HELP: Water drainage problem!!!

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#1828324 24-Jul-2017 12:46

I'd suggest that some trenching with pea gravel and perforated drain hose would be better than a collection pit in one spot.

Pits are typically for stable and impermeable surfaces that slope to a single point (like a concrete pad). You have to get the high correct and ensure it stays correct. I'd only go with a pit if you have water running across your lawn and under the house.

If water is saturating the soil and then ponding, drainage hose should deal with it. It will work all the time - not just when you have surface flooding.

Perforated drainage hose is reasonably forgiving to DIY, as long as you ensure an adequate slope along the hose to the storm-water connection.

If you have clay or fine-silt soil there is a membrane fabric to place between the hose and gravel - supposedly stops the fine sediment getting in and clogging it.

Mike

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#1828459 24-Jul-2017 14:53

DarthKermit:
timmmay: My lawn has channels dug through it, with stone chip, drainage coil, more stone chips, then soil and grass. You can do this along walls too, dig a trench and add drainage. It's not going to be perfect but it should reduce the water going inside.

@timmmay, have you found your lawn drainage to be effective? I wanna do something similar to ours.

I've had this done about six months ago, multiple levels of drain pipe in scoria-filled ditches with four sumps in appropriate locations. Took several weeks with a digger and cost a fortune, but given the amount of rain we've had this year it's quite possible my house would now be a lot closer to sea level than it should be (pole house at the top of a steep sloping section). It's made a huge difference, until now it was more or less impossible to get to the bottom of the section in the winter whereas now I can walk down there the day after it's rained. The volume of water it's carrying away is enormous.

neb

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#1828466 24-Jul-2017 14:58

timmmay:
Why would you not be allow to put drainage on your own property?

Depends where it discharges to. I'm above a reserve and had to channel all the outflow across the property into a concrete storm drain so none of it would flow into the reserve (which was kinda silly, since it'd been flowing that way for the last million years or so). Still, you can't just dump it at the nearest exit point to your property.

MikeAqua

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#1828495 24-Jul-2017 15:25

neb: I've had this done about six months ago, multiple levels of drain pipe in scoria-filled ditches with four sumps in appropriate locations. Took several weeks with a digger and cost a fortune, but given the amount of rain we've had this year it's quite possible my house would now be a lot closer to sea level than it should be (pole house at the top of a steep sloping section). It's made a huge difference, until now it was more or less impossible to get to the bottom of the section in the winter whereas now I can walk down there the day after it's rained. The volume of water it's carrying away is enormous.

Getting things done professionally is expensive. It's the machine time that adds up. Material shouldn't be too bad.

If you can do it by hand (or hire a little trench digger) yourself, then you can save a lot of money.

Same old conundrum - done fast, cheap, or well. Pick two.

Mike

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#1828520 24-Jul-2017 16:09

MikeAqua:
Getting things done professionally is expensive. It's the machine time that adds up. Material shouldn't be too bad.

I'm on heavy clay on a steeply sloping section, so getting an experienced guy with a digger in was pretty much the only option. I don't know how he managed it, given how dodgy the ground was, I didn't even want to go down and look. Digging it by hand would have been cheaper, but also taken many, many time as long, so the final cost would probably have been comparable.

Beny

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#1828569 24-Jul-2017 17:22

neb:
timmmay:

Why would you not be allow to put drainage on your own property?

Depends where it discharges to. I'm above a reserve and had to channel all the outflow across the property into a concrete storm drain so none of it would flow into the reserve (which was kinda silly, since it'd been flowing that way for the last million years or so). Still, you can't just dump it at the nearest exit point to your property.

Someone suggested I install a catch basin and hook it up to the stormwater pipe that runs under our house. Just wasnt sure if you were allowed to do so.

neb

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#1828597 24-Jul-2017 18:01

Beny:
Someone suggested I install a catch basin and hook it up to the stormwater pipe that runs under our house. Just wasnt sure if you were allowed to do so.

That one's OK AFAIK since it's your own property, but I'll check with someone who knows for sure tomorrow. Also, the name varies, I've always known them as sump boxes but according to M10 they're stormwater pits or pit drains and Bunnings call them rainwater and stormwater pits. This is the sort of thing I put in, with a few rounded river rocks in the bottom to trip material rather than having it flushed through into the piping.

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#1828747 24-Jul-2017 22:41

I know someone's basement (below ground level) has a layer of bitumen to keep water out, but the bitumen would crack every so often. Is that because concrete slab of old is made differently to concrete slab of current? I also have many friends who have houses dug into the slope of hills and never gets water into their rooms. Why the difference?

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#1828901 25-Jul-2017 10:42

Councils usually don't let you have ground water flowing directly into storm water drains. Silts things up. You need to go into a sump first then to stormwater (and then obviously periodically de-silt the sump).

Do you know where the problem water is actually coming from? Is it just rainwater falling down onto your lawn, or are you getting overflow from the road?

MikeAqua

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#1828941 25-Jul-2017 11:07

mdf:

Councils usually don't let you have ground water flowing directly into storm water drains. Silts things up. You need to go into a sump first then to stormwater (and then obviously periodically de-silt the sump).

Do you know where the problem water is actually coming from? Is it just rainwater falling down onto your lawn, or are you getting overflow from the road?

Good point. If it was me I would collect the water with a drain hose, run it to a sump for de-silting and then to the SW drain. If you use membrane covered drain hose there will be very little silt.

Mike

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#1829003 25-Jul-2017 11:49

mdf:

Councils usually don't let you have ground water flowing directly into storm water drains. Silts things up. You need to go into a sump first then to stormwater (and then obviously periodically de-silt the sump).

Do you know where the problem water is actually coming from? Is it just rainwater falling down onto your lawn, or are you getting overflow from the road?

Its just rain water with no overflow from the road. It only happens (or only noticeable) when we have heavy rain like we did recently. Neb suggested this: http://www.kiwitanks.co.nz/grease-trap-distribution-box-555 ....which is what Im assuming you're talking about.

mdf

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#1829051 25-Jul-2017 13:00

Yeah that's the sort of thing. You can get much smaller (and cheaper ones) off the shelf from hardware stores. No idea how to size one appropriately though:

e.g.: https://www.bunnings.co.nz/everhard-260mm-black-easy-drain-rainwater-pit-box-case-only_p04770245

blackjack17

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#1829097 25-Jul-2017 14:22

I installed a sump pump in the basement when 2e got a new pour of concrete. I used a plastic 200l drum with small holes drilled through it. It has a submersible pump in it. It was mainly just to lower the water table. Works really well.

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#1841886 9-Aug-2017 15:08

Hi guys, got a situation for you. I know someone, their house is on soggy ground, and one downstairs room had water appearing on carpet. Pulled out carpet and found water coming out of cracks to the concrete floor. It's 1970 house, not sure how thick the concrete slab is. There is black bitumen paint over that room! Is that normal?

This happens when there is a "1 in a 100 year" rain event, which seems to take place every 2 years.

Room on that side of the house is about 3-5 inches below ground level.

Any ideas or suggestions appreciated.

kryptonjohn

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#1841907 9-Aug-2017 15:22

Same as the for the OP. Need to get a drain-layer in to have the subsoil drains CCTV inspected. Could be blocked or never built.

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