sx460
06-27-05, 12:27 PM
Hello guys,
I have a old home that does not have a sump pit in the basement. This past weekened we just recieved 5.5" of rain and have at least that much in our unfinished basement. This is the third time this has happened. We have 4 drains in our basement that connect into field tile, but if anything they seem to be causing the problem because it sure isn't removing the water, the entire basement is flooded 5-8" above the drains. It is possible that the tiles are clogged with tree roots and are backing up into the basement as they take in water... not to sure. To test this theory we rented a 85' snake and tried to clear the tiles. We successfully removed some roots, but it didn't help the water go down the drains. The roots were towards the end of the 85' reach of the snake, and so possibly there's more roots that need to be removed. It is also possible that there is a crushed tile, or that the ground is so water logged that the we just happen to be in a low spot in the system... which I doubt because the fields east of us are lower and have no standing water.
What were considering doing is two things: having DrainTech (a high power root rooter type drain cleaning service) coming out and cleaning out the drains to see if this will help, and if they find a crushed tile to flag it and have it fixed at a later date.
The other thing we're planning on doing is installing sump pit in the lowest part of the basement (the NW corner in our case) and installing Ts to connect the tiles into the sump pit (so if they backup they will fill the sump pit and not the basement). Also, we'll install plastic tile and pea gravel under cement floor near the north wall (where most of the water seems to collect during rains... because it's a lower spot) and connecting that into the the sump pit as well. This will help act as a sponge as the water will find the tile due to high hydostatic pressure of the water logged soil. We'll then plumb our sump pump to drain/pump the water out into the ditch near our house (PVC piping about 8-10" under the soil with a strong fall towards the ditch).
I guess the question is, does this sound like a pratical solution to our problem? Any suggestions and tips to fixing this problem would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!
BTW: when we install the sump pit we'll drill 1/2" holes all over it and then surround the plastic sump pit 2-4" with river rock so it too acts as a sponge.
Thanks again guys!
I have a old home that does not have a sump pit in the basement. This past weekened we just recieved 5.5" of rain and have at least that much in our unfinished basement. This is the third time this has happened. We have 4 drains in our basement that connect into field tile, but if anything they seem to be causing the problem because it sure isn't removing the water, the entire basement is flooded 5-8" above the drains. It is possible that the tiles are clogged with tree roots and are backing up into the basement as they take in water... not to sure. To test this theory we rented a 85' snake and tried to clear the tiles. We successfully removed some roots, but it didn't help the water go down the drains. The roots were towards the end of the 85' reach of the snake, and so possibly there's more roots that need to be removed. It is also possible that there is a crushed tile, or that the ground is so water logged that the we just happen to be in a low spot in the system... which I doubt because the fields east of us are lower and have no standing water.
What were considering doing is two things: having DrainTech (a high power root rooter type drain cleaning service) coming out and cleaning out the drains to see if this will help, and if they find a crushed tile to flag it and have it fixed at a later date.
The other thing we're planning on doing is installing sump pit in the lowest part of the basement (the NW corner in our case) and installing Ts to connect the tiles into the sump pit (so if they backup they will fill the sump pit and not the basement). Also, we'll install plastic tile and pea gravel under cement floor near the north wall (where most of the water seems to collect during rains... because it's a lower spot) and connecting that into the the sump pit as well. This will help act as a sponge as the water will find the tile due to high hydostatic pressure of the water logged soil. We'll then plumb our sump pump to drain/pump the water out into the ditch near our house (PVC piping about 8-10" under the soil with a strong fall towards the ditch).
I guess the question is, does this sound like a pratical solution to our problem? Any suggestions and tips to fixing this problem would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!
BTW: when we install the sump pit we'll drill 1/2" holes all over it and then surround the plastic sump pit 2-4" with river rock so it too acts as a sponge.
Thanks again guys!