Exterior Foundation Drains

This house in Milburn, New Jersey is located at the base of Essex County's South Mountain Reservation. This highly sought after town offers great schools and a direct line to Manhattan, but also an undesirable amount of ground water due to the Reservation nearby. This particular home is positioned lower than the street, and substantially lower than the mountain behind it. Larger rainstorms would release a torrential amount of water from the mountain slopes and direct it towards the house and basement. Seeping water from the rear and front yards would frequently build up in the front and back lawn areas, portions of the driveway, and of course, in the lower level.

At the time of a major home renovation, our company was called upon to design and install a comprehensive drainage solution that would eliminate water in the basement, driveway, and saturated lawn areas. Our system was designed to discharge the seeping water away from the house by gravity through a detention area and then to a nearby stream. It incorporated a network of exterior French drains in the lawn, a complete foundation drain, and surface drains. The photo below is looking up to the road from the driveway and shows a large concrete wall that was removed as part of the renovation to the house. Because the wall had been so high and the original driveway so narrow, this wall was removed to widen the driveway.

Our hydraulic concrete breakers are used to break up the wall and remove the concrete on the property, while our track equipment is used to widen the existing driveway and dig the new footings for the wall. When it comes to your home's foundation drainage, use a company that specializes in exterior drainage design and installation and you will certainly be satisfied with the function of your final product!

Above, an exterior patio is removed for the installation of the home's exterior foundation drain system. This home's system is designed to operate solely by gravity without the need for a indoor sump pump or electricity. An exterior foundation drain is simply the most reliable method to resolve basement moisture problems over the life of the structure. It does cost more than an indoor french drain, and is more difficult to design and install, but it has many added benefits over the inferior alternative. Among them are that it operates without pumps or electricity, it can provide additional fuel savings through insulation, will reduce moisture and soil gases in your home, and it will prevent water from seeping through your home's foundation as is the case with an interior style solution. Our exterior waterproofing solutions are designed specifically for each property depending on the site conditions that are present. Frequently, homes that have groundwater problems often have saturated yards as a concern also. An additional benefit to an exterior solution is that excavation performed for the foundation drain can be combined with minimal excavation for the installation of yard drains to greatly reduce the soggy and saturated lawn areas. This is a tremendous benefit to the homeowner as the exterior of the property drains continuously by gravity in the same manner as the basement does. Our all inclusive system carries away the unwanted water while also draining the saturated portions of the lawn areas. Gravity is your friend in a design such as this since water will always travel away from your home instead of into it. Water will always find a lower path away from your home.

Engineered design

How do I know if my disposal system is sized properly?

French Drainage Systems - Click here to see how they work Following a site assessment, we used a combination of French Drains, leader drains, and surface drains to route the seeping and surface water away from the house. The volume of runoff from the higher elevations behind the house as well as the type of vegetation in those areas are taken into consideration when designing the system size and pipe size. This ensures that the system will operate as intended and perform for many years to come. Do you know how many gallons of water can be draining onto your property during sixty and ninety minutes of sustained heavy rainfall? The answer will not only surprise you, but is very important in calculating your system's size and disposal requirements. Don't get caught with an installation that does not meet your property's requirements. Insist on an engineered design and you will save many unpleasant surprises in the future. The front of the home is excavated to install the home's exterior foundation drain system. The earth is excavated down to the footing level where water can drain away from the home by gravity without the need for a pump. An exterior system waterproofs the structure by keeping the walls of the structure dry because the path of water is away from the block wall and not through it, as in most types of inside drainage systems. Once the exterior foundation drain is installed, a protective filter fabric is used to prevent sediment from entering the drain. Pictured below is a second piping system that is designed to carry away the roof water from the leader drains. This system includes its own clean-outs and is separate from the foundation drain system. Our systems are sized specifically for each house with the volume of water flow a principal criteria. An exterior basement waterproofing system does cost more than an inside type system, but offers many more benefits and peace of mind over the life of the home. An exterior system is the last waterproofing system that your home will ever need. You will say goodbye to seeping basement walls, moisture, and flooding! When it comes to your home's foundation drainage, use a company that specializes in drainage design and installation and you will certainly be satisfied with the function of the final product! Proper foundation drainage can avoid costly damage to your home due to settling as well as reduce moisture and mold in your home. Below is our rubber track loader being used to backfill the foundation drain. Because the weight of the machine is distributed over a large surface area on each 18" wide track, the light ground pressure of the machine is safe for your property compared to similarly sized wheel machines. Be smart and do the job right the first time. We have installed many exterior gravity systems to homes that already had and "interior" style drain that just didn't do the job properly. Add substantial value to your home by installing an exterior French Drain system to dry up your basement, lawn, and Landscape!!!

Water runoff and Drainage Design

Our drainage systems are designed with all affected properties in mind and will always minimize the amount of net runoff where possible to ensure that neighboring properties are not adversely affected. Failure to take runoff calculations into consideration can often result in costs far in excess of the original work by a contractor who did not fully understand the scope of the problem or of its proper solution. Our goals are to help property owners resolve their water issues without causing a problem for neighboring properties (or for our client down the road as a result). A little extra time spent on an effective design and installation will certainly cost less in the long run than an inferior system that either does not work as intended or that causes more problems than it has resolved. Our company will always try to work with all interested parties in an effort to amicably solve a drainage related problem to their satisfaction. Ground Water Exposed------- full story...

Bobcats for hire is prepared to plan the needed improvements to your property for a long lasting and cost effective solution which will not affect your neighbor's property. Our areas of involvement also include Professional design, excavating, grading, drainage improvements, dry well installations, and landscaping for the long term enjoyment of your property. Call today for that professional look to your home or business. You will save by hiring a reputable company that is equipped to handle the unique needs of your project!

Drainage Solutions