I’ve got a customer out here in L.A. who has a one room addition built on the back of a one-story house. The neighbor’s house directly in the rear is at a 3 foot higher elevation. When it rains, the water comes down from the neighbor, down the retaining wall across 3 feet of brick walkway and slaps against the side of the addition (stucco walls). The room has flooded enough to wet the carpet throughout.
The entire back area up to the retaining wall is brick. Brick patio, brick walkway behind the addition, brick walkway on the side of the house all the way to the property line.
My idea was this: make a trench along the back of the addition (15 feet) by cutting the brick. angle the trench down to one side – put a sump pump at that end and then run pvc pipe up out of the trench and along the length of the house to the front yard which is at a lower elevation.
Since it doesn’t rain that much out here, it won’t be taxed too hard. Also, I was looking for a solution where I wouldn’t have to break up the brick and trenching across it, etc. The least intrusive solution.
Do you think this will work? Also, if I’m doing this trench, which I want to be waterproof, does anyone have any ideas as to what products to use? Should I build it like a long narrow pond? Should I hard wire the electrical to the pump or put an outdoor outlet and just plug it in?
Thoughts, suggestions or alternatives to my plan would be appreciated. If I’m being unclear, I’d be happy to give some more details.
Replies
I'm not sure I picture the situation completely. But, I think what might work for you is a trench drain. They come as a heavy plastic trough that you set in the ground, and the top is a grating -- all plastic. The sections are a few feet long and just snap together. At the end you can attach a sump, or pipe to carry the water away. Home centers (Lowes, Home Depot) carry them in most parts of the country. The gratings are usually black or green.
I would avoid a pump if at all possible, and run drain pipe around the front of the house to drain to daylight by gravity. Sump pumps can give out. If you had a power failure as a result of a thunderstorm, you'd loose your protection just when you needed it. Probably 4" pipe would be sufficient. It would be better if you could run it out each end and around both sides of the house if possible.
If the retaining wall is on your client's property, you could add another course of stone or whatever on top if it would send the water to a safer place.
If you do something electrical, I'd install a weather proof plug, the kind with a cover that can be closed with a cord plugged into it, and equip the circuit with ground fault protection. Unless code requires the pump to be hard wired.
In some parts of the country it's illegal for a property owner to change their property in such a way as to increase the runoff of water onto someone else's property. So, if the neighbor complains about any solution you can hit them back with the idea that you can make them stop the water from leaving their property in the first place. I'm only mentioning it if it comes to that, which of course, I hope can be avoided by a simple solution. You'd need to talk to a lawyer before hand, of course.
Yeah, you seem to grasp my situation pretty good. I would like to use buried pipes from the trench around both sides of the house, but all flat surfaces are paved with brick. I would have to do some extensive tear out and rebuild (which I wouldn't mind, but the HO is looking for a quick fix).
When I get back over there, I'll look at the retaining wall again. Maybe I could just put another course on top and have it run off past either side of the wall I'm trying to keep dry.
My brother mentioned that there are sump pumps with battery backup that I'm going to look into. That way, when the power fails, they work, for a time.
Very common problem in L.A. Code in L.A is that adjacent ground is to be 6" below the top of slab. It's very common for top of brick to be above the slab and not slopped away from house.
So cut the slab or brick about 4" from side of house. Dig out brick/cement/dirt to 6" below top of slab all the way to the front. Hopefully the front grade is lower than the rear grade.