Pix of my basement tiling project

[Rebecca Webb]

Greetings. You may remember me from last year's "ELBOWS - seal with sealant or duct tape?" thread about the extensive downspout system I used to drain water away from my house to keep it out of the basement. It proved ineffective and difficult to maintain (the plastic elbow joints froze and cracked over the winter). So I put in a trench/tiling system, something my neighbors installed a few years ago to keep water out of their basements. They swear no water has come in since.

My installers did things slightly differently. They used a flexible pipe instead of PVC. It's covered with fabric to keep dirt out of the pipe. And they used a green plastic above-ground grill at the low point on my property. My neighbors have a metal grill that lies flat on the ground above a rectangular low-point opening/front end access spot. Dad and I worried the green plastic grill was too high, so the installers dug it down a bit and we sloped the dirt around it.

Photos of the whole process are here:

The estimate for the work was about $2,500.

This photo...

...shows the low point on the property.

At one point, they did cut the gas line

But the weather was great for the project, so there ya go.

R.

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[RicodJour]

The raised grill is much better at keeping the drain from clogging. By lowering it and digging down the earth around it, you've partially defeated the purpose.

Around here contractors are required by law to call a One Call 800 number before doing any excavation. The One Call people alert all of the different utilities to visit the site and mark out their underground lines so people don't get inconvenienced and possibly damaged.

Thanks for posting the follow up - too often people as questions and we never now if they got through the project reasonably unscathed. It's like kids going off to college and never calling home. It hurts! ;)

R

[Rebecca Webb]

Oh, that was done! It was clearly marked with orange spray paint, and the excavator was careful. It happened anyway. But the weather was breezy, which helped dissipate the gas. I was actually twit enough to ask, "Am I going to have to pay for the escaped gas?" Well, no... it didn't go through the meter, did it? Hurray!

R.

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