The house had some serious drainage issues when we bought it. All of the upper flat roofs of the house drained to the back annex that we are currently deconstructing. The roof of the annex had no rain gutter, allowing all of the run-off from ALL the roofs to drench the foundation and subsequently flood the basement. Not to mention the entire lot of the house is on clay, and the back lot grades in toward the house. I went ahead and installed a gutter/downspout system and that cut down tremendously on the saturation levels.

When I began to dig the footing trench I came across many underground water channels that began to fill the new “low spot” I had created. I was convinced from that point on that a pit and sub pump were in order. I dug a channel for the footing drainage pipe and tapered everything to a 30 gallon perforated drum that contains the sub pump. This will then be tied into the rest of the drainage for the house. We have had heavy rains for the past couple of days, plus a spring thaw, and the basement is dryer than I’ve ever had it! I think I’m on to something!

A special thanks to Daddio for helping me with only one functioning hand and also to my new best friend …..Drainage!

Here are some photos of the project: