Tying into 50's style clay drain tile perimiter system/exposed Pit / Wall membrane

alecmcmahon

Trying this again, as my thread in GD hasn't got any hits.



I have a 1950's Ranch with a full basement. There is a sump pump on one side of the basement. And on the other there is a exposed ' pit ' cut in the slab to access the main drain clean outs for the sewer.

The only 2 spots i have water coming into the basement are at this ' pit ' ( pictured below ) During heavy rains this will fill with water, due to the drain tiles ends being exposed there, and surrounded by earth.

And about 5 feet away from the sump pump where the previous home owner drilled a 1/2 or so weep hole into the bottom cynderblock and carved a ' trench ' in the cement slab for the water to be directed into the sump pump.


Now, to the questions!

As mentioned, I had found while looking in this exposed pit with the clean outs that my basement ,presumable , has old 50's style clay drain tiles around the basement. I can see them on either side of the ' pit ' and they do fill with water during heavy rains, further causing this ' pit ' to fill.

Im not sure why they just end here, it looks like they saw the main plumbing drain for the house was in the way and they just stopped there. Shouldnt they be connected all the way around? How would i go about connecting them around my main drain pipe? go under it???

Now on the other side of the basement where my sump pump is these drain tiles are NOT connected into the sump pump. I do not see any large holes cut into it with the pipe entering like you would standard PVC perimeter drains.

What should i do with the pit area? should i cement it closed ( as high as i can still being able to access the clean out?

dig down and install draining rock and a small sump pump and basin and pipe it out?

How would i go about routing around this drain pipe if i need to ' connect them ' ?


On the side with the sump pump and weep hole I plan to dig up about 10-15 feet on both sides of the sump and try to tie into the clay drain tiles with modern PVC drain pipe, tie into a new sump basin and pump.

Also i'd like to install that membrane that goes a foot or 2 up the wall then down to under the slab, so that the weep holes drilled flow right from the hole in the blocks to the drain tile... [ WHAT IS THIS WALL MEMBRANE CALLED???? ]


Pics to better help explain.









THis is the ' trench ' the previos owner carved into to let the water from the weep hole he drilled route into the sump pit


No clay drain tiles tied into my sump basin.

Bondo

Ayuh,... Probably becuase you need to resize these pictures down to 480x640 to fit the forum...

Nobody likes side-scrolling to read your text.....

What's the Problem with the way it is,..??

alecmcmahon

Looks fine on my screens, both laptop and desktop.

Not sure what your talking about.


The problem with the way it is now that it has flooded and has the potential to flood the basement again.

Bondo

Ayuh,... That's from the forum posting guidelines....

Your pictures are more like 500,000.....

Like I said,... Nobody likes to side-scroll...
If You can't post so it can be read,.... Answers are gonna be hard to come by....

modifieda4

i'd pretty much do as you said. break up around the sump pit to drain the weeping system into the sump.

assuming the weeping goes around from both sides of the opposing pit, a quick fix could be to cap both weeping pipes there. otherwise, join the two together. looks like you could go over the main drain.

if you do concrete the cleanout pit, i'd excavate it a bit so you maintain full access to whatever is in there.

two side notes:

1. im in the middle of adding a sump pit to a 50's cape, tomorrow i excavate...i hope i find weeping like you've pictured.
2. thank you for posting the pictures in your post. they are fine, i have no issues viewing them, i dont know why you're getting grief about them. welcome to 2010.

alecmcmahon

Thanks for the suggestions, but ultimately i had decided to just go ahead and put in a new modern PVC footer drain. I didnt trust what was there, it still had some other problem areas, i'll have peace of mind for when i starting putting some serious money down there, and it'll be a nice key for resale time.


Im actually in the middle of excavating now, not a fun job!

some pics:

AllanJ

This may be repetitive because I am not side scrolling (pan and scanning) to
read all the words in all the replies.

The water must drain from or be sucked from all of the drain tiles including
those not connected to the sump pump pit. YOu may need to dig another
pit for the pipes that don't reach the existing pit.

Water is supposed to come out of the tiles/perimeter pipes and into the pit
and then be pumped outside. Water is not supposed to drain out of the pit
and into the tiles. Do not cap off the ends of the drain tiles coming into the
pit.

If the existing perimeter drain pipes are working correctly and all the a
ccumulated water is drained/pumped/sucket away at all times, you should
not have any water on your basement floor.

Do not drain washing machines or other domestic water usage into the perimeter
drain pipes or tiles. Do not route gutter water there. Also there must not
be water collecting around your foundation; do whatever you need to do
to correct that.

__________________
The average homeowner who lost his house in the Oklahoma tornadoes should move for good and not rebuild. Too much complexity watchdogging the contractor. Too much a chance to be defrauded.