Drain tile is a perforated pipe installed around basement and crawl space footings to divert excess soil moisture away from the house, relieving hydrostatic pressure that stresses and cracks the floor or walls of these spaces.
An interior drain tile system offers an economical and effective alternative to exterior drainage systems, often being installed with minimal disruption and expense to your yard. Furthermore, interior drainage tiles create an easy pathway for radon gas to escape into the atmosphere.
Drainage Channels
Hydrostatic pressure, caused by excess soil water that cannot be absorbed, creates hydrostatic pressure which pushes against any structure it touches – including foundation walls – creating pressing force which pushes them apart or causes cracks or fissures in them. A basement drainage system is essential to any home to alleviate hydrostatic pressure and help protect from cracking foundation walls, leading to cracks or fissures over time.
To prevent this from happening, a drain tile system must be installed around the home to collect excess water and direct it away. Such a system might include interior and exterior components like perimeter drains, channel drains or interior footing drains.
Exterior drains, also called French drains, are installed along foundation walls or at their bases to direct excess groundwater away from buildings. While exterior drains can function alone in areas with limited groundwater levels, most often they must form part of a larger drainage system for optimal performance.
French drain systems pose significant health hazards due to mud accumulation; it can migrate through gravel beds and collect on filter fabric filters or block perforated pipes that line these drains, then migrate back into basements posing serious health threats for family members.
For this reason, any drain system must include a perimeter drain that sits atop the footer – this channel will help capture any mud that escapes through French or Footing Drains into the basement and keep them away from reaching it.
Perimeter Drains
Exterior drains – known as weeping tile or French drains- can help provide effective drainage in both cases.
Diversion wells divert groundwater away from foundations, relieving hydrostatic pressure that could build up and push against walls in your basement. They must often be supplemented with an additional floor drain in order to avoid flooding and mold growth in your basement.
Perimeter drains consist of gravel-embedded perforated pipe buried in a trench that slopes away from the drainage point, typically six to 24 inches deep, that slopes toward its drainage point for effective drainage. They’re often installed along basement walls as a preventive measure against seepage, while they may also help prevent seepage through cracks in walls.
Modern materials have extended the life expectancy of perimeter drains over time. Proper maintenance should ensure these systems continue functioning without interruption – so regular inspections should take place to check that clogs don’t form and the gravel (or filter fabric in some instances) is protecting them from soil particles.
If your perimeter drain has water stains on basement walls or pooling near its foundation, or is connected to the sewer system, an inspection of it should be conducted immediately to assess whether cleaning or replacement may be required. It should also be noted that older drain systems connected directly with sewer lines should be disconnected if possible.
Interior Drains
Assuming your basement isn’t unfinished and protected by an impervious layer of concrete, water drainage systems may be necessary in order to keep it dry. Drainage channels or, ideally, an underground drainage tile system may work effectively in locations with heavy runoff or groundwater levels.
This system typically involves perforated pipes laid over washed stone under the foundation floor to gather and direct any potential flooding to a sump pit, then when that pit reaches capacity it activates a pump to expel excess water out, thus avoiding flooding altogether.
Mud can quickly cause blockages in both interior and exterior drain systems. It may move through gravel beds, accumulate on filter fabric filters, or block perforated pipes lining perimeter drains (both interior and exterior). When this happens, an excavation must take place to access the drain before installing new, clog-resistant pipes to replace it.
When renovating an unfinished basement, installing an internal perimeter drain system may be more cost-effective and less invasive to the yard than replacing or tearing out and rebuilding its foundation. Furthermore, this method often works alongside an internal waterproofing solution for concrete block foundations.
Sump Pumps
A basement sump pump is the final piece in an effective drainage system, designed to divert ground water away from your home’s foundation and avoid hydraulic pressure from building behind its walls and floor, which could otherwise lead to cracks and wall leaks in your foundation walls and floor, and seepage through cove joints where floor meets walls.
Sump pumps – also referred to as drainage systems or wet basements – are essential elements in a basement waterproofing and drain tile system, helping keep it dry by fighting moisture issues caused by heavy rainfall or melting snow, while providing relief against flooding caused by heavy precipitation or melting snowmelt.
An interior basement drainage system consists of perforated pipes in a bed of washed stone installed beneath your basement floor, collecting water from walls and under the concrete slab and channeling it towards a sump pit located within your basement – where a sump pump then expels it outside via drainpipes.
To install the system, first break out a strip of concrete floor using a jackhammer to reveal its footing and dirt underneath. A sump basin should then be installed into a trench adjacent to your house’s footing large enough to house a typical household sump pump (which runs off your electricity). A discharge pipe from your sump pump then connects directly outdoors – whether this means simply running PVC pipe to your yard, or setting up an underground discharge line system.