# Interior perimeter drain for basement water



## Capttrip55 (Mar 11, 2008)

THe house that we bought 2 years ago gets water in the basement only during very heavy rainfalls when the ground is already saturated. It happended 3 times last winter and has happened once this winter. There is a sump pit installed in the bathroom along the middle of the west wall. 80% of the water comes in along the northwest corner (~20 feet from the sump pit and seperate by a block wall with footer underneath), the rest of the water comes in along the north wall. We had some people come out and they wanted to install a perimeter drain ontop of the footer and run it into our exisiting pit(they would stay on the footer and go through the core of one block seperating the 2 rooms).they want 3k to instal the above system when my father and law should be able to do it ourselfs for 300 or so. We were thinking of using 2 or 3 inch perforated pvc pipe placed on top of the footer and ran 5 feet down the east wall, across the entire northwall, and the down the west wall and into the pit. We are planning on going on top of the footer instead of beside to allow us to empty into the existing pit (since the room is seperate by a block wall with footer below we would eitehr have to go under or through the footer or stay on top and run through the block core) We will also drill weep holes into the cores of each bottom block below the wall. So do you think this will work or do we need a different material? Their product is retangular instead of round. What about size 2 inch or 3 inch? Thanks for the help.


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## concretemasonry (Oct 10, 2006)

If you have to tear out any concrete, you are wasting money on a little tin or plastic channel sitting on the footing. That omly collects the water that will seep in and does little to reduce the water pressure forcing water in.

You should also check your local code, because many codes require that there be 3.5" of concrete in direct contact with the wall.

If you tear out concrete, do it right and place the 4" perforated pipe at the level of the bottom of the footings and have 2" of clean, graded granular fill under it.

Your sump may be too small or not deep enough to be effective, but that can be replaced relatively easy.


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## Capttrip55 (Mar 11, 2008)

What about the fact that there is a loadbearing block all seperating the room with the leaks from the sump pit. If I did it the way you describe to I run under the footer or straight through the footer to tie into the pit?


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## Bondo (Dec 8, 2007)

Ayuh,....

I hate finding the Same dam thread in 2 or more forums............................


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## justdon (Nov 16, 2005)

*another help*

probably the BEST thing you can do is go outside and see IF the slope is enough away from the foundation,,,at LEAST 4" in first 2 foot another 4" in next 4 '. THEN put heaviest plastic as you can find,a double layer wouldnt hurt,,in this 6' area on top of the ground and make a ROCK garden out of it. NO plants or other intrusions in the plastic so ALL water HAS to run off lower edge. That keeps walls dryer than ANYTHING else you can do. Unless you are setting in a huge bathtub inground with house,,,like a sand pocket in a clay base. It should help alot,,,then tile inside and while your at it,,,why go under that footer??,,,can you put another sump pit on the other side?? least that way generally both dont ever fail at once.

Another strong tip,,,put it on the ONLY outlet on a dedicated outlet JUST for it with a warning deal IF too high of water level occurs for ANY reason,,only takes once IF failure occurs on a finished space!!


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## TheoTV (Apr 23, 2009)

Weep holes into block make sense. But then covering with dimpled membrane to allow air and water to flow creates and open system. As Stephan Andras says in his Iron Bacteria article in Waterproof Spring 2009 Mag, why create an air passage for wet damp, bacteria heavy air to get into the basement from the drain? Just in case I have water coming down the walls? My walls are dry. My water is ground water due to raising water table level. Plus outside drain tile are probably old clogged or worse, an exterior drain is not an option.

How do I create a interior closed system, with a good clean-out, using 4" sch 30 perforated? I am ready to jack hammer this floor and install my drain, I am thinking all I need to do is install dimpled sheet, dimples down but on a ridge just above my weep holes and then close the system when the new concrete goes down. Any experiments or experience that prove this out?


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## silky (Apr 22, 2009)

I just skimmed through this so sorry if it's a repeat of someone elses idea but...

It seems that you are not addressing the actualy problem which is that water is penetrating the foundation and entering the basement. Basically your outside draining system is incapable of dealing with the amount of water and your foundation must have holes which allow the water in. You need to dig around the foundation, fix the cracks/holes in the foundation, and lay weeping tile around the foundation which connects to a drain. That's my opinnion.....


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## AllanJ (Nov 24, 2007)

Do you already have a weeping tile system on the outside of your foundation? If so you should not need another system one on the inside.

You would need to create a sump pump pit on the outside near a corner to collect the water from the low point of the outside weeping tile system and have a pump there. Not too close to the foundation since you don't want to undermine any footings. Better yet is a gravity fed drain pipe extending out from a corner of the weeping tile system and sloping down to reach the ground surface (obviously requires a significant downslope somewhere on your property).

Whether you install a weeping tile system just inside or just outside the foundation after the house has been built, you should not excavate below the bottom of the footings at all.


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## mvanzante (May 1, 2009)

Does anyone know where to buy the dimpled sheeting? I already have an interior perimeter drain system that goes halfway around my basement, but I am planning to tie into it myself to go around the other half of the perimeter. Specifically I am intending to use approach 5 shown here since that is the system that is already installed in my basement. The contractor wants about $2,000 to do the ~40 ft extension, but I'm pretty sure I could do it for 1/4 of that if I could find the dimpled sheeting. The rest is just jack hammering and digging... oh, and drilling the weep holes, filling the pea gravel, laying the tile, and then the concrete.

Thanks in advance for your help!


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## TheoTV (Apr 23, 2009)

*Dimpled sheeting*

Grate Drain has it but if you are not a contractor they won't sell it to you. The problem with the system you are installing is it is an open system. I almost did exactly what you are doing. In fact my basement is ready as the concrete is gone- It took a small army of friends and family two days to get the busted concrete up and out via 5 gal buckets. The bucket brigade worked but then find someplace to put it? BTW use large gravel not pea. Pea will get into the drain and lend to clogs, Also if you go the way you plan put a standard 4" clean out in and avoid 90s by doing two 45s. These drains will clog over time. That's the problem with all old weep tile systems. They work when installed, but become clogged over time and with no way to clean them out the are worthless (hence excavate & replace but in an area where water is persistent you'd have to do it again without a cleanout.) The expense and danger to your foundation by excavating outside cannot be under estimated - that's why people opt for solution 5 like you and I have. My home grown solution that eliminates the need for dimpled sheet is to install 1/2" to 1" weep pipes into each weep hole I have drilled & put a 4" drain sch 30 next to the footer and drill holes in the top to allow the weep pipes to drain into the 4". I then cover it all with large washed gravel and put feltpaper over that before I pour the new concrete- This gives me the 3.5" thinkness of floor the concretemason discussed above and a closed system.:thumbsup: I had 3-4 waterproofing experts try to sell me an open system with an airtight sump lid with a special airtight drain in it (pricy). $7Kto12K What sense does it make to put an airtight sump lid in as part of an open drain system? These systems must be closed systems, with clean outs. This is especially so to keep a basement really dry, especially in the swamp I live in - in 20 years I only saw this water issue 3 times, but now, the cycle has shifted to higher water table (the lakes are 1-2 feet higher than just 2 years ago and this could continue for many years so I am putting in a system the will outlive me and handle all but an overwhelming flood -The nearby river would have to rise 35-40 feet for that to happen. Good luck.


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