original-Brian-Patrick-Flynn_french-drainage-system-how-to-step7a_s4x3.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.1280.960

Drainage & Pumps

Why is drainage important to your home’s foundation?

Water intrusion on your basement can be caused by many things. It can be as simple as building up your foundation so that it slopes away from your home, cleaning your gutters, or fixing your down spouts. In other cases, when DIY projects fail, maybe it’s time to call in the experts on Basement Water Proofing and Foundation Repair at Basement Solutions. We can handle setting up all the drainage & pumps that may be required to evacuate the unwanted water.

French Drains

One of the most common basement waterproofing techniques used by our team is called a French Drain. French Drains can be internal or external.

An external French drain goes around the outside of your basement walls.
An internal French drain goes around the perimeter of your basement slab.

Both systems are installed next to your foundation footing. Neither solution is a DIY project, and each has advantages. Here’s what you need to know.

An interior French drain doesn’t prevent water from entering your basement. Rather, it catches water that seeps inside and channels it by gravity to a sump pump that sends the water back outside or into a drain line.

Clogged French Drain?

French Drain problems begin as they slowly become clogged by sediment. A basement leak can cause water to seep inside the hollow voids of the masonry creating damp walls that will dissolve water soluble elements such as calcium, lime, and other minerals out of your cement.
Once french drains become blocked, temperature also plays a role in basement flooding. Changes in temperature cause expansion and contraction in your masonry structures. This continuous motion allows many points of entry for water to follow in through. The source of leakage in many basements occurs at the seam where the masonry wall meets the concrete floor.
Because blocked french drains can no longer drain properly, water building up below ground level, exerts force, causing water to seep up through cracks and seams in the floor. Pools of water will often form at low points in the floor.
Heavy wet soil, the result of french drain failure, can exert many pounds of force against your vulnerable basement walls and is another source of basement flooding. Wet basement walls will often crack or buckle. The cost often involved with foundation repair because of buckling or cracks is avoidable if proper steps are taken. For more info, Click Here

Sump Pumps

Basement Solutions is your reliable provider of basement waterproofing, drainage & pumps, concrete repair and foundation repair services in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

Today, we will be discussing the advantages of a sump pump as a way to keep water out of your basement. A sump pump is not considered a waterproofing tool, but rather a way to keep your basement dry, and pump the water out of it.

The north east weather is unpredictable for most of the year. We get rain on the spring and fall, heavy thunderstorms on the summer, and the last few winters have brought us an insane amount of snow. Frequent rain and snow raise the groundwater table and floods basements and crawlspaces with alarming regularity. It takes only a couple of inches of standing water to ruin household items, cripple mechanical systems, rust metal fixtures, and rot wooden posts.

Any home that regularly experiences even the slightest water penetration into the basement or crawlspace should be equipped with a sump pump. A sump pump is a submersible electric pump that sits in a hole, called the sump pit. The pit is located at the lowest corner of the basement or crawlspace so that when flooding occurs, water drains directly into the pit. When water in the pit reaches a predetermined level, the pump automatically kicks on and pumps the water into an indoor drain or outdoors through a PVC pipe.

Electric Sump Pump

Electric sump pumps are very effective and relatively affordable. But they have one serious design flaw: The pumps don’t operate during a blackout. Severe rainstorms often knock out the electricity, leaving many sump pumps inoperable when homeowners need them the most.

Two Stage Systems

There’s a simple way to ensure that your sump pump continues to operate even when the power goes out: Install a battery-backup sump pump. This two-stage system includes a 120-volt electric sump pump connected to a 12-volt backup pump. Which runs off a deep-cycle marine battery. During normal operation, the electric sump pump will pump water from the pit. But if the electricity goes out, the battery-powered backup pump will automatically start when the pit fills. An electric charger keeps the battery-backup pump fully charged so it’ll be ready at any time.

Sump pumps with battery backup come with easy-to-follow installation instructions and cost about $300 to $500. It depends on the capacity of the pump. Most homeowners can install the system themselves in 2 to 4 hours.

Here are a few installation tips:

Be sure to install a check valve to prevent water from flowing back into the sump pit. Seal the threaded ends of the valve with Teflon tape.
Place the marine battery in a protective plastic case and set it on a wall-mounted shelf—not on the floor.
Make the water-discharge pipe from 1 1/2-inch-diameter PVC pipe.
You’ll need an electrical outlet close to the sump pit for plugging in both the electric sump pump and the battery charger. If necessary, hire a licensed electrician to install a new outlet. Don’t use extension cords to power the system.
When pumping the water outdoors, it’s critical that the water is released onto a downhill slope and away from the house. This is so that it can’t drain back into the basement or crawlspace. Another option is to pump the water into a drainpipe that leads away from the house.

For professional installation, make sure that you contact us at Basement Solutions today!