a "now or never" price.

I'm waiting for one more estimate to be faxed over, which I hope won't be prohibitive, since I liked this last guy's solution the best.

-- bruce The dignified don't even enter in the game.

-- The Jam

[Sev]

I'd begin outside, starting with the roof- as in gutterguards- downspouts should not be clogging. Perhaps somebody else has a recommendation of which type to go with, considering your particular situation with the oaks. Next, I don't like this setup of downspout emptying into planter holding water next to the house- I understand this is a way to water the plants, but then planter must have waterproof lining, with drainage away from foundation. Why don't you start with solving these simple/ cheap problems, and see if there is still water in basement, before you spend a fortune?

[m Ransley]

Wouldnt a new gutter system be cheaper, I just saw an andvertised-guarnteed no clog system. Even a larger size larger downspout system with a greater pitch gutter may be all you need. I have the same issue, with 80ft oaks, my gutters simply had to little pitch to run water fast enough to force down crud. I just reset them to a greater pitch and now no clogs, well we will see, I did it in fall, but 100$ on gutter work is better than a leak system that may not work anyway

[Joseph Meehan]

Stop right there. That downspout and planter needs to be addressed first. I suspect that will be all you need do and doing anything else will be a waste of time and money. Gutters would be #2 on my list.

My advice is to fix the problem, not try and live with it by waterproofing.

["Moisés Nacio"]

"The Sanity Inspector" wrote

I would eliminate the railroad ties, water is supposed to flow away from the structure. Proper grading away from the foundation may be the solution.

I would rectify this situation, before getting involved with waterproofing. Surely, one of the waterproofing companies mentioned this to you. OTOH, they probably wouldn't if they're not honest.

[bambam]

Your first paragraph tells everything. The first step always is to get water away from the house. Get rid of that planter, extend that downspout away from the house, make sure the gutters stay clean, ensure there is no standing water by the house..

Unless you are in a high water table, clay soil situation, that alone well could solve your problem.

The other solutions are not worth investigating until improving the drainabe fails to solve the problem.

Ken

[newfysnapshot]

Extend your downspout away from the house. I bet that'll solve the problem before you head out to tear up the planter. If that doesn't work then work on the planter. Gutter guards would be a great help against the oaks dispersing leaves and would prevent clogs. I would have that done as well, just for better drainage.

[buffalobill]

read about requirements under search topics such as what you must do to get rid of water before renovating a basement at:

[m Ransley]

I didnt read the first time I posted that it goes into the planter, so Stop it from going into the planter. You should not have anything like that attached to your house. The house has its own design, you changed it and now trap water and have changed its drainage designs. Still a larger or greater angle to your gutters should keep them clear.

[The Sanity Inspector]

On 26 Mar 2006 18:04:42 -0800 in atl.general, "Sev" shared with usenet this thought...:

Actually, the downspout doesn't enter planter, but drains away from the house. It's when the gutters get clogged, which is frequently, that water spills over and falls into the planter.

I've not yet seen the gutter guard that will turn big drifts of oak blooms.

-- bruce The dignified don't even enter in the game.

-- The Jam

[hallerb]

the gutter helmet things appear to work, shed debris while allowing water to go down the drain. run the pipe far from the home hopefully exiting not in a dry well which will clog but dump in yard at lower elevation. good pitch will minimize debrs. the usual drop should be more so debris dont settle and clog the line.

remove completely the planter by the house

Its always better to keep the water away from the foundation.

Over time it can undermine and cause settling.

[dnoyeB]

Well I see you have properly been scolded about fixing your gutters. Foundation drains won't solve that problem at all. That is water coming in from seepage down the wall. Its not water coming in because the local ground water level is too high. With that being said we can move on to the foundation drainage.

Perimiter drainage is best since it makes sure the water level is lowered before it comes in contact with your foundation. Interior basement drainage is secondary and may not even work for you as this is

1. below your basement level
2. inside the perimeter

Remember, these systems are designed to remove hydrostatic pressure that causes floor cracking and foundation problems. An interior system will accomplish this, but not much for the damp corners. I hear interior drainage is cheaper though.