French drain and cellar Q

Now that we have some weather fit for humans to be outside , I've gotten back to work on the cellar . Today I rolled a thick coat of asphalt emulsion on the outside of the walls and covered it with 6 mil plastic sheet . I then laid a bed of washed gravel about 3-4" deep , laid a 1 1/4" pipe with holes every 6" (vertical , thru both sides) and covered it with more gravel . Did about a third of it today with plans to finish tomorrow and start backfilling . My question is what to put over the gravel drainage bed before backfilling . I need to let water percolate down , but prevent silt and clay from plugging the gravel . I have tarpaper and plastic sheeting on hand , and can pick up stuff at the hardware/lumber store tomorrow if needed .

Reply to
Terry Coombs
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sure hope you put the exterior french drain below the level of the footer........... otherwise the water can come thru the basement floor:(

the 1 and a quarter inch pipe is way too small it should 4 inches and covered with a sock, to minimize clogging

theres a permable clothe sold in home centers, it should be put down before the gravel is placed, to minimize soil intrusion.

its best to run access lines upward so you can flush the lines from above

i am sorry you should of asked before starting construction

Reply to
bob haller

Well , ya see Bob , this cellar will be completely underneath the room - that is , the room overhangs the cellar about 7 feet on two sides , the living room is uphill from it , and the cellar end will be flush with the downhill side . No surface water will get to the walls . I've been watching the sidewalls of the pit closely , and noticed there was a couple of small trickles coming from one area after several days of heavy rain (like 3" in 4 days) . Up til then I was just going to do the asphalt and plastic , decided a drain might be in order . The capacity of a 1 1/4" PVC pipe is way overkill for the amount of water observed . A couple of other bits , the cellar is not completely underground , uphill end is about 4'6" in the ground , downhill end less than 18" . Slab is pitched slightly towards the downhill end , and there is a ground-level entrance with the ground sloped away from the cellar . It's a pretty sure thing that the water I saw is rainwater that fell up the hill and percolated down - there are other tiny "springs" that only flow after several days of heavy rain .

Reply to
Terry Coombs

well i spent 8 grand trying to dry my moms basement, which included all new sidewalks new steps. resloped entire yard, and when i was completly done, the basement was still flooded. a couple inches..

so i then spent 3500 bucks, for a interior french drain which really worked

the op can always do the interior french drain..

oh and the cost difference between 1.5 pipe and 4 inches is really small...

Reply to
bob haller

+1

Also didn't see any mention of the typical 4" perf pipe laying horizontally around the perimeter and run to an exit point, typically a sump pump pit or similar. Not too sure about using common plastic sheet for the barrier either. There are products specifically designed for that, which is what I would use. Not sure how thick they area, but they are probably an order of magnitude thicker and tougher than 6 mil poly. What local codes apply?

Reply to
trader_4

There are no local codes ... and the 1 1/4" pipe is perforated . Both ends of the "U" will come out at ground level on the downhill end , no need for a sump or a pump . This whole thing is insurance , I really don't think I'll see any output from the drains except after several days of heavy rain - and probably not even then . I asked for one recommendation , not a running critique of what I did and how - not aimed specifically at you , trader4 , though you are guilty of that too . The question was what to use to keep soil from filtering into the gravel bed while allowing water to pass , which has been answered . I'll be picking up a roll of landscape fabric today .

Reply to
Terry Coombs

Fine, from now on I'll just refrain from giving any pertinent advice. If you ask how to hook a 22 gauge wire to a 20 amp receptacle, maybe someone will tell you how to do it and confine their comments to just that.

Reply to
trader_4

Oren posted for all of us...

+1 I hope he doesn't argue with us.
Reply to
Tekkie®

Nah , I just have a problem with people that think they know better when they have absolutely no idea of the actual conditions here . Chances were slim that I'd ever have a problem if I'd done nothing at all to the block walls . As far as water table I believe it's down there a ways since we're on a slope -my well has water over 25 feet down , but I don't know if that's pertinent .

Reply to
Terry Coombs

well now Having wasted over 8 grand to install a exterior french drain. had a excavating company dig all the way to the footer, cut down mature trees to get the machine where it needs to be, reslope and landscape the entire yard, i was the laborer on this big job, which took me much of the summer..

only to find i wasted my time and money.........

ended up with a interior french drain, no work at all, except signing the c heck.....

so i tried to pass along my experience, and find the person i was trying to help, didnt want the info.....

Reply to
bob haller

Because the info did not apply to my situation . Do you really think I went to all this work without doing research on local conditions ? I've got

3 guys that live down here in The Holler chuckling at me because in their opinion it wasn't necessary . In my opinion it might be necessary someday ... Chances are that your problem was caused by the water table being higher than the bottom of your cellar floor . Not the case here , it rained before I poured the slab and the water was gone the next day . I was going to stop with just a coat of asphalt on the outside until I saw a couple of small seeps coming out of the side of the hole . This occured after extremely heavy rains over a period of 2-3 days - at this time the road on the other side of the creek was under at least 2 feet of water . Nobody that lives here has ever seen the creek that high ... something that might happen every 50 years or something . As I said upthread , the drainage capacity of what I installed is many times the volume of the seepage I noted and there is no possibility of surface water causing a problem .
Reply to
Terry Coombs

I sure think French drain(up here in our neck of wood, it is called weeping tile) should be around perimeter of foundation. Locating it at mid-level of the wall, what is it going to do???

Reply to
Tony Hwang

You did right thing until next time maybe after 50 years. Due to global warming violent weather will come more frequently. Now civil engineers building dams, roads, bridges are in dilemma because they are beginning to realize designs based on past 100 year weather stats.(snow, rain, flood, etc) can't be applied. My son is in civil engineering. We had unheard of flooding in 2013. His group is working on flood mitigation to prevent future disaster but can't decide how to go about it knowing past stat. based designs don't work now. They keep wondering how much work is enough...

Reply to
Tony Hwang

It's not at mid-level , the pipe is below the top of the concrete slab and about an inch from it .

Reply to
Terry Coombs

Regardless of local conditions, what Bob is saying, what I was saying, likely still applies. From your description, you're using 1 1/4" pipe and apparently you drilled your own holes in it? Who does that? Everybody else uses 4" perf pipe. I've never heard of using 1 1/4" pipe for a foundation drain. Bob and others said to use a sock too, which I think is good, universal advice. You can get a sock for 4" pipe, never seen one for 1 1/4". But go ahead, piss all over it, complain about the advice given and do as you please, we should have just said two words, answered the narrow question and ignored everything else. Next time we see you here offering advice beyond two words, Bob and I can complain about you too.

Reply to
trader_4

Just can't let it drop , can you ?

Reply to
Terry Coombs

Maybe people should think more about finding a home on high ground?

Reply to
Muggles

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