Replies

1. 
   tom_blegen | Jul 27, 2000 12:56am | #1

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   when installing exterior draintile around the footing, what is the proper method. Should the draintile go alongside the footing or on top of it? I have a walkout basement with a frost footing that is 42inches below the rest of the footing. The draintile along here can't be daylighted nor can it be run inside the foundation .

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   Guest_ | Jul 27, 2000 01:52am | #2

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   so ask yourself, tom, what good is the tile going to do you ?

   it's only going to serve as a collection system for water.. and when it fills up it will overflow into the nearest available depression... your basement..

   can you install a sump in your basement and a pump ?

   all drain tile should either lead to daylight or to a sump.. and if it goes to a sump you need a pump system to get rid of it when it fills up...

   grade around your house so as much of the roof water runs away from the house as possible ..
   then develop a strategy to deal with the rest of the water...it is basically a question of gravity.

   b but hey, whadda i no ?

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   Guest_ | Jul 27, 2000 03:56pm | #3

   *It all depends on how necessary you or some drainage guru consider having a footer drainage system to be. If it's essential for a liveable basesment (or your sanity,) then I can think of several solutions. If you have a spot that you can get out to from your deepest footing, a pit-sump/drywell can be dug and will function well as a water remover if it can be dug down into a layer of soil that leaches well. Optimally, it would be protected from being overtaxed by directing surface runoff away from the area above it and by using good compaction technique to prevent moisture migration through the disturbed soil along the line(s) leading to and surrounding the drywell. Alternatively, you could run out to a lift station consisting of a basin/pump assembly designed for direct burial (around $1000 From Zabel:www.zabel.com, 1 800 221 5742) From there the water can be pumped somewhere can't it? Regarding the placement of perf. pipe. It's always completely helpful in answering questions like these to ask oneself, "Self-" "Yes," "Why am I doing what I'm doing?" I generally come up with two answers when dealing with this question. 1- A footer drain will help the joint between footer and wall keep water out. It will also help all the joints above that keep water out too. 'Cause it's not moist soil that invades, it's water being driven along a gradient by water standing above it that causes callbacks. 2- Soil that does not have a very high moisture content when it drops below 32F. doesn't really freeze. It's water that freezes. So dry soil when it gets cold does not present a heaving problem. This means a more stable, more moistureproof foundation, etc. So, getting back to the moisture migrating through disturbed soil idea, it might be argued that the "footing" drain will be most effective if it's dewatering the lowest level of accessible disturbed soil. This in many cases will mean alongside or just on top of the footer.

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   tom_blegen | Jul 27, 2000 04:03pm | #4

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