| Repair, Protect, Prevent Crawl Space Damage |  |
Drain Tile Systems on the Foundation Exterior
Pros and Cons of Repairing your Wet Basement With an Exterior French Drain
Cutaway of a French drain system installed on the outside of the concrete footer of a home foundation. A discharge line would also be included to send the water away from your home.
Shown in this photo is the French drain itself (filled with water), a fill of stone, and the backfilled soil.
One way of basement waterproofing that many contractors will suggest for waterproofing a basement is to install a french drain system along the outside perimeter of your home.
To install an exterior French drain, the contractor will take the following steps:
- First, the entire perimeter of your home must be cleared. Gardens, steps, or porches, must be removed before they can begin.
- Next, the contractor will dig out the perimeter of your home. Excavated dirt will be heaped around the home.
- The drain will be laid in a bed of stone along the bottom. The stone, and possibly a layer of filter fabric, are there to protect the drain from clogging.
- The excavated soil will be "backfilled" on top of the system. In a year, this soil will settle, and the contractor will need to return to fill in more soil.
Connecticut Basement Systems does not recommend this type of drainage system installed in your home. Instead, we suggest installing an interior basement drain along the inside perimeter of your basement or crawl space. For a free waterproofing quote in CT, call or e-mail us today!
Getting Ready To Install an Exterior French Drain |
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You Will Need to Remove: |
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Along with all this, you can expect the contractors to create huge heaps of excavated soil all around your home, creating a mess for sometimes weeks! On top of that, the process is extremely expensive, averaging $15,000 to $20,000 per installation. The installation time is twice as long, or more, than if you choose to have an interior system installed. What happens if it doesn't work? Are you willing to have the contractor back again to re-do the same pipes that originally failed, again? How will you know that it has failed? That's right! Your basement will be wet. Doesn't it make sense it fix it once, and fix it right? |
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Failing French Drains in CT
A clogged French drain systems found installed around a home in Danbury, CT.
French drain systems (or exterior footing drains) have been installed on the outside of homes since the 1920's, and if they were the best way to dry a basement, Connecticut Basement Systems would be installing them, too.
Unfortunately, placing a French drain along the outside exterior is a recipe for failure in the long term. When you put a drainage system several feet under the earth, even in a bed of gravel, it will eventually clog with dirt, roots, and debris.
Sometimes, a contractor will try to stop this by installing filter fabric around the drain pipe. In this case, instead of the drain clogging, the mud surrounds the filter fabric and prevents the water from entering the pipe.
What happens when your exterior drainage system clogs? Something more needs to be done to ensure that you have a dry basement.
For a FREE waterproofing quote, call or e-mail us today!
We service the CT area, including Fairfield, Hartford, New Haven, Waterbury, Danbury, Westport, Windham and all areas nearby.
