French drain causing a problem?

[David]

I am considering installing a french drain along one side of the house that faces an uphill grade with a fairly high water table and heavy clay soil. On heavy back-to back downpours I have water coming up to the bottom of the basement slab. It does not intrude inside the basement because at that poont it is handled by the sump pump, but would I do better to divert the water away from the slab?

A related question is this: Will I compromise the structural integrity of the slab/foundation/wall by digging out the perimeter of the wall all the way down to the footings? The house is 20 years old and has a solid concrete slab floor and cinderblack foundation walls.

Thanks, David

[Joseph Meehan]

Y-E-S

No, after all the soil was not there when the built the wall.

[Chet Hayes]

The water is not making it to the basement floor, it is being handled by the existing sump pump and this only occurs on heavy rain conditions, so it sounds to me like everything is working like it should. It's certainly not abnormal, that's what the existing sump pump system is there to handle.

If you want to divert some more water away from the house, which certainly isn't a dad idea, rather than excavating all the way to the footings, I would first try putting a surface drain in to intercept the water. Also, all the water from your roof is being carried away from the house, right?

[Norminn]

clipped

That seems very logical.

It may be better to explore diverting the water further away from the house, such as with berm or swale uphill. Depends on what is uphill and alongside; don't want to flood the neighbors.

[HeatMan]

Off topic.

Joseph, I was driv> > I am considering installing a french drain along one side of the house

[mypet]

We had the same situation once upon a time and put in french drains which helped but did not do away with the problem.

We began a series of landscaping modifications which diverted the water away from the slab and kept the water coming downhill from making it to the house. These did the trick. I believe the landscaping would have done the job without all the money spent on french drains.

Someone also mentioned that the pest control people don't like french drains. anybody know why?

[Joseph Meehan]

And you are likely one of the few people who know what it means.