Basement Leak Drainage

Drain Tile Systems

• A drain tile system sits below the basement, working to draw water in the ground away from the house’s basement. The drain tile is a pipe with numerous openings. A layer of gravel covers the drain tile, allowing water to pass through the gravel but stopping dirt and other debris from reaching the pipe. French drains or a sump pit feed water to the drain tile, with French drains working better in areas where the water table does not ever reach the level of the basement and sump pits working better in high water table areas.

Interior Drainage Channels

• An interior drainage channel runs around the perimeter of the house’s foundation. Some channels sit on the top side of the basement floor, capturing any water that flows into the basement. Other channels sit on the house’s footings, below the basement floor. The water flows along the drainage channel until it reaches a sump. The sump transports the water underground away from the house, stopping the water from coming up into the basement’s floor.

Drains, Sump Pumps and Cracks

• Floor drains in the house’s basement provide a pathway of least resistance for water that enters a basement once the water table reaches the basement’s level. The drain directs the water down an underground pipe to a drainage area elsewhere on the property where no structures can be flooded. Sump pumps sit in a pit under the basement floor, capturing the water that reaches the basement level. The pump draws the water away from the house by sending it though a pipe. If you find that water is leaking into your basement through the foundation, you must locate the cracks that are allowing the water inside. Foundation repair services can inject a patch into the cracks, sealing them against future water intrusion.

Roof Drainage

• How precipitation that lands on your house’s roof is drained also directly affects a basement’s drainage. Houses should have rain gutters that run along the perimeter of the roof, catching water that is flowing off the roof. The water flows down the gutters until it reaches a downspout, which transports the water to the ground. The downspout should extend away from the house’s foundation, otherwise the water can flow through the ground and leak into the basement through any cracks in the foundation.