Foundation Drainage will determine how much water can creep up to your castle walls. It’s important to get the water from your downspouts a reasonable distance away. By installing a french drain or a downspout drainage system, you can prevent wet weather from transforming your castle into a moat.
Poor exterior drainage can lead to several problems with your foundation. Continuous water accumulation can compromise slabs, basement walls, and structural footings, causing sinking or bowing. Poor exterior drainage is also an open invitation for bug infestations, mold, and flooded basements or crawl spaces. Take action to prevent poor grading and torrential downpours from deteriorating the value of your home. Here are some likely signs of trouble.
When the earth near your foundation slopes down toward your home, rather than away from it, it is called negative grading. Negative grading causes excess water to pool around your foundation. Homes in low lying areas, on steep slopes, or with improperly done dirt work are particularly at risk.
When you have drainage issues in your soil, heavy downpours can carve ditches and gulleys in your landscaping, forcing mulch, woodchips and leafy fragments onto your hardscaping. If your mulch just won’t sit tight, you may have a problem. Learn more about migrating mulch.
When your yard begins to look more like a swamp than a lush, grassy enclave, it is a sure sign of a drainage issue. Worse still are the pools you cannot see underground. If left to accumulate after heavy rainfalls, over time pooling around the foundation can lead to bowing walls, cracks in the stem wall, or worse.
An effective drainage system not only carries water down off the roof, but also out – and away from the house. If you notice your downspouts are blocked or functioning improperly, water is accumulating, or they are beginning to carve out a creek in your yard, you may want to read up on the issue.
Negative grading, also called poor grading or improper grading, is when the land around the foundation of a house slopes towards the foundation instead of away from it. This can cause water to collect and pool near the foundation, which can lead to water damage and other various foundation problems. The land should be graded so that it slopes away from the foundation to allow water to drain away from the house. If water collects near the foundation, it can seep into the house through the foundation or crawlspace and cause damage inside. Water that pools near the foundation can also put pressure on the foundation and cause cracks or other damage.
There are many reasons why negative grading might happen, like bad soil compaction, erosion, and inadequate drainage systems. It is important to fix negative grading as soon as possible. Some ways to fix negative grading include regrading the land to slope away from the foundation, installing a drain like a French drain to redirect water away from the foundation, and adding soil or mulch to soak up excess water.
By getting your grading right, you can protect your home from water damage and foundation problems and keep your foundation walls sufficiently dry for many years to come.
Is your home feeling more like a giant rain bucket than a cozy castle? Maybe clogged gutters are to blame. Nobody envies the gutter cleaner, all the more reason to add debris screens to the top of your home renovation checklist. Even still, with suboptimal gutter performance, that water you wanted to shoot down your drain system may wind up on top of you – or worse. With a little bit of gutter cleaning TLC, you can avoid a wet and wild disaster.
Clogged gutters can cause serious problems for homeowners if they’re not taken care of. The gutters on a house are meant to channel rainwater away from the foundation and roof, protecting the home from water damage. But if the gutters get blocked with debris like leaves, twigs, and dirt, they can’t do their job properly. This can cause water to overflow the gutters. This extra water may drip down the siding, creating green or brown streaks, splash mud on your paint, and pool near the foundation, leading to water damage and foundation issues. Clogged gutters can also cause water to build up on the roof, potentially causing roof damage or leaks.
It’s safe the best offense is a good defense; and your gutters are one of the biggest players on your defensive line. To avoid these problems, it’s important to regularly clean and maintain your gutters. This means removing any debris from the gutters and downspouts, and flushing the gutters with water to make sure they’re working well. It’s also a good idea to check the gutters for any damage, like holes or loose sections, and fix any issues right away.
Cleaning your gutters can be a dirty and potentially dangerous task, since it involves working at heights. If you’re not comfortable with this, call in someone who can do the job safely.
French drains are a popular solution for managing excess water around a home, but even the best-laid plans can go awry. Common problems with French drains include clogs, improper installation, and damage from tree roots.
Clogs can occur when debris like leaves, shingle gravel, and dirt block the flow of water. This can lead to standing water and even flooding in the area around the drain. To prevent clogs, it’s important to regularly clean out the drain and make sure it’s free from debris. Make sure you check the clean outs, catch basins and emitters, pull out any debris and flush the system out with your garden hose.
Improper installation is another common issue with French drains. If the drain is not installed at the proper slope or depth, it may not function properly. This can result in standing water or even water pooling inside the drain itself. To ensure proper installation, it’s best to hire a professional who has experience installing French drains.
Damage from tree roots is also a potential problem with French drains. As tree roots grow, they can infiltrate and damage the drain pipes. This can cause leaks or blockages in the drain, leading to standing water and other issues. To prevent root damage, it’s important to carefully consider the location of trees when installing a French drain. If cleaning your exterior rainwater drainage system does not solve your problem, you may be dealing with a broken pipe. You may want to call in a professional plumber to investigate the issue.
If you have a really old or underperforming drainage system that is causing more frustration than relief, it may be time to consider an overhaul.
A high water table is the level at which the ground becomes saturated with water. If your home is built in an area with a high water table, it can lead to major issues with your exterior drainage system. Water from the high water table can seep into your basement, or crawl space, causing leaks and flooding. Yikes!
If you notice signs of water and believe you have a high water table, It’s important to understand the specific conditions you’re dealing with in order to know how to properly handle them. Water tables can vary due to the season or geological formations in an area:
Perched Water Tables are pockets of water that occur above the normal water table in an area. This can occur when there is an impermeable layer of rock or sediment above the main water table.
Seasonal High Water Tables occurs during late winter and early spring due to melting snow and increased spring rainfall. This excess water infiltrates the ground and raises the water table temporarily. If the water does not drain away within a few days, it can lead to a high water table.
There are multiple ways to address this issue including sump pumps, and yes, exterior drainage systems or french drains. A high water table can overload an under-built exterior drain, but a high quality french drain system should endure and keep you dry for many years with regular cleaning.
The primary cause of exterior drainage issues, no seriously! When we start selling weather modification devices, we’ll let you know. In the meantime, we can’t stop the water, but we can plan to address it when it comes.
“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin
If your next home renovation project it installing a proper yard drainage system, it can be difficult to install, but provides a major benefit against downpours.
We use the most durable 3" and 4", crush-resistant corrugated pipe on the market. It doesn't get any better than this. This high octane pipe can be either solid and perforated. We burrito-wrap perforated "french drain" sections with clean gravel and non-woven filter fabric for monster drainage capacity.
The first of its kind on the market, this leaf filter and cleanout will help keep your system clean and functioning in top-shape.
We can integrate channel drains with your hardscaping to handle a massive amount of water, and keep water and ice off of your walkways for a safer, drier, and better looking front yard, backyard, or garage.
By tying each drainage system together we protect your home against flooding and even the heaviest wet weather events.
All of our systems are backed by a worry-free warranty.
Our installation team has the experience, smarts and credentials to do it right the first time.
We didn't have to be, we chose to be. Delivering world-class service to Missouri. Don't transform H2O issues into Rn issues.
With a free inspection, you can get to the root cause without uprooting your finances.
If you don’t spend most of your time in the yard, it may be tempting to let water accumulate near the foundation or in pools outside. Even though water may not come inside with us, it can still lead to some major problems in the long run. By securing your foundation and yard drainage, you are taking out a small insurance policy for your home and peace of mind. One which will keep water out for a lifetime, and pay dividends in value and comfort.
Our downspout and french drain system is durable, and with regular cleaning it is expected to last a lifetime. That is why The Foundation Guys is proud to offer a 10-year warranty on install and manufacturer defect for our exterior drain systems. Please note that these systems do require regular cleaning, just like a gutter system.
