Need Drain Company / French Drain? over flowing
http://cdn.brownstoner.com/5117048aeca99-.jpg
I dont even know if this a French Drain -but this drain is in the basement apt foyer below the front stoop and every so often it overflows and I get water in the basement apt hallway. Last night when the snow was coming down it was overflowing again. Last time it overflowed was a block party when they ran the fire hydrants and water was flowing by the house at the curb. Seems the water is comes in from under the stoop and into this drain and sometimes the drain cant handle it.. The drain hole pictured is about 5×5 inches and about a foot deep with bricks loosely making up the walls- I scooped out about 10-20 handfulls of silt /dirt stuff..When I was digging down there I couldnt really find any pipe that this drains out to – seems maybe it just drains in to the ground? Is that typical? I really want to fix this problem- Any reasonably priced companies you can recommend greatly appreciated- Thanks
steveg
in Landlord 12 years and 5 months ago
3
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3 replies
slopemope | 12 years and 5 months ago
my under stoop drain connects to the main house drain. if you open up your main trap box, do you see a pipe connecting in from the side as if it were coming from that direction? if so, that pipe may be clogged. if not, the drain may just go into the ground. for us, because our stoop drain does not have its own trap (relies on the main drain trap), when that drain is clogged, it is a sure sign that the main drain is clogged (yuk), either in the trap itself or tree roots in the street. therefore, i have found it invaluable to learn about how our under stoop drain works. i now know that heavy sediment from that stoop drain builds up in my main house trap, and i have tried to prevent that etc.
Arkady | 12 years and 5 months ago
A french drain, also called a soak-away- is more easily installed outside – in your front area. The water would then leach into the ground & not even getting to the drain in the picture. It’s a trench built across the entire facade & below the level of the foundation – the bottom is covered w/ pebbles & then the p.v.c. pipe is laid over that. The trench is then filled in w/ pebbles of ever decreasing size, ending in pea grit & then you can put pavers over it.
mylrob | 12 years and 5 months ago
Most likely you are correct and this drain cannot handle the amount of water. And no, this is not a french drain. For a french drain you would typically install a 4-6″ PVC pipe with 1/4″ holes every foot or so on the underside. You conect this pipe to your opening and install it on a bed of sand and pea gravel. This, of course, would require some excavation work needed to install the drain and create a proper pitch.