Home Improvement/Repair Questions

[jeb6294]

Those "basement waterproofing" companies are BS artists.  Had one come out to the old house because of a couple hairline cracks.  Even after I told him I was an Engineer he proceeded with his canned sales pitch about putting in a French drain around the perimeter on the inside of the basement and cutting in a sump...for a couple hairline cracks.  I threw him out before he had a chance to finish.

A good french drain around the exterior of the house will probably solve 90% of any water problems in a basement since it would catch any ground water before it has a chance to make it to the basement.  Good drainage around the house would probably fix your window well problem, but just in case, I'm not sure if there's any reason why you couldn't tie a drain into the exterior drainage.  If you still have the super-crappy basement windows, those aren't doing squat to help the situation.  If you're going to finish the basement, you'd want to replace them with glass block anyway which will also help.

 

[Road Guy]

has there been any recent development occurring around your subdivision that may have shifted drainage patterns?

I am "stalking" my former neighborhood website from Atlanta (they haven't kicked me out of the HOA forums yet), apparently almost every house that backed up to a new development was having serious basement flooding issues and although it took them a while to figure out, it appears a lot of the drainage from the newer (higher density) development dumped a good bit of water where it didn't used to go. Sounds like they have an annoying legal fight and most of these people had spent some major money finishing in their basements.

but I would opt for the exterior French drain first before I would bust up the inside of the house

 

[willsee]

Is the second contractor a plumber or just a foundation repair or landscaping firm?  If it's the former, you could have them rough in plumbing for a bathroom in your basement while they are down there busting up concrete for the french drain.  That way, you only have to clean up concrete dust/mess once, and you don't have to worry about the plumbing when you get around to finishing the basement.

Both companies have been basement waterproofing companies.  Good point about plumbing though.

Sub-floor drains only work if they have somewhere to drain to that is drier than where they are draining from. If they are running under the basement floor, you're only real option is to tie it into the house sewer line or to a sump pump/pit.  Otherwise it will be trying to discharge into somewhere that is surcharged.

I would start with the grades around the perimeter of the building and making sure everything within 5-8 feet drain away from the house (5% grade on landscaping, 2% min on impervious surfaces).  In the city I live, they require the grade within 10' of the house has to be 10% (only 2% if it's impervious).

Now that I've posted and have seen everyone's comments the real problem is water is coming towards the house for some reason.  We do have spots that pool water and I do know that my downspouts and sump discharge are part of the problem.

Those "basement waterproofing" companies are BS artists.  Had one come out to the old house because of a couple hairline cracks.  Even after I told him I was an Engineer he proceeded with his canned sales pitch about putting in a French drain around the perimeter on the inside of the basement and cutting in a sump...for a couple hairline cracks.  I threw him out before he had a chance to finish.

A good french drain around the exterior of the house will probably solve 90% of any water problems in a basement since it would catch any ground water before it has a chance to make it to the basement.  Good drainage around the house would probably fix your window well problem, but just in case, I'm not sure if there's any reason why you couldn't tie a drain into the exterior drainage.  If you still have the super-crappy basement windows, those aren't doing squat to help the situation.  If you're going to finish the basement, you'd want to replace them with glass block anyway which will also help.

I told the second guy that it seemed like overkill to bust up the entire basement when the problem was just the window wells filling up, not water coming from where the floor/wall meet (like my parents had).  It still also doesn't fix water coming into the house it just directs it once it does.  I'd rather go one step at a time to fix the issue.  Yeah the windows are crap but I at least liked they let water slowly come into the basement so the well didn't build up and blow the window out at once.

So maybe probably do something like:

Take the downspouts/sump further away from house

Check / fix grading

Install exterior drain

has there been any recent development occurring around your subdivision that may have shifted drainage patterns?

I am "stalking" my former neighborhood website from Atlanta (they haven't kicked me out of the HOA forums yet), apparently almost every house that backed up to a new development was having serious basement flooding issues and although it took them a while to figure out, it appears a lot of the drainage from the newer (higher density) development dumped a good bit of water where it didn't used to go. Sounds like they have an annoying legal fight and most of these people had spent some major money finishing in their basements.

but I would opt for the exterior French drain first before I would bust up the inside of the house

No this house was built in the early 60's. 

 

[jeb6294]

I think I drank about a gallon of sump water last night.  Wife happened to be off yesterday so I get a call at about 3pm telling me there was water shooting out from the pipe on the sump pump but she was able to straighten up the pipe and slow it to a trickle.  ******* that lived there before me...the one who thought he was a handyman but was actually a moron...did a crappy job on this too.  The check valve wasn't on there very well and the upper pipe had worked itself loose a little bit.  Ran to The Depot and got a new valve just to be on the safe side figuring I just needed to swap out the valve.  I replaced it but when the pump kicked on it just stirred the water up.  When I kicked on the emergency pump manually, it did the same thing.  There's a conveniently placed 2" copper line coming off the sewer stack that ends at a threaded connection right next to the sump lines (I'm thinking a previous plumbing job added it but nimrod never used it and just capped it).  I hooked the pump into that and the sump was empty in a flash.  It's been in the single digits the last few days so I am thinking the limited pumping allowed the discharge pipe outside to freeze.

Between the water in the pipe and the pumps kicking on and off at inconvenient times, I was drenched.

 

[Supe]

That sucks, Jeb.

FYI, I picked this guy up for $30 and didn't f up another cut of crown.  Worth every penny, even if just for the angle finder they include with it, which measures both wall angle and the angle of your crown if its an unknown.

 

[knight1fox3]

Anyone have any experience/feedback with these kits?  I'm very skeptical about using it for a fridge water line install after reading various negative reviews (mostly from plumbers too!).

 

[matt267 PE]

That's what feeds my ice machine in the freezer. The only minor issue I've had was with sudden low flow. I simple closed the valve and reopened it. There must have been a mineral blockage. 

I've had it installed for about 8 years. 

 

[Road Guy]

yeah they work pretty well, another option is to use those shark bite fittings, but then you have to cut the pipe

 

[DuckFlats]

Go with the shark bite fittings. Little expensive, but well worth it. Just make sure the fitting is pushed on straight so you don't ruin the gasket.

 

[kevo_55]

They are ez to install and had one in my old house.(put it in myself for the ice maker in the fridge.)

My new place has a dedicated copper line with a screw type connection like for a toilet. I'm sure this is better but I would hate to have to install  one myself.

****, that doesn't sound good.

 

[Ship Wreck PE]

Why not get one of these?? Just unscrew old single valve, apply a little Teflon tape and screw on new double valve. Easy piesy

 

[Ship Wreck PE]

Oh yea. You might want to shut off water to house first.

 

[jeb6294]

My old house had one of those "slap-on" taps for the humidifier.  Seemed to work fine and never had any problems with it.  There's a water line for our current fridge, but to be honest, I'm not even sure how it's hooked up because it was already there.  Something to keep in mind, you're poking a hole through the side of your copper water line so once it's on there it's never coming off.

I'm guessing most any plumber is going to say they're garbage because that's something a homeowner can do themselves as opposed to a plumber cutting in a tee for $65/hour.

 

[mudpuppy]

I dunno, those saddle valves seem like a leak waiting to happen.  The pipe is under 40+ psi of pressure and all that's holding the water back is a little bit of rubber, which tends to dry out over time.

Shark bites, saddle valves. . . where's you guys' man cards?  Cut the pipe, slap in a valve/fitting and solder it in.

 

[Road Guy]

Tony Horton doesn't teach that class

 

[Dleg]

All the manly men in Alaska prefer shark bites to soldering :dunno:  

 

[P-E]

But what's not to like about a mapp gas torch?

 

[DuckFlats]

Man card for soldering as opposed to shark bites? That's fine, I'm too busy fishin and huntin anyway.

 

[matt267 PE]

But what's not to like about a mapp gas torch?

 

[P-E]

That'll take care of the spiders.