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Foundation Drainage

Joseph Grossi

Registered User
Joined
Jan 4, 2020
Messages
3
Location
Elizabeth, PA
Hello,

I just purchased a home for my mother and in the basement a few inches from the cement floor on the cinder block foundation there are (4) 1 inch drain lines. They are only on one side of the house. I have not seen a setup like this before, I've asked around to some trade people and no one I know is familiar with this either. I do have two floor drains in the basement in the center of the basement. It looks like it is designed to drain water from around the foundation directly to the floor that then runs on the floor to the drains. We have gotten rain a few times since we got the house and there are times where there is no water draining and there are times where there is some water that comes out of those drain lines and then runs to the floor drain. Typically a small line of water a few inches wide, and not always from all four drain lines. The cinder block foundation is in perfect shape no buckling, cracks or repairs. All the blocks are flush and even. No other water issues anywhere in the basement either. I am assuming these drain lines are designed to keep pressure off the foundation. I just don't get why it was only done on one side of the house and there is not a lot of water that comes out of them. The previous owner did use lock tight on all the interior foundation walls a few years back so maybe there was water issues at one point but no damaged foundation or any trace of new water infiltration. Majority of the foundation walls are under grade.

Is anyone familiar with this type of setup?
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Also I was considering plugging those four lines and then sealing the area with hydraulic cement and then some lock tight. Any thoughts on that?

I understand the right way to address this would be to put some french drains in on that side and then drain to floor drain. I am just trying to avoid that. I figured to try this first and if it does not work or creates new problems I can do the french drains

I would greatly appreciate any feedback on this that could helpful. Thank you in advance.
 
Welcome

You have to make your pictures links, and post the link.

So how old is the house.

If in a regular residential area, maybe ask some neighbors, if they have similar set up.
 
Have not dealt with basements,,,

But maybe either an old school way or builder thought it was a good idea, back in the day.

By now seems like they would be clogged shut.

Give it a few days for others to reply.
 
Your experience there is a short time frame. You have witnessed the drain working. The lack of openings in three walls does not mean a lot. I would be reluctant to alter a drainage setup without more information.
 
The only time that I have seen similar drains, although larger, were in exterior retaining walls where the water drained onto the ground in front of the retaining wall. Could it be that the house was built on top of an existing retaining wall?

Part of the problem in diagnosing existing buildings is that the individuals building the structure may have done something based on crazy logic.

Options are:
1-Live with existing drains and resulting water.
2-Excavate behind existing wall and install drain pipers and then install waterproofing on the wall. This would allow you to plug the existing drains.

If you plug the existing drains without providing another way for the water to get out you will likely have other problems. This could result in water backing up on the earth side of the wall weeping through the wall. This added water could result in greater forces on the wall thus resulting in the failure of the wall.
 
Painting the inside of the walls with locktite, or any waterproofing material, is wrong. All it does is trap water in the wall structure. The correct method is to paint the exterior of the wall to keep moisture from getting into the wall structure.

And i agree with the others, you need to be in the house more than a year to properly evaluate the situation. The fact that you have seen some water coming out of the pipes would suggest that they are working as intended.
 
Thank you to all for your input. I'm just at a loss when it is not the entire foundation setup like that, no other walls have any issues and there is not constant water when we get rain. I agree with the proper way to address the issue which I have done at some previous properties. It's just really a weird setup that I have not ever seen before with the small 1 inch drains. I will most likely hang on for a while to get some more information and real time data on what happens. Thank again.
 
Do those pipes go all the way through the foundation, or are they just draining the block cavity?
 
Do those pipes go all the way through the foundation, or are they just draining the block cavity?


Is it sloped towards the house on the drain side??

Or do you see more standing water on the drain side??

Or does your neighbors water drain towards the drain side??
 
Looks like a longtime water problem solved by multiple layer of interior damp proofing, then weep hole to let the hydro static pressure out of the the worst offending cells of the blocks
 
I think a bucket below the pipe for awhile would be a good start and ride through the spring rainy season might be the cheapest thing to do, its possible you could tie a tubing to the pipe and take it to a floor drain and hold it short of the drain to see what you get?
 
Do you intend to use the basement? Sounds like another PA "thing".
What is the ceiling height, any mold evident?
Could install a subfloor and run the drain line beneath it?
 
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