French Drain/ Tightline Around Rubble Foundation?

[Detroiter]

Thanks, angolito. I'll have to take some new pics in the next few days and post them.

Yes, in Detroit: there's no shortage of houses to fix up around here!

[Detroiter]

A few days. . . sheesh.

I finally got around to the French drain this summer. Under the roof's dripline, I dug about two to three feet down, about 18" wide, and continued out about ten feet from the house. I lined the trench with soil separator and used solid pvc pipe under the dripline and perforated pvc in the yard. I filled it all with gravel. Under the dripline, I brought the gravel to the surface to avoid compaction and covered the yard portion with soil.

Last year, I dug down around the foundation about a foot and a half (where the soil was a mess, anyway) and repointed the stone foundation. I also repointed inside the basement. During both of these projects, I continued to slope the grade away from the house. With these improvements, there's no more water coming through the basement walls.

The basement floor is dirt with bricks, so I still have to dig down, put in a vapor barrier, and pour concrete. It's a small basement, but that's a project for another summer.

[michaelskis]

I have been thinking about doing something like this for my house, but I don't know where to send the water. The worst section of water leakage is on the east side of the house where there is a 4 foot side planting bed and a 9 foot wide driveway.

Based on the suggested slope, I would have to install a drywell someplace on the property to provide a place for the water to run to. Event then it would result in substantial excavation , including under the back porch as every other place is paved on that side of the house.

Any suggestions?

[Sashguy]

My 1936 was sinking due to the home being built next to a buried spring. In fact, I discovered the capped spring while installing the drain system. Not wanting to disrupt the compacted soil, I laid a foundation drain, consisting of 2" slit top PVC set in a mortar bed at 1' depth tied into a conventional French drain starting at 2' depth. Each 3' a crossover line is set at a 45 degree angle to offload the smaller foundation drain. This was five years ago and I still smile during every rain shower as I watch all of the water flow away from the house. I also set gauges to monitor any additional sinking. Zero to date.