Basement question. Water problems.

[Redneck13x]

Bought a new house, the basement has a trough system along the perimeter of the entire basement. The soil is clay, drainage *****. I already understand I need to get the water away from the outside foundation by adding more gutters and building it up with dirt and landscape. My question today is does anyone know anything about this style of drainage in my basement. My problem is the water enters how it's suppose to, but the trough is plugged full of dirt from the soil. Is there anyway to get all the dirt out? Flush the system? Half of the basement I can see the trough, the other half is behind the finished walls. Any experience cleaning these systems out would be great!!

 

[garagelogician]

New construction? Or just new to you? I'm familiar with your area, definitely terrible soils for drainage.

I'm not real familiar with this style of system, only exterior draintile, but I'm guessing there is some form of a crushed rock drainage zone. They should have installed a geotextile fabric to keep the soil from migrating into the drainage zone. If this is new construction, do you have any warranty from the builder?

I'm not sure of the best way to clean it out, but until the root cause is fixed you're going to keep getting soil in there.

 

[Captain Spaulding]

You are going to be digging. These systems are just bandaids to redirect water that leaks in.

Gutters and grading are important, but what you really need to look into is where your perimeter drain goes.

 

[rburke65]

Those pictures are some close ups of...? I have NO idea of at what I'm looking.

 

[wasfuzz]

Often those type of Systems (goggle Beaver Basement Systems) were placed after the fact. So if proper fill with stone was not done outside of the block, you are only draining the existing back fill. Often they were just holes drilled into the interior side of the block and gutters were glued in place to catch the seepage that made it thru, then directed it to a sump somewhere, As said above merely a band-aid fix.

http://basementwaterproof.com/

 

[ishiboo]

Yeah, those are not an ideal solution to basement water. You can try flushing them out, but they essentially grab water that comes through the slab/foundation wall joint, or through the wall itself that runs down. So by flushing it, the risk you take is that the water backs up over the top of it and goes into your finished walls even more.

Unfortunately, the "right" solution in my mind is to waterproof the outside of the foundation and replace the drain tile/new rock if the wall itself is the problem, and if it's coming from up and under the slab, you cut away about 10" of slab, put drain tile inside the footer connected to the sump pump, and then concrete that back up. Often times, you must do both.

You should also plan on dehumidification and air movement.

 

[SunsetsAndFriends]

...

 

[Redneck13x]

House was built in 1930. Digging the exterior down to the footings is not going to be an option. I'm fine with the bandaid, just wish I could come up with a way to clean the sediment out of the trough. I think my biggest need to do asap is going to be adding gutters and correct down spout locations. And doing proper landspacing around the foundation to get the run off away from the house.

 

[Firebrick43]

Make a scraper to scape it out, use a pressure washer, brush and hose. Lots of ways to clean it out, none fun however.

 

[RPH]

They make a high pressure drain cleaner that attaches to your pressure washer. It has a forward firing jet along with 4 rearward firing jets. These can work in drains as small as two inch. You may be able to snake one of these through it and clean the debris out. It may be easier to do this as a maintenance item once you clean it out. 100' of hose is about $130.
Google sewer jetter.

 

[maxpower_hd]

If you have room I might suggest covering the finished walls on the drain side with plastic to protect it while cleaning. But I think high pressure water with a scraper on a pole and a scrub brush on a pole are probably going to be your best bet. It may not need to be a pressure washer. You could try a hose and high pressure nozzle first. It will depend on how solid the crud is.

 

[58Yeoman]

It should be connected to a drain somewhere, to get rid of the water. Get a large wet/dry vac and **** out the ****. Get a 5 or 6 hp with the large hose, not the small one.

 

[kbs2244]

Your thinking is right.
The 1st thing you need is gutters with downspouts that go at least 10 feet from the house.

Cleaning you gutters is just going to be a garden trowel job.
Maybe time to meet the local school kids?