In the garden, and RAIN!!!!
POSTED BY: SIGNYM
UPDATED: Thursday, December 25, 2025 04:27
VIEWED: 1005090
PAGE 250 of 1154
"how to give everything a good seal down there to keep as much moisture as possible out"
You can go a few different ways.
First of all, how high is your water table? If it's at or above the lowest level of your foundation, you may need to install a foundation drain (plastic pipe) which is installed in a trench along the bottom of the outside of the walls; so that ground water runs by gravity to some drain system. Then you can waterproof and install textured polymer sheets on the outside of the foundation walls, so that surface water also drains down along the outside of the foundation to the pipes and away from your house.
If your problem is surface water, if you're downslope of an area that water drains from, to your house, try to divert it around your foundation. You can put in a subsurface tile system to drain water soaking into the soil away to some drainage point. Make sure to contour the dirt around the foundation (hill it up) so water runs away from it (doesn't puddle around the foundation) and collects elsewhere.
It also helps to have your gutters discharge at some distant, downhill point from your foundation, again, so it runs away from your foundation.
If you're going to try and install a dry well, don't put it within 12' minimum from your foundation. That keeps it from weakening the dirt's lateral support of the foundation's weight. Farther is better.
And do you have expansive soil? If you've substantially dug out around the foundation, it would be better to fill with gravel near the wall and non-expansive fill elsewhere.
Just a few things I've learned by experience and the experience of others.
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Yeah, what KIKI said! Especially the part about sloping your yard so water runs AWAY from the foundation. Good reason to get gutters because it keeps the water from running off the roof right close to your house. (Also, that broken drain pipe, which is in the front - correct? - could also be pumping a lot of water very close to your foundation. That needs to be fixed, too!)
But I'm curious: Don't block walls have rebar? I thought the block wall was supposed to be on some kind of footing, and reinforced with rebar. But maybe because this is a porch and not part of the house per se, it's not expected to carry much load, so maybe I'm just overcomplicating things.
Quote:Jeezuz, SIX! THAT would have exercised my blood pressure for sure! I'd probably have to go sit down and recover for 30 minutes if something like that had happened to me!
Speaking of jacks, I'm so glad I sprung for the 12 ton instead of the 4 ton. Mine is WAY beefier than his was, and was the right tool for the job. His, sadly, wasn't. Gave us a good scare there when it actually failed on us at one point. Fortunately, we already had the new wood we were putting in for it to land on and we just hadn't jacked it down yet. I just shit my pants when I heard my house fall like that.
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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAY
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Quote:
Originally posted by 1kiki:
"how to give everything a good seal down there to keep as much moisture as possible out"
You can go a few different ways.
I'm all ears... or eyes, as it were.
Quote:
First of all, how high is your water table?
I'm probably not qualified to answer the question other than saying that it's "very high". I do live on the outskirts of what is the lowest pocket in the entire area, but if I were to get flood insurance it wouldn't be the $2,000 per year variety. I did get quotes for shits and gigs a few years back and it was roughly $450 per year. I'm pretty sure people who live a block behind me and especially 2 blocks behind me would be paying the maximum.
The ditch across the street from me is probably 6 feet higher than the land my (tri-level) house is on, and when we have these crazy rain springs and early summers (like we've had for 5 years straight now) there are times where it's pretty full for short stints. (I heard before that ditch was made back in the 60's that the area would regularly flood to the point where a neighbor used to kayak down the streets to make sure everyone was alright).
Quote:
If it's at or above the lowest level of your foundation, you may need to install a foundation drain (plastic pipe) which is installed in a trench along the bottom of the outside of the walls; so that ground water runs by gravity to some drain system. Then you can waterproof and install textured polymer sheets on the outside of the foundation walls, so that surface water also drains down along the outside of the foundation to the pipes and away from your house.
I'm not sure exactly how extensive they system is, but there is one installed already. I've heard it referred to as a "French drain". The sump pump well in my crawl space under the first floor at the front of the house has a large ingress hole to it where this water constantly comes in during storms and especially these wet springs. The ingress hole to the drain is probably around 6", compared to the 2 to 3" drain pipe the sump shoots the water up and out of. (This is where the break in the pipe is, right outside of the house).
BTW... I'm pretty sure you've read it before, but to get an idea of how much water comes in that ingress pipe to the sump, if my power is out or the sump dies, my house will flood if it's not in the middle of a dry August.
Not once, but twice this has happened. Both when the water was near freezing (once in February and once in November). The first time was the worst, when I had to take off all of my clothes at one point to avoid hypothermia when I would get out to warm up in between messing around down there. My lips turned blue. I was so delirious that I didn't even turn the breaker off before plugging the new sump pump in even though I was kneeling in knee deep water up to my navel when it went on. I'm lucky to be alive, honestly.
Quote:
If your problem is surface water, if you're downslope of an area that water drains from, to your house, try to divert it around your foundation. You can put in a subsurface tile system to drain water soaking into the soil away to some drainage point. Make sure to contour the dirt around the foundation (hill it up) so water runs away from it (doesn't puddle around the foundation) and collects elsewhere.
The one thing I can say about the construction of this home is that they at least did a good job with the sloping of the land. There really isn't any point around the perimeter of anything where any water pools up. This all is a little jacked up because I haven't put gutters up yet, but when I do I will make sure to regrade everything.
Quote:
It also helps to have your gutters discharge at some distant, downhill point from your foundation, again, so it runs away from your foundation.
Yeah.... This should be cool in the front of the house. I'm a bit
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Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Jeezuz, SIX! THAT would have exercised my blood pressure for sure! I'd probably have to go sit down and recover for 30 minutes if something like that had happened to me!
Haha. Tell me about it.
It didn't really phase me though, surprisingly. Both of us were outside of the porch, although very close when it happened. It was a huge WTF! moment for sure though. But we realized right away that the new stuff we put in we did a great job on though. Half the weight of a heavy shingled roof just fell on it, and it didn't budge. Rock solid!
We didn't have time to mess around though. The other side of the door had not been completed yet as far as tying everything in and if my 12 ton jack failed I could have been looking at a porch that was in need of professional work.
I couldn't believe how loud it was though. It was only up about 1/8 of an inch.
Oh... I will have before/after pictures. :)
Not sure if I want to do it yet, but I might even put selfies we've taken while doing the work too. I'm feeling a lot better about life in general now and maybe I'll feel adventurous enough to do that at some point.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
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Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
If you feel comfortable doing it, I would bring the jewelry box with you. I know you don't have a car to leave it in until you find somebody who will for sure help you out. But really, even if you can't find somebody to help you, they should have a pretty vast hardware section where you could thumb through stuff yourself until you find one that fit.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
I've thought about taking it with me to the store but I noticed that it has a small gouge on the lid and I don't really want to do any more damage to it. I was thinking that I could take one of the other screws out of the box and take it with me when I go to the store. That might be a better idea. I will think on it.
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Laundry day for me in a minute then some other chores to do. Later peeps.
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Dry well ... basically a well-hole filled with gravel. The land is sloped... or drains pipes are laid ... in such as way as to lead water to the dry well, where the water has an easier time sinking down into the gravel and from there into the subsoil. It can be simple or it can be complicated.
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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAY
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I really wonder about the hydrology around your house. It may not be as bad as you think, you may be mostly dealing with surface water. If I understand your sump pump situation, it pumps water out to a 2-3" pipe which is broken near your foundation (Probably due to settling) so the water may just be "recirculating" a lot.
Where I used to live, the water table was really high, but there was a lot of rain and surface water as well, so wet basements were always an issue. On top of that, the soil was very heavy clay, so if it rained it took forever for the water to soak Since our backyard butted up against other backyards and they were (of course) sloped away from the houses, the back property lines were lower than everyplace else and turned into a marsh every spring (IN winter, it would freeze over and as little kids we would go "ice skating" on the puddle) So dad asked the city if he could break into their storm system and installed a drain in the back ... end of water problem at the back property line.
That might be good place for a dry well, since that's where the water seems to want to go anyway.
Still, when there was a lot of rain, water would come flooding up the floor drains in the basement, and not just storm water but sewer-water too. Eeew. That remained a huge problem until the city got its ass kicked by the state environmental department for sewage overflow into the nearby creek, and actually ... finally, after decades of neglect ... cleared the main storm drains et voila! Problem solved!
One more thing: I noticed on my last visit that the upper part of the basement wall ... right next to the driveway, in fact, was buckling a little bit. That was where the downspout was, and the diverter wasn't long enough to lead the water away far enough from the house. A new diveter solved the problem.
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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAY
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Hey Signy
I'm SO happy for you that you're DONE!! ! ! !
How did that specialty sealer work out for you (except for those areas where the plaster/ joint compound failed)? How did the tape work out for you (no bleeding under the edges)?
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Hi Brenda!
BTW, I'm assuming these are 'machine' screws (fine threaded, flat-tipped) that fit into a metal threaded fitting, and not wood screws or sheet metal screws (coarse threaded, pointed tip).
A good salesperson should be able to match the screw thread and width (and head style, which may be important if it's a counter-sunk head
)
or merely cosmetic otherwise); and if the off-the-shelf replacement is too long, be able to cut it down to the right length without damaging the thread. Unless you have a preference either phillips or slotted should be OK if there isn't a match otherwise,
but stay away from anything else including torx if you are asked.
If you know something about its origins (time and place of mfg) it might be easier to determine metric v 'standard' thread. Sometimes a metric thread can look like a 'standard' thread. If you get one for the other, oftentimes you'll be able to get about 3 turns in before it gets stuck-ish. Don't force it if that happens, just back it out and get the right one instead.
That's why, when installing screws, bolts, or nuts, it's important to thread them down by hand ALL THE WAY - so you can feel if it's either starting cross-threaded or getting tight a few turns down. Use your tools to tighten ONLY after it's installed.
Very small, fine-threaded screws can be tricky to install ... hard to hold on to and easy to cross thread. Try PARTIALLY removing your 'example' screw, and then putting it back in all the way a few times for practice; then once you remove it completely, try putting it back in its original hole a few times for practice; and then in the empty hole (to check for bad threads in the MT hole) a few times.
I've had some very skilled people give me many of these tips, and also, too many times by my own self getting hung up on what should be an easy job because it was trickier than I thought!!!
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