Basement Perimeter Drainage System??

builditright

I was pretty set on subcontracting a company to install a modern type french drain and sump system in a basement that i an doing. The client had an engineer friend over and he said point blank! No way should you install this system in this house. He said that although these systems work well on newer homes, it will only create more problems on this old house. The house is 150 years old. The foundation walls are bluestone set on undisturbed soil. He said that the perimeter drains will move too much water around this very fragile area and eventually undermine the wall. He said that if the wall had a concrete footing and this perimeter drain sat on top of that. then it would do its job and not cause another problem but to install this system at the very foot of the blue stone is suicide.

Seems logical to me. Any thoughts??

thanks

nick

cexcavation

Trust the engineer........they get paid the big bucks to make the big calls

tgeb

I would agree with those statements. Did the engineer give you any solutions to this?

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genecarp

suicide may be a little extreme, while the conditions described are not ideal for a french drain, there are to many variables to just flattly outrule it.

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tgeb

No offense, CE, but sometimes they get paid big bucks, to make big mistakes that cost big money, to unsuspecting builders and home owners.

This time I would say he is spot on, with the given information. But I have seen engineers waaay over build some stuff, for no other reason than to cover their own butts.

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Tom

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OCRS

I have a similar situation with my house. 98 old w/stone foundation. I had found some information about installing a membrane under the exterior soil deep enough as to not interfere with grass growth but to insure absolute water shedding. I have yet to progress with this as it was not received well here. I'm curious as to how you proceed.

rino1494

I agree. Our old farmhouse in which my father grew up in is over 200yrs old. The beams in the attic are hand carved with a axe and put together with wooden pins because there were no nails back then. The foundation is laid up with field stone and is still standing today.

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cexcavation

TGEB,

Those are my sentiments exactly!!! However, whenever an engineer makes an evaluation in writing on a job, I strictly abide by it simply due to the fact that if I do it their way and it fails then it is their behind sticking out and not mine. I will ask a lot of questions and evaluate the situation for myself, but if it is something major like a foundation failure then I leave that call up to the recognized "experts"-whatever that means.

builditright

Thanks men for the help in making the decision. I dumped the waterguard perimeter drainage system.

I deal with engineers a few times a month on sites and although i respect there education and knowledge. They always seem to be too conservative. This basement only floods once a year (average) when it really rains hard. So diverting the water around the base of the blue stone wall will not have such a huge effect on the undisturbed soil underneath. If it were a high water table issue, were the water is constantly being channeled to the sump, then this would be a major concern and a easier decision.

bansheeboy

how much real estate are you dealing with?

call me crazy but could'nt you trench 2-3 feet deeper than the bottom of the foundation and say 10 feet from the foundation to install a groundwater intercepter? 12" wide by whatever depth is necessary and however many feet it takes to get around said foundation with the 10 foot setback with some sort of basin placed in the yard to pump the intercepted water out to the street or a lower point on the property or if elevations allow it use no basin and just exit the piping to daylight?

this method would keep from disturbing the soil around the foundation but intercept and remove any ground water that might be in the soil.

if you cant gravity out i'm sure you'd need to use some sort of basin with a series of floats and a high water alarm like a sand filter set up.

just a thought....

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Snow Man

Overpaid , bright engineers need a check up from the neck up.

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Driftwood

I hope home has gutters,and all down leaders are tight lined ,well away from foundation. Also, all soil against house would do well to
#1 be clay, graded 2 % away, compacted to 90% . Very well ,this alone will
stop flooding. ANY THOUGHTS ??