Water in Garden Floor Entrance
During the recent heavy rains, we’ve had water come into the vestibule area between the stoop and the garden floor hallway. Our previous house had drains both in the “front garden” area (i.e. between the house and the sidewalk, beside the stoop) and in the entrance area behind the stoop but in front of the…
During the recent heavy rains, we’ve had water come into the vestibule area between the stoop and the garden floor hallway. Our previous house had drains both in the “front garden” area (i.e. between the house and the sidewalk, beside the stoop) and in the entrance area behind the stoop but in front of the house proper. But our current place has concrete in the “yard” and what looks like solid stone in the entrance area. We have a door rather than a gate under the stoop.
Both areas are over solid ground, and anyway the waste pipe in the front part of the basement is buried, so adding drains would require major excavation. Any other ideas for keeping the water out? Thanks.
we have the exact same problem… and are procrastinating the excavation too. what we do now is shop vac in big rains (pathetic I know)
if you don’t build a drain, only other option is an awning.
I think by the time you find a nice one (relative term) it won’t be that much less costly than a drain…. I started looking around to find “nice” awnings and realized the ones I liked are all iron/glass.
of course if you are landmarked, no awning for you.
The recent rains were exceptional and I would wait to see how often it occurs before I did anything. You’re talking about an expensive solution to something that may not be a recurring problem.
I too have solid stone between the stoop and the house. I have the original ironwork door to get to the area that I believe you’re referring to as a vestibule. I’ve been here over 25 years and I don’t remember ever seeing it as wet as it was during the recent rains. Occasionally snow will drift down there. No water has ever entered the house and I have the original wide plank floors finished with polyurethane in the hall – if it ever got wet I would notice staining.
I would install a floor drain fed into the main waste line, which is usually running pretty close to that area. Yes it means excavation, and plumbing, but if you are getting water there, you could easily get it into the house, which could lead to other problems. I’ve done this a couple of times, because the drains that are under the stoops in many park slope houses are fed into the air vent rather than the waste line, which makes them useless in a heavy rain.
There are a several options.
1. Install a granite or marble saddle around the parameter.
2. Apply concrete around the front area pitched away from the door.
3. Dig a pit approximately 12″ x 18″ x 18″ deep, pour cement around the parameter, put some gravel on the bottom, over it with a mesh grate.
Good luck,