How Drain Tile Systems Help Your Home Basement Stay Dry

Renovating your basement. Why not? After all, it probably has a floor space bigger than any other rooms in your home. Whether you wish to convert it into a home theater, game room, library, office, or an extra guest room, there are many things you have to consider. Vancouver is prone to rain and heavy snowfall, so to protect your investment, you’ll need to improve your basement drainage system to ensure your new haven stays dry.

Entertainment Basement

Reducing moisture problems

First things first: Your home’s gutter and downspouts should effectively direct water away from your foundation. To determine if this is the case, go out while it’s raining and observe how water moves from your roof unto the ground. Do the areas below the roof slope and direct water away from the foundation? If not, you would have to regrade the slope. On the other hand, if water still keeps pooling, consider having drain tile installed. While sealers may keep water from leaking into your basement, this won’t be for long, especially when below-grade water table rises as rain saturates the soil around your home. For this reason, the use of drain tile as an add-on to your existing drainage system is highly recommended.

How drain tiles help keep basements dry

Drain tiles are perforated pipes designed to collect water trickling inside the foundation wall or seeping on the footings. Water is channeled away to a lower area or—in the case of hybrid systems—to a sump basin that uses an electric pump to discharge it. While exterior drain tiles prevent water from seeping through the wall, it requires some excavation around your foundation wall. Interior drain tiles, on the other hand, are cheaper and are used in most wet basement renovations. Basically, a trench is dug around the interior perimeter of the foundation. Drain tiles are replaced and or installed, covered with stone to act as a filter and backfilled, and put back to original look.

Leave it to the pros

The materials are relatively inexpensive, but drain tile installation requires much work. You’ll need to strip off the slab edges, haul out dirt, bring in gravel, set the tiles, and test their gradient, then re-do the concrete floor if done on the inside of basement. Unless you’re fine with all the dust and sweat as well as the risk of a mishap, consider hiring qualified and well-experienced professionals from local Vancouver contractor firms like Kerrisdale Roofing and Drains Ltd. Ltd., Ltd.

Sources
Building a basement that will stay dry, OttawaCitizen.com
Moisture in basements: causes and solutions, Extensions.umn.edu

About Kai Wong

Kai Wong has written 5 post in this blog.

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