Waterproofing Your Home: The Limits of Exterior Drainage Solutions

Can sloping dirt away from your foundation or extending your downspouts truly safeguard your crawl space from flooding? Join us as Michael Church, the Crawl Space Ninja, unravels this misconception and guides you through the ins and outs of effective outside drainage. You'll learn why relying solely on exterior solutions like French drains isn't enough and why incorporating an interior waterproofing system and a sump pump is crucial. This episode is packed with practical advice on handling roof water, surface water from hills, and even runoff from neighbors to protect your home comprehensively.

Michael shares expert tips on the best materials and techniques for downspout extensions and French drains, cautioning against common pitfalls like using perforated corrugated pipes for downspout extensions. Additionally, he stresses the importance of a proper vapor barrier to prevent water from bypassing your drainage system. If your home dates back to the 60s, 70s, or 80s, or if you're frequently battling water issues in your crawl space, Michael's insights could be a game-changer. Don't let contractors push partial solutions—equip yourself with the knowledge to ensure your crawl space remains dry and protected.

Check out Michael's book, "Crawl Space Repair Myths-Busted" now available on Amazon!

Need help: https://crawlspaceninja.com or https://diy.crawlspaceninja.com

Transcript

Speaker 0: 0:00

Hey, Michael Church, Crawl Space Ninja. We are continuing our Crawl Space Misconception series and today I want to talk to you about outside drainage. Whether you're looking to install a French drain or a downspout extension, Is that enough to keep the crawl space from flooding after it has already started to flood? So there's a lot of different things out there that contractors will do. They'll tell you that you've got to slope the dirt away from the foundation wall and install a French drain, and then get down to the footer of the outside and do an outside waterproofing where you redo the foundation drain, and all those things are important. I'm not saying they're not important, but by the time the crawl space begins to flood, normally those things will help to minimize the amount of water going into the crawl space. But you may still want to include an interior waterproofing system we call it a water management system and a sump pump.

Speaker 0: 0:59

Now, I'm not against doing downspout extensions. We should do that. You're taking a lot of roof water during a heavy rainstorm and if your downspouts are dumping that water right there by the foundation wall, it typically especially if you have a block foundation it is just going to take the path of least resistance and go right into that crawl space and even that basement. What you want to do is you want to do all of those things. If you've got a hill that's coming at a back of your house or the side of your house, you want to make sure you do a curtain drain, probably no more than 12 inches deep. If you've got clay soil, but as that water comes off that hill that's surface water most of the time coming off you want to be able to grab that water and redirect it around the house. You want to make sure those downspout extensions are extended far enough away from the foundation that they make it to a hill if possible, and then go around. We always use the pop-up emitters as we bury them into the ground, and we also use sewer and drain pipe. We don't really care for the corrugated pipe as much and you certainly don't want to use a perforated corrugated pipe for a downspout extension. That's the type of pipe you would use for a French drain.

Speaker 0: 2:06

Okay, so make sure you're using different pipes and things like that, but as that water has already made it through the crack of the foundation and everything, just remember that the rainwater that hits around the foundation is still got a chance to go in to the crawl space. Yeah, You're, you're redirecting roof water and you're taking care of the water from the hill, but there's still other water that hits around the yard that can work its way into the crawl space, which is why the interior waterproofing system is so important, as it captures that water as it comes into the crawl space, redirects it to the sump pump and then sump pump that water out of the crawl space Again, getting it to a downhill section of the home so that the water can drain away from your house. And don't forget about having a good vapor barrier, because if you have a loose laid vapor barrier down, it can shift and once the water gets on top of the plastic, it typically can't make its way into that drainage system.

Speaker 0: 3:01

If you live in a home that is built in the 60s, 70s or 80s, you probably got all these issues I'm talking about. You got your neighbor dumping water on you, so you want to do everything you can to redirect that neighbor water and all that. But don't forget about the interior waterproofing of the crawl space. Don't let a contractor just talk you into one part of it and not do the other. It is all important if you're taking on a lot of water in your crawl space. I'm Michael.