Drainage Part II

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July. We enjoyed the first 4th in our new town even though we nearly missed the whole celebration. Almost too late, we found out that our town celebrates the holiday on the 3rd of July. We actually did miss the parade, but two of the kids were willing to brave the rain and walk down to the park for the evening fireworks. This was the first 4th of July we have ever spent in long pants, long sleeves and raincoats. In California, the temperature was often still hovering around 100 degrees by the time the fireworks were in the sky.

About halfway through, M. started crying because she was worried about our dog Millie. Millie had never heard fireworks before. Once M. got worried, I got a little worried too, even though Millie has proven to be completely relaxed around gunshot, thunder and lightening. No amount of cuddling or reassurance helped M. feel better. She was so concerned about our dog, (and a little overwhelmed by the brightness and noise of the fireworks) that Andy took her home a few minutes early. When S. and I arrived home, we heard exactly how concerned Millie had been about the fireworks. She slept through them. We will take that worry off the list. 

Despite the challenging weather conditions and the uncertainty about how Millie was feeling at home, we all agreed that it was the best fireworks show we had ever seen.

***

It rains a lot here. There is such a drought going on in California that I wish I could send buckets of rain to all of my friends. Although this region receives frequent downpours, the basement is still staying nice and dry. In the Drainage Part I post, I mentioned that Andy and I also worked on some outside drainage problems. Prior to the Great Sewage Flood of 2014 (Please let that be on a 100 year cycle!), there had been some dampness and small puddling along the wall in one of the basement rooms. When we had the home inspection during the buying process, the inspector made some notes about “negative grading.” In other words, instead of the ground sloping away from the house all the way around to allow for proper rain run-off, there are some places that slope towards the house which causes puddling directly around the foundation during heavy rains. The water has to go somewhere so, it seeps down the wall of the foundation, through any cracks, and into the basement.

Negative grading can happen with any house, due to age, soft soil, erosion or improper grading during the initial building process. Grading, along with proper gutters and downspouts keeps rain water flowing away from the house which protects the foundation and helps keep the basement dry .

Andy and I inspected the gutters and downspouts all the way around BHH. We did find some problems with one small section of the gutters on the side of the house with negative grading. However, fixing that issue went straight to our to-do list since that project will require some new supplies and specialty tools. Although we could not immediately repair the gutters, we were able to make a very easy and inexpensive change to the downspouts on that side of the house.

We noticed that the two downspouts on the damp side of the house went straight down and nearly touched the ground. The rain run-off was going directly into the ground only a few inches from the foundation.

First, we cut about 8 inches off the rusted downspouts. We just used a hacksaw for this project. It did not require anything fancy.

Once that was done, we secured downspout water diverters on the ends. We used Flex-a-Spout downspout extensions that we bought at Home Depot. Now, the water runs away from the house during a storm. I am not crazy about the white color, but that was all they had at the store. Fortunately, the bright white diverters are on a secluded side of the house, so they are not very noticeable.

Since diverting the run-off, we have not had any damp corners in that room in the basement. Andy and I inspected the downspouts all the way around the house. The rest of them look acceptable. We feel that there could be a few more for a house this size, but the rest of the downspouts had splash blocks and proper grading.

When you are doing a project like this, pay special attention to where you are diverting your run-off. You will want to make sure that you are not causing a new problem for yourself or your neighbor. Erosion is a powerful force. It will wash out a driveway or anything else in its path. In addition, if you live in a neighborhood, you will want to make sure that you are not diverting your water in a way that will cause a flood right into your neighbor’s yard. Some trenching, pipes or longer downspout extensions may be necessary for your project.

Total Cost :: $20