The contractors came back this morning and stayed until the job was finished, which was quite late. Here is what they did today:
- Placed the ADS drainage pipe in the trenches they made yesterday
- Placed two drainage basins in opposite corners of the basement
- Installed two Zoeller 1/3 HP M53 cast iron effluent pumps, one in each basin
- Piped the pump outputs to the existing sump pump drainway
- Filled the trench with gravel
- Drilled weep holes in the base of the cinder block walls
- Placed plastic drainage mats against wall and around the footings
- Patched the floor where the trenches were opened with 5000 PSI concrete
- Used “Super Slurry” (a mixture of KIM and Portland cement)on the walls and patched all the horizontal and vertical cracks in the walls
Here are some more pictures:
4 Inch Perforated ADS pipe placed along the footing.
Drainage trench filled with gravel.
This is a plastic drainage mat placed against the cinder block wall. Each row of cinder block cells had a weep hole drilled in the bottom of it. This plastic mat ensures that any water collecting inside the cinder blocks drains out and is conducted to the under slab footing drain. The bottom 24 inches of each wall had a coating of “Super Slurry” applied to repair water damage to the cinder blocks.
Basement sump with Zoeller M53 cast iron effluent pump. These pumps are designed for rugged service and can pass solids up to 1/2 inch. Each sump has a high water alarm which will go off if the pump malfunctions.
Finished corner sump with cover removed. The covers were put in place before the contractors left.
All of the trenches were resurfaced with 5000 PSI concrete.
They even installed a floor drain in front to the stairs that lead to the BILCO doors.
Needless to say, they were here quite late completing all this work, leaving around 10 pm. They did a great job cleaning up all the mess and carting away all the rubble and debris. We have a written warranty (the only kind there is) that states the floor will be dry for as long as we own the house (provided there is power for the pumps). This warranty is transferable to the next owner. I would say the American Dry Basement is pretty confident that this system will work. I will post an update in a few weeks and let you know what I think.
I am going work on a solar electrical system to power these pumps. I think that would be the best way to back up the system in case the electricity ever goes out. Also, these pumps will likely be running often and I would like to off set some of that electrical use with the solar PV system. I don’t want our de-watering efforts to drive up our electric bill.
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Looks like they did a very professional job. That system looks even better than the one I had in my first house. I like that drain mat with the concrete over it. Do you guys have any radon issues in that area?
They did do a very good job. When were were negotiating the price with the sales guy, it seemed a little high. I have to say, these guys worked really hard in difficult conditions and they earned every penny of it. If we never see any water in the basement, it will be well worth it.
Agreed, looks like a great job. You get a lot more water in your basement than I do, but I’m still considering a drainage system like yours… I might want to finish the basement (or part of it) at some point.
Thanks for posting all this.
without being totally rude I’d love to know what that cost sometime….via email if you don’t want to share it. I’m curious because I have customers ask about doing that all the time and I have no idea what that might cost.
Previous owners installed the same thing in my basement. Is this called a “French drain”? I’ve never had any problem with water except my clothes washer not draining properly.
Ethan,
Yes, this is a French drain system. So far it is working great as the basement is rapidly drying out. I will post some updated pictures soon.
We are considering doing a similar job with ADBS with the ADS pipe and drainage pipe. How has the system been holding up over the last year? Would you still recommend it?
Sid, The system is working good, well, there are a few things to consider:
1. Make sure you negotiate for the lowest price possible. I would even get a competing bid, they’ll come in high, but drop prices significantly if you negotiate hard
2. Make sure that the pump drain empties far enough away from the house, should be at least 30-40 feet away on the down hill side.
3. If you have sever water problems, have them install two sumps and pumps.
4. Have some sort of backup power system for the pumps. A portable generator will do in an emergency.
In the year we have had this installed the basement has not flooded, so it does work as advertised. Having two sumps I think is what saved us from flooding.
the system looks good…i’m happy to see the pipe pitched…but one thing i don’t like and never use is the ADS/PE pipe. that would be my only concern.
oh, and in my opinion, the discharge does not have to be 30-40′ away from the house. through my 20 years of waterproofing basements, you want to get the discharge line spewing the water away from the house so that it doesn’t come back and sit within the immediate 5-7 feet from the house. if the water takes a path away, happens to pool up within 15-20′…that water is not going to seep back into the ground, take a left hand turn and run laterally through the ground back into the basement. in some respect, with a high water table, the french drain/sump pump remedy resembles a cycle…but you don’t want a vicious cycle with the discharged water rolling back and pooling up within the immediate 5-7 feet from the house.
We are tackling this job ourselves. We have got the trench dug, putting pipe and rock in tomorrow sump pump is installed. It is a lot of work, however the amount of money we saved is worth it. We had two different estimates done. First estimate being around the 5000.00 and the second being 8,000. We have done everything just under 1000.00. We had to rent the cement saw and the jack hammer, bought some shovels, barrowed wheel barrows, and had really good friends come and help. It has taken a full 3 days. The only problem we had is the drainage mat isn’t something you can get at your local hardware store, we found a local guy who does this for a living to sell us some.
I have been planning on doing something like that to my basement; which constantly get flooded after rains or melting snow. My question is, Does digging trenches within the perimeter of your property compromise its stability/foundation?