A perimeter drain is something that all houses have, and it is designed to prevent water from seeping into your basement. It is intended to attract water in the soil that has either accumulated from heavy rains, melting snow, or from rising groundwater. It then carries the water away from your house, so it is less likely to seep in through your basement walls.
How does it work?
A perimeter drain, is a plastic or PVC perforated pipe, which is installed underground, around the perimeter of your house. The perforations allow water to enter the pipe, and be drained away from the foundation of the home. The pipe is normally covered by a mesh permeable “sock” which helps to prevent soil from getting into the pipe. It is then covered by layers of gravel of graduated sizes (largest close to the pipe, followed by smaller gravel), and finally backfilled with soil. The gravel allows water to flow towards the drainage pipe, without allowing dirt and debris to clog it up. The drain tile is installed in such a way, so it slopes away from the home, and carries the water towards an interceptor sump that is typically located in the yard. This interceptor is a collection sump for any debris or dirt that does happen to make its way into the drain tiles. From the interceptor, water will flow out to the City connection. The interceptor sump provides access to the lines surrounding the home for the purposes of hydro flushing. Edenflo utilizes hydro flushing to remove any built-up dirt and debris in your lines, ensuring that the system functions as intended. When a house is constructed, a certain amount of dirt around the perimeter of the home is excavated. Once construction is finished, this dirt is put back into place, making it looser than the untouched soil next to it. Therefore, water runs more easily through this soil, which just happens to be right next to your basement or crawl space walls. This is one of the reasons it’s so important to have a good perimeter drain to get that water away from your house.
What should you do when something goes wrong?
Over time, perimeter drains can become clogged by dirt, roots, or other debris and will then be unable to carry water away from your house. If the perimeter drain is clogged, water may seep into your concrete basement wall because it’s got nowhere else to go. Concrete is not impermeable, so it is very important to keep the water running away.
Older homes sometimes have clay or concrete weeping tiles, which do tend to deteriorate, collapse, and become blocked with dirt and roots as they age. You may need to replace the whole system with modern plastic weeping tile, or in some cases, you can simply replace the damaged sections. If the tiles have a blockage, but they haven’t collapsed, EdenFlo may be able to flush the system and clear the blockage. If this is the case, it is a relatively small cost (most houses can be flushed for $600 to $1000). In some cases, after EdenFlo has performed the work, the system may still not function. This will be due to damage to the drainage system. At this point, EdenFlo will locate the problem areas at ground level and recommend a qualified drainage company to excavate the area and repair or replace the perimeter drain system.
If you have perimeter drainage issues around your home, think of EdenFlo first before you go to the significant expense of excavation.
EdenFlo offers perimeter drainage service in most areas of the lower mainland including Vancouver, Aldergrove, Surrey, Langley, Buraby, New Westminster, Delta and White rock.
