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Posted by on August 7, 2006, 1:12 pm
DaileyJohn.20.decij@spamgourmet.com wrote:
> On the west end of my small house in Cincinnati (the backyard), [I just
> recently bought the house, so I don't know its history] there is a
> small crest about 12 feet from the house that drains water toward the
> basement. (On the other side of the crest, the land slopes away from
> the house to a vacant lot.) Also, the backyard slopes from south to
> north, so there is a particularly low area at the Northwest corner of
> the house. That low corner is about 15 feet away from a spot where the
> water drains away from the house. On the Northeast corner of the house
> (the frontyard), there is a narrow slight slope from the corner down
> the driveway that drains all the way to the street. On the Southeast
> corner of the house (frontyard again), there is mostly a narrow slope
> generally towards the front that goes to the road, but there is a
> slight rise about 8 or 10 feet from the house. (M
>
> There are two gutters that run parallel to each other. The
> gutter on the South side of the house runs West to East (back to
> front), and has a downspout in about the mid-point of the house that
> drains into a pipe that is located in a window well. There is also a
> downspout at the SouthEast corner of the house. The mid-point gutter
> is almost surely the cause of a leak in the basement because after a
> moderate rain a week ago (following a fairly long dry period), water
> came into the basement through the window in the window well that
> housed the downspout. I don't know where the pipe that services the
> downspout ultimately goes, but I would guess that it is supposed to
> drain into the front of the yard, and I would further guess that it was
> designed to go into a storm sewer drain that is probably located
> somewhere in the front yard.
>
> The parallel North side gutter runs from East to West (front
> to back), and it has only 1 downspout that is at the corner (Northwest
> corner), and has pipe that was designed to go to the part of the
> backyard crest that slopes away from the house. However, the pipe
> doesn't currently properly drain because it was not properly sloped
> downward and because it does not reach the downward slope. Thus,
> during the last moderate rain, I got a small amount of leakage in the
> Northeast corner of the basement.
>
> I should also add that the basement has a sump pump, which
> does not appear to be working well because the last moderate rainfall
> caused some leakage in the basement although the ground was still firm
> after the rain.
>
> My basic question is should I attempt to divert the water
> away by doing simple grading and gutter repair or should I attempt to
> repair the weeping tiles that work with the sump pump or possibly
> should I attempt to install a french drain. Any tips on the best way
> to solve this problem would be appreciated -- right now, I am totally
> conflicted as to what is the best way to proceed.
Getting the grading right is always the first priority. Assuming you
can do that, it's where I would start. Make sure grading slopes away
from the house and all water from the downspouts is discharged at least
6 ft away, 10 is better.
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