DIY Network

I'm looking at putting a french drain along the side of my house. My question is, how far away should I stay from the house? I only have about 6 ft from my house to the fence. I had read about keeping the drain at least 6 ft away, but then I'd also have a hard time tying the drain into the curb outlet.

A french drain works when the water level in the soil is higher than the bottom of the drain tube. Most of the time the soil along a foundation is loose fill, even if it was put there 40 years ago. In a case like that the water percolates down through the soil and right past the french drain. If the drain is placed in original soil that has more natrual resistance to water flowing through it, the water will enter the french drain and run through it. That's the main reason for the 6' rule. If you have water standing at the surface or running across the surface a french drain will probably be a help. You didn't say what the difficulty was for getting to a drain point if you put it close to the fence. If you're allowed to drain onto the cub and gutter you can probably get a permit to cut the curb to let the drain get through.

The curb outlet is already in place and right along the driveway. Plus I'd like to tie in with the gutters so it all drains out to the street. So, standing water isn't really the issue as much as the water seeping into the basement. What would you suggest to do about that? I am planning on sealing the blocks on the inside, but with plans to finish the basement, I'd rather do all I can now before the "real" work begins.

By the way, this forum is the best!! You regulars here are so knowledgeable and answer even what would seem like stupid questions. Thanks for all the help..

If your 'that' worried about water seeping into your basement, then I would suggest that you do what waterproofers would recommend...

Dig a trench one foot out from the existing wall, one foot deep. Do this all along the outter basement wall, then lay in corregated black plastic piping, (8") with those slits all along it, and place it in the trench, place a netted matting over it to keep all the dirt out, then backfill it and concrete over it.

Now, once you have done that, dig yourself a hole and put a sump pump into it and make sure that the two ends drain into the basin...(you can make it out of plastic or concrete or any type of material you want, as long as it holds water and your sump pump has room to operate).

Now, attach your sump pump to an outdoor pipe or to a place where it will put the water safely away from your carpeting.

Just my two cents ...

The water that's trying to seep into the basement is most likely roof water and rain water on the ground. If you can get the surface graded to shed the water toward your drain as well as running drain lines for each of the downspouts you will be getting ahead of most of the water.

Sealing the inside of the basement wall still leaves the blocks full of water that is trying to get to the inside of the wall. You may want to look into some way to assist the water on top of the ground to run away before it soaks into the ground next to the house. Definitely pipe the roof water to the drain line.