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I had absolutely no idea this was named after an American! My parents home is on a mountainside. All the rainwater collects higher up the mountain and then mov
by bane 2y ago
I had absolutely no idea this was named after an American!
My parents home is on a mountainside. All the rainwater collects higher up the mountain and then moves down the mountain where their house is in the way. The soil is thin, mostly clay, and you hit bed rock very quickly. When it rained, water would have little place to go under the soil and would surge up under pressure in areas to the surface. One of those areas was that house.
They purchased the house new and the builder neglected to consider this water reality, so for the first couple years the basement would flood from the bottom, then later water would come rushing into the basement windows.
They spent a small fortune with heavy equipment digging out underground trenches in this rocky environment and laying french drains around the perimeter of the house, and then also in a long diagonal in front of the house as a sort of catchment. The collected water was routed underground and around the house to an exit further down the mountain.
This stopped all the flooding immediately, so much so that my parents finished the basement and turned it into a massive master suite where it stayed dry for decades.
A handful of years ago, my father passed on, and early the next year when the rains started, the flooding starting up again. My mother, absolutely distraught had me come out, and the water had destroyed flooring, drywall, window treatments, furniture, books -- it looked like the aftermath of a hurricane. During one rain I watched waterfalls come in the windows...clearly something had gone wrong with the drainage system.
We had engineers come out, concerned that the water had cracked and penetrated the foundation, but no, it turns out the French drains had failed in someway. Another small fortune, they were dug up, replaced, redone, and now....no flooding again.
This is a great video that may have explained exactly what happened.
- hn_throwaway_99 2y ago> I had absolutely no idea this was named after an American! Yeah, I feel like French drains should be added to: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23888725 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23888725
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- jnwatson 2y agoIt was in a comment by darkerside.
- HPsquared 2y agoIf it's important, I guess you could add some boreholes or sensors to check the groundwater level and see if it's creeping up over the years.
- falcolas 2y agoA simple sump (basically a hole in your basement floor), and sump pump, can help identify it before it reaches your basement floor. IIRC, this is also covered (albeit briefly) in the video.
- kevin_thibedeau 2y agoHigh water pressure at the basement walls can result in intrusion without ground water below the floor being a problem. I have no sump/drain in my basement as it never floods because it sits on well draining soil. A neighbor's driveway directs water toward my block foundation and, with heavy rains, the localized pressure in the saturated soil along the wall would produce a jet of water coming out of a hole in the mortar. I resolved it by digging a swale that diverted that excess water around the foundation. It is much easier to maintain than a French drain that would silt up rapidly given my soil.
- HPsquared 2y agoI was thinking more, check for buildup of water upstream of the barrier as an early indication of blockage or restriction. If the gravel or whatever is clogged, you'll see high water behind it.
- throw0101a 2y ago> We had engineers come out, concerned that the water had cracked and penetrated the foundation, but no, it turns out the French drains had failed in someway. Another small fortune, they were dug up, replaced, redone, and now....no flooding again. Generally speaking you want some kind of inspection/clean-out port so you can snake a camera through the system to see what's going on: * https://www.drainbrainllc.com/what-you-should-know-about-the-drain-cleanouts-in-your-home https://www.drainbrainllc.com/what-you-should-know-about-the... (This is for both the sewer drain and French drain systems.)
- bane 2y agoThat's a good question, I'll have to check on this the next time I go out there.
- kwhitefoot 2y ago> I had absolutely no idea this was named after an American! They're just called land drains or field drains elsewhere.