The Water Wars…Round 2

We have had non-stop rain from since about 2:30 yesterday afternoon. The National Weather Service reports .24” yesterday and .91” today (so far). When added to the 1.8” last week it makes for a soggy mess in and around the “L” Shaped House. After another tough night manning the pumps at the basement walk-out door Paul called in the JLM landscape guys who braved the slippery mess in a tracked skid steer to dig a proper trench outside the door. The first photo shows the new trench from the driveway.

The next photo shows the new trench from an upstairs window. In it you can see the improved sump basket (a galvanized garbage can) sitting further from the back wall and the dirt (mud?) moved up the slope.

The last photo shows the view out the basement walk-out door. The new water reservoir and sump are now 12’ from the doorway and the grade has been lowered about 2’ below the basement floor. It looks to me like this will finally put an end to the water wars!

The National Weather Service radar at 3:41 pm this afternoon. This storm has been “parked” over Minneapolis/St.Paul for more than 24 hours. The conditions outside have stopped everything (roofing, windows, siding, etc.). Fortunately the roof is “dryed-in” making it possible for the heating/air-conditioning guys and the plumber to work.

Oh…how I hope the rain ends soon!

Winning the Water Wars…

Paul’s battle against the rain water has finally turned in our favor. The rains finally let up around noon and the JLM landscape guys showed up to lend a helping hand. Paul and the crew drained the big pond, dug a set of water channels, set a plywood dam, and got a bucket sump working. The first photo shows the battlefield with the bucket sump and plywood dam protecting the open doorway.

The next photo shows a close up of the water channels and the sump bucket outside the walk-out door. The third photo is a shot showing the newly installed drain tile sump after Paul pumped about 10” of water from the basket. It’s nice to see that the system works although I was hoping not to have to use it this early in the home building project.

The last photo shows the view from inside the basement walk-out door. Paul and the guys spent a fair amount of effort cleaning up the basement floor after building the defensive perimeter. It certainly feels good to have a couple of lines of defense in place in case we get another onslaught of rain!

Basement Floor…The pour

The Sletten crew is hard at work this morning pouring the basement floor. They constructed a wooden chute to help get concrete into the basement and by 7:30 this morning were well into the pouring. The first photo shows the Marshall Concrete cement mixer backed up to the chute delivering mud to the basement.

The next photo shows Matt on the float, Jim working the area around the water meter and sewer main, and Chuck on the wheelbarrow delivering concrete.

The video below shows the action in the basement nicely. As you will see there is very little talking and a lot of activity. It seems prudent to just stay out of their way while the concrete is still wet!

I stopped by at noon today to have a look at the basement floor. Matt was there waiting for the cement to harden enough to trowel (the air temperature in the basement is still only 47 degrees). They plan to pour the second half of the floor tomorrow morning.

Drain Tile…Day 7

The Sletten crew continues their work in the basement. The drain tile installation is almost complete and Chuck is nearly done filling and leveling the grade. The three trenches to the right in the photo will become the footings for the main staircase as the cement floor is poured. It looks like they will probably  pour the slab early next week.

The photo below shows the basement from the guest bedroom. We can see the crawl space wall nicely now (thanks to the high tech lighting added by Paul). It is actually starting to feel pretty nice down there!

Drain Tile…Day 6

The Sletten crew (Chuck) spent the day setting up the drain tile system and preparing  the basement floor for concrete. The first photo shows the drain holes drilled into each block core just above the footing and the drain tile pipe installed in the rock bed.

The next photo shows the drain tile (pipe) as it runs around the corner in the Northwest end of the basement. The drain tile is set closer the top of the rock bed here because the system of pipes is pitched to allow water to flow toward the sump at the other end of the basement.

The next photo shows the sump basket and PVC fitting that will connect to the crawl space system after the rock bed has been covered with fabric and fill has been added to bring the grade up to the concrete  pouring level. The existing foundation walls were built using 12 inch block with three internal cores (Chuck has dilled holes into each core). The last photo shows a section of floor edging roughly placed on the footing. The top of the edging is well above the holes in the blocks and provides a pathway across the footing to the rock bed and drain tile.

Drain Tile…Day 5

The Slettens have the drain tile installed all the way around the basement and have are busy preparing to pour the concrete floor. The first photos show the drain tile (pipe) and the trenching prior to installation. The fabric lines the trench before the the rock is added.

 

The next photo shows the completed drain tile trench as it makes its way past the water meter and new floor drain toward the East end of the basement…

 

This photo shows both ends of the drain tile pipe terminating into the sump basket located below the entrance to the crawl space. The drain tile system in the crawl space will be connected the PVC fitting beside the sump basket.

The next photo shows trenches dug into the basement that will will be filled with concrete as the floor is poured and become footings for the stairway supports.

JLM’s skid steer brings rock for the drain tile and fill for the floor around the back end of the house and right into the basement. The basement should be ready for cement later this week. The Slettens plan to pour the floor in two sections with the joint running just East of the of the basement walk-out door.

Drain tile…Day 4

The Sletten crew is busy today setting up the drain tile system beneath the basement floor as they prepare the space prior to pouring the cement slab. They have the laser out to help set the pitch of the drain tile pipe and to establish the grade height. The first photos show the trenching and drain tile. Wooden stakes all around the basement floor are set at the grade height and marked with big white X’s. The trench will be lined with fabric and the drain tile (pipes) carefully set on a bed of rock. The trench will then be filled to the top with additional rocks and “wrapped” with the fabric. The concrete  floor will be poured on top of a sheet of plastic that spans the rock filled trench. The top of the floor will be 2  1/2” above the “old” footing.

The drain tile pipes extend all the way around the perimeter of the foundation walls and are pitched to drain into the sump located below the entrance to the crawl space. The drain tile system already installed in the crawl space will empty into the same sump basket. A pump in the sump basket will send any water collected out through the wall and into the back yard through a 1  1/2” PVC pipe…

The diagram below shows the basement wall construction details and the water proofing system together. This is the kind of thing you add to a home hoping that it will never be used…but knowing it is there brings peace of mind.

  

• Wrapping the rock bed in fabric will prevent dirt from clogging the system.
• Floor edge is a “L” shaped corrugated plastic panel that allows water to flow under the concrete slab.
• The plastic sheet provides a vapor barrier and radon gas protection.
• The foam insulation has a backing that provides a vapor barrier for the basement wall.
• The 2 x 4 framing provides space for plumbing and electrical components as well as an air space.

Drain tile…Day 3

The Slettens are back to do the drain tile in the basement before they pour the cement floor. Chuck spent the day digging the trench for the rock bed where the drain tile will be installed. The hard packed clay makes for some tough digging.

The outlet for the drain tile system in the crawl space comes through the end wall and will connect to the sump basket that will be installed close to the back corner.  The basket is something like 18 inches in diameter and 2 feet deep (its visible in the background in the left hand photo above).

Water-proofing…Why we’re doing it

It rained all day Friday and until noon on Saturday (our rain gauge shows 1.1”). The mostly clay soil on the site holds water for quite a while after one of these big storms (thankfully we have only seen rain twice so far). The deep lakes created in the low spots around the footings make the decision to add the drain tile system under the basement floor seem like a really good idea.

A couple of positive things have come from the rains;

• The long soaking rain caused the dirt in the back-filled areas around the outside of the garage to settle significantly.
• The water level in the pond across the street has come up a lot.

An Egret and a couple Mallard ducks frolicking in the pond across the street …

Basement waterproofing…

My friend Kim asked how basement waterproofing systems work and why they are referred to as “drain tile”. I found these nice resources while searching for more information on the subject and decided to post them here (actually Kim didn’t exactly ask me to do this…its more like she made a comment…to Deb…but I wanted an excuse to post this anyway).

The first resource is a very nice article published by the University of Minnesota extension division entitled Moisture in Basements: Causes and Solutions. The 5th page in the article is an overview of solutions to basement moisture problems that describes the interior drain system beneath the slab like we are installing at the “L” Shaped House.  The article title above is linked to the University of Minnesota website.

The photo below shows an interior drain system beneath the slab in detail. The system that Paul Winters is going to install will be a little different (the diagram shows a retrofit system) but the photo illustrates the major elements very nicely.

Drain tile…Day 2

The drain tile installation includes placing foam insulation on the walls…drilling holes in the blocks…placing the floor edge at the footing…and covering the rock bed in fabric. The first photo shows the foam insulation going up on the walls and the system elements in place on the footings. The silvery stuff is Thermax brand insulation, R-9.8, and flame resistant; it can be used in crawlspace without thermal protection. Joints are covered with foil tape; voids in corner are filled with spray-can foam insulation.

The second photo shows a close up of the water drainage holes drilled into the cores of every block and the corrugated plastic water channel that directs potential water from the block wall into the gravel bed containing the perforated pipe. The corrugated plastic channel sits on the footing and extends out over the rock bed.

The foam wall insulation sits right on top of the plastic floor edge strips holding it in place.

 

The whole system is wrapped in a gray fabric to isolate the backfill from the gravel bed.  The rock bed is being held in place with a temporary wood dam that will be removed as the fill is added.

Drain tile…Day 1

The JLM crew went to work on the drain tile (water-proofing) in the crawl space today. The perforated pipe and preparations for the rock bed can be seen in the photo.