Questions About Water Drainage
A. Proper grading is important because it precludes water invasion in your basement or foundations. It is important that soil is graded and well compacted, sloping at a minimum of five percent away from your foundation. Proper grading also makes sure that any water run-off takes it away from your foundation.
A. Over time, drainage patterns may get disrupted, which may lead to inadequate drainage. These can be restored by grading. If proper grading cannot be achieved because of some constraints, then a subsurface drainage system needs to be installed. If gutters and downspouts are not connected to sufficient drainage pipe system, the rainwater discharged will gather against your foundation and will ultimately leak into your basement. This can be cured by laying solid PVC drainpipes connected to the downspouts to carry water away from the house to lower grade exit.
A. A swale is a gently sloping ditch with a two percent gradient. It is normally six to eight feet wide.
A. A berm is a bump that is used to steer water flow. You can consider a berm as the opposite of a swale.
A. This is a slanting underground drainage structure that habitually comprises catch basins or channel drains piped into a trench that is at least 12 inches wide and more than 12 inches deep. This trench is packed with clean VDOT gravel and includes a drainpipe protected by a geotextile fabric.
A. Downspout drainage is created by connecting a four-plus inch solid wall PVC pipe to the downspouts and buried to discharge to daylight or with a pop-up emitter away from the foundation.
A. Sometimes, yes. When water continues to seep even after all the visible drainage issues have been resolved, it could be due to unknown source of water such as an underground spring or water leaking from utility trenches. You need to consider installing a sump pump.