French Drain

[sr323]

Hi,

This is my forst post and I just wanted to say hello and tahnks in advance for any advice or heklp that I receive.

I just bought my first home and am kind of new at home repair, I grew in a home filled with contractors...but did no go that route....so most of my experience is through watching and listening...not much hands on...until now.

My basement has a "french drain" around the perimeter that ends in a pit with a sump pump. It is kind of muddy and dirty and higher in some spots that in others......

Does anyone have any advice on how to maintain or clean a french drain....I have never seen one in good shape and I am assuming that mine is not in very good shape...so any help or pictures of a "healthy drain" would be appreciated.

also....about every foot or so on the bottom of the foundation wall, theri are holes drilled and when it rains water drips / trickles from openings......

Thanks.

..:: Steven

[LazyPup]

In its simplest form a French Drain is merely a trench which has been backfilled with Gravel. The idea is that the gravel will allow water to flow in the trench while keeping the trench filled level to finish grade so there is no trip hazard.

A variation of the French Drain is to lay vitreous clay tile or a perforated 4" flexible plastic leach field pipe in the bottom of the trench, then fill it with gravel. As the water soaks to the bottom of the trench it would then enter the pipe and drain off to a desired location, in this case the sump.

The problem with French Drains is that silt washes in with the water and within a fairly short time the silt blocks the proper flow of the water.

The only effective way of cleaning a French Drain is to shovel the gravel out and either take it outside to a hard surface and attempt to wash it with a garden hose, or replace it with fresh gravel. Either process can be very labor intensive.

The small holes you describe are "Wheep Holes" or "Limber Holes". The intent of the wheep holes is to allow any water that goes down the outside of the foundation wall to drain off rather than collect along the foundation footer.

It would depend upon the size of those holes, but if they are large enough you may have some success by installing short stubs of PVC pipe into the holes, then connecting them together by means of a common drain pipe, pitched downward slightly to insure proper flow and draining into the sump.