Hi everyone, I was hoping to get some advice on my water problem. I have a house that is a split level.
I recently dug up part of the wall to explore the system. The wall was parged and then tar was painted on and a thin plastic was placed over that. The basement is exactly 4ft underground. The previous owner of the house has an interior drainage system installed on one of the walls. Contractor dug up the concrete used a dimpled membrane (miradrain?) and redirected the water to a sump pump. Then they punched weep holes into the block so when it rains and water gets into the block, the water flows under the membrane and towards the sump pump.
The system on that side of the wall works perfectly. Unfortunately, one of the other walls seeps some water when we get heavy rains. I want to completely stop the water from getting into the house.
I have read of a few methods and was hoping someone could recommend what the best option was.
Plan of Attack:
I was going to dig up the foundation 1 wall at a time. Method 1 is less digging since I don't have to go all the way down to the footing.
Method 1:
- Add Miradrain membrane to all the walls. This membrane will essentially keep water from entering the walls of the foundation and most likely push water down toward the footings.
- Add a curtain drain 4ft to 6ft from the foundation wall. (I have read a few times now that anything close then 4ft will actually suck water into the wall)
Method 2: (This is a huge amount of work)
- Add Miradrain membrane to all the walls.
- Add a a footing drain (This will require a lot more digging)
- Routing the footing drain away from the house will also require a lot more digging.
My concerns with method 1 is that if I have no footing drain and some of the water makes it past the curtain drain then I am essentially pushing water into the footings side. I guess the big question is will the curtain drain 4ft to 6ft from the foundation effectively capture all water coming at it.
I recently dug up part of the wall to explore the system. The wall was parged and then tar was painted on and a thin plastic was placed over that. The basement is exactly 4ft underground. The previous owner of the house has an interior drainage system installed on one of the walls. Contractor dug up the concrete used a dimpled membrane (miradrain?) and redirected the water to a sump pump. Then they punched weep holes into the block so when it rains and water gets into the block, the water flows under the membrane and towards the sump pump.
The system on that side of the wall works perfectly. Unfortunately, one of the other walls seeps some water when we get heavy rains. I want to completely stop the water from getting into the house.
I have read of a few methods and was hoping someone could recommend what the best option was.
Plan of Attack:
I was going to dig up the foundation 1 wall at a time. Method 1 is less digging since I don't have to go all the way down to the footing.
Method 1:
- Add Miradrain membrane to all the walls. This membrane will essentially keep water from entering the walls of the foundation and most likely push water down toward the footings.
- Add a curtain drain 4ft to 6ft from the foundation wall. (I have read a few times now that anything close then 4ft will actually suck water into the wall)
Method 2: (This is a huge amount of work)
- Add Miradrain membrane to all the walls.
- Add a a footing drain (This will require a lot more digging)
- Routing the footing drain away from the house will also require a lot more digging.
My concerns with method 1 is that if I have no footing drain and some of the water makes it past the curtain drain then I am essentially pushing water into the footings side. I guess the big question is will the curtain drain 4ft to 6ft from the foundation effectively capture all water coming at it.