Re: what's the best drainage system for a basement? is it eve...

[Guest guest]

Yes , we used Basement Systems and were VERY happy! We have it on two

walls with an Emergency backup battery since we loose power now and then. We

never had any water in the basement but started getting the white powdery

stuff on the walls so we went ahead with it. The SaniDry is the best

investment we made! Our basement is about 37% humidity right now. The group

that

did ours was on time, clean, worked really hard and were done in 3 days. They

taped off the basement with plastic and used fans to draw the dust out.

They returned to inspect after the job was done and make sure all was well.

Sue R.

several years ago, i lived in a duplex apartment that had inadequate

drainage. the basement flooded 6 times in a month period due to flash floods,

pipes breaking etc. needless to say, i got really sick from the mold growth.

i am now in the process of buying a house. according to the owners who

have lived there for 27 years, the basement was flooded once due to heavy

precipitation. there is a minor leak on one wall which has been cause by a

missing gutter from the upper roof and a short drainage pipe. this will be

fixed immediately. otherwise, moisture levels were all within acceptable

levels.

i had basement systems evaluate the basement and they recommended their

triple safe sump pump and water guard drainage system. it will cost around 5k

for equipment and installation. considering the circumstances and the fact

that what i'm looking for is a drainage system for emergency flooding,

does this drainage system sound like a good idea?

did anyone actually use basement systems? if so, what was your experience?

thank you scott for your suggestions. i'm just looking for more opinions.

thanks!

[Guest guest]

Sue,

If I am correct, the system you have digs a trench around the perimeter, with

the water draining to a sump. Any liquid that comes through the walls, or up

from the soil into the trench, goes to the sump. The walls are not treated,

merely covered (enclosed) with plastic panels. Any water that penetrates the

foundation wall is allowed in, and then drains down the surface of the wall into

the trench.

Was a dehumidifer installed?

Have you ever checked those walls since? Do they still have the

effluourescene(white powdery stuff, caused by moisture evaporating out of the

wall material)?

With regard to other situations, the system is useful if 1. you have a continual

water infiltration problem AND 2. you can not afford any other way to control

the water infiltration.

Typically, other methods are either 1. less expensive, OR 2. more effective at

keeping the water out of the wall in the first place.

This is key, why is the water even in the wall?

Managing the water away from the wall on the outside of the building is key to

building protection.

With the trench and wall system, the water is still coming into the wall, which

means continued deterioration of the wall materials. Whether stone, concrete,

block, brick, none of these is designed to last when continually penetrated by

water.

It is important to know that this type of system is not a waterproofing system,

merely a water movement system.

There is a huge difference, as I've tried to summarize above.

>

>

> Yes , we used Basement Systems and were VERY happy! We have it on two

> walls with an Emergency backup battery since we loose power now and then. We

> never had any water in the basement but started getting the white powdery

> stuff on the walls so we went ahead with it. The SaniDry is the best

> investment we made! Our basement is about 37% humidity right now. The group

that

> did ours was on time, clean, worked really hard and were done in 3 days. They

> taped off the basement with plastic and used fans to draw the dust out.

> They returned to inspect after the job was done and make sure all was well.

> Sue R.

>

>

> several years ago, i lived in a duplex apartment that had inadequate

> drainage. the basement flooded 6 times in a month period due to flash floods,

> pipes breaking etc. needless to say, i got really sick from the mold growth.

>

> i am now in the process of buying a house. according to the owners who

> have lived there for 27 years, the basement was flooded once due to heavy

> precipitation. there is a minor leak on one wall which has been cause by a

> missing gutter from the upper roof and a short drainage pipe. this will be

> fixed immediately. otherwise, moisture levels were all within acceptable

> levels.

>

> i had basement systems evaluate the basement and they recommended their

> triple safe sump pump and water guard drainage system. it will cost around 5k

> for equipment and installation. considering the circumstances and the fact

> that what i'm looking for is a drainage system for emergency flooding,

> does this drainage system sound like a good idea?

>

> did anyone actually use basement systems? if so, what was your experience?

>

> thank you scott for your suggestions. i'm just looking for more opinions.

>

> thanks!

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

,

I agree with your comment about the interior drainage systems. They simply keep

water from traveling beyond the perimeter walls. I have seen some pretty yucky

stuff growing behind the barriers that are put on the walls. Also, continual

water infiltration can degrade the foundation walls. Encouraging water to

penetrate the walls in order to get it to the interior drainage system is not a

good primary means of water management. Basement with these systems generally

have very musty odors.

Connie

>

> Sue,

> If I am correct, the system you have digs a trench around the perimeter, with

the water draining to a sump. Any liquid that comes through the walls, or up

from the soil into the trench, goes to the sump. The walls are not treated,

merely covered (enclosed) with plastic panels. Any water that penetrates the

foundation wall is allowed in, and then drains down the surface of the wall into

the trench.

> Was a dehumidifer installed?

>

[Guest guest]

Yes, this is system that I have, not orig poster, and I was sold this system by

EVERY so-called 'water proofing' company I called in about the problem which was

that when it rained a small stream of water crossed the basement and fell into

the drain not creating any floor problem at all. Entire basement floor is

sloped to drain and then water carried out to city water. Only problem that was

being caused was mold AND BACTERIA! assumed...but I could only see mold on the

wall so I kept talking about the 'wall' and what I didn't recognise that in

contract they guarantee the FLOOR to stay dry, nothing about the wall, so I

bought the system and so instead of small trickle of completely clean water

crossing the floor occasionally and being carried out through drain, it

accumulated into sump pump and sits there, usually not enough to even turn the

sump pump on, eventually evaporates. In the spring perhaps it will turn the

sump on for very short time, goes on for a few minutes and then shuts off. Sump

accumulates dirt inside and parts are rusty and occasionally a pet will disturb

top and there is a concern pet could fall in so now have something heavy over

the top and it is an eye sore on top of all that. They made a mess of basement

tearing up all the concrete...concrete dust on everything. What a mess and

waste of money. Afterwards I read on internet information on water problems

that *if your house is not near the water table, or a source of constant water,

such as pond or lake nearby that you do not need a sump pump, that problem would

only be from rain water as Jeff mentions earlier. This house is on a hilltop,

which goes to show me that noone tells you the truth or they only know how to

sell their product bec I did call each and every one of them in area to come and

give me advice. These people do not know much except learned enough to sell

their service or product. If they sell a sump pump, then every situation needs

one. Do the research yourself. Just reading that one thing which was not hard

to find could have saved me from that waste of money and I wouldn't have a dirty

sump pump, which also looks terrible. Later we dug outside down as far as we

could and patched the concrete on the outside, brushed liquid tar over the area

and while it was still damp, stuck a sheet of rubber over it, fixed as far down

as we could get. We could not get all the way to bottom due to very large tree

roots and a porch overhand. On the other side of house we did this in one

problem area to the foundation. I hired someone to do it according to *my

instructions by the hour and that area was done long time ago, about 10 years

and is perfect, no dampness, no cracking, although hard work. One can get a

small bobcat to do alot of the digging but in area we did bobcat could not get

to so it was dug by hand.

This trench system should only be done if there are no other options and you

need to keep water off of the floor...doesn't help the wall at all. What I

don't like is that water keeps going through wall of foundation unless you do

the outside work. If you do the outside work, then the inside doesn't need to

be done.

>

> Sue,

> If I am correct, the system you have digs a trench around the perimeter, with

the water draining to a sump. Any liquid that comes through the walls,

[Guest guest]

Re: plastic up walls: I asked them NOT to put plastic up the walls bec I could

see that happening before I knew anything much about mold so in my case, the

plastic barrier that they put against the wall only comes to where it meets

floor, and not up the wall which I recommend. Water doesn't come out onto floor

anyway so wasn't needed. Water falls through inside of in my case cinder block

foundation walls but only the bottom half that we were not able to get to do

work outside. Incidentally I think there is odor in basement in summertime that

I am wondering if it is coming from those trenches...they must get build up of

contaminates in them. Really was a waste of money and I don't recommend them to

anyone except perhaps as a last resort.

>

> I agree with your comment about the interior drainage systems. They simply

keep water from traveling beyond the perimeter walls. I have seen some pretty

yucky stuff growing behind the barriers that are put on the walls. Also,

continual water infiltration can degrade the foundation walls. Encouraging

water to penetrate the walls in order to get it to the interior drainage system

is not a good primary means of water management. Basement with these systems

generally have very musty odors.

> Connie

>

[Guest guest]

Barb,

You make an excellent point about the concrete dust. They usually do not use

any control measures when sawing the concrete. So concrete dust, bacteria, and

mold get dispersed throughout the house and into the airduct system.

Connie

> >

> > Sue,

> > If I am correct, the system you have digs a trench around the perimeter,

with the water draining to a sump. Any liquid that comes through the walls,

>