Building a drain at Base of Hill
Building a drain at Base of Hill
(OP)
I have a water issue with my house--it sits at the base of a large hill and my back yard is very wet. My sump pump runs frequently.
I recently installed a french drain at the base of the hill, approximately 20 feet from my foundation (3ft deep, 4" perforated pvc pipe wrapped with fabric sleeve, surrounded with 3/4" clean stone). The drain is working great--water has been flowing out of the outlet pipe constantly since i put it in.
One problem--my sump pump is still running just as much as it ever did. I'm talking about a lot of water--the pump is 3/4hp, 1.5" outlet pipe, runs for about 40-50 minutes every 3 hours.
My question--should I have dug my drain deeper? Do i need to take the base of the drain down to the basement floor foundation level to keep the sump pump from running so much? Should I build a new, deeper french drain parallel (closer to my house) to the first drain I dug?
Also, should I wait for the ground to dry up before I excavate again?
Also, apparently my footing drains are blocked. Is their any way to clean out the footing drains without draining my bank account?
I recently installed a french drain at the base of the hill, approximately 20 feet from my foundation (3ft deep, 4" perforated pvc pipe wrapped with fabric sleeve, surrounded with 3/4" clean stone). The drain is working great--water has been flowing out of the outlet pipe constantly since i put it in.
One problem--my sump pump is still running just as much as it ever did. I'm talking about a lot of water--the pump is 3/4hp, 1.5" outlet pipe, runs for about 40-50 minutes every 3 hours.
My question--should I have dug my drain deeper? Do i need to take the base of the drain down to the basement floor foundation level to keep the sump pump from running so much? Should I build a new, deeper french drain parallel (closer to my house) to the first drain I dug?
Also, should I wait for the ground to dry up before I excavate again?
Also, apparently my footing drains are blocked. Is their any way to clean out the footing drains without draining my bank account?





RE: Building a drain at Base of Hill
Thread158-60100
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RE: Building a drain at Base of Hill
How and where does your sump discharge? Make sure you are not recycling water from sump and french drain discharges being too close to the house. Ensuring that roof downspouts drain onto splash pads or extensions that carry roof discharge well away from the basement foundation wall is also important. Finally, positive lot grading away from your foundation is important. A minimum of 5% grade for a distance of at least 10' is what I commonly recommend.
One last comment - I would like to know what the ground water table elevation (relative to the footing elevation) is. This will have an affect upon any subsurface drain recommendations that I may have.
RE: Building a drain at Base of Hill
How would I go about figuring the ground water table elevations vs. the footing elevation
RE: Building a drain at Base of Hill
RE: Building a drain at Base of Hill
I finished about 1/2 of the 80 foot trench on day 1. When i went out the next morning, the entire 40 foot trench was filled with water. The house is not a walkout
RE: Building a drain at Base of Hill
RE: Building a drain at Base of Hill
RE: Building a drain at Base of Hill
Contact the American Society of Civil Engineers at 800-548-ASCE and ask for a contact at the local ASCE Branch. Contact that person (who should be a civil engineer) and ask for a list of contacts in your area. That will get you in touch with individuals - not just firms.
Check with your local public works department. They will know who is active in your area, too. But you will miss some of the smaller firms that way.
Finally, check the Yellow Pages. There are enough in north New Jersey - I'd expect a separate heading for them - "Geotechnical Engineers." Also look under "Foundation Engineers."
Good luck -
Please see FAQ731-376 by VPL for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.
RE: Building a drain at Base of Hill
RE: Building a drain at Base of Hill
RE: Building a drain at Base of Hill
RE: Building a drain at Base of Hill
I still think you need to hire a consultant; I'm not convinced that a "shotgun" approach to addressing your concerns is a good use of either your time or your money -
Please see FAQ731-376 by VPL for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.
RE: Building a drain at Base of Hill