What is the Best French Drain Strategy for Flooded Basements?
Lots of modern homes in the UK don’t have basements these days, but there are plenty of houses built before the 1980s that do.
So, French drains are just as critical today as they ever were, and many families could benefit from using them.
If you live in one of the many homes that have basements, you’ll want to make sure that area of the property always remains dry and clean and never gets flooded.
For that reason, you will need to install a deep French drain to channel any rainwater in the right direction.
Deep French drains are also known as footing drains, and they run around the outside of the home at the level of your footing.
The idea is to intercept any rainwater before it can get into the basement and cause damp or mould.
Homes built in locations prone to flooding will often have a drain of that nature installed during the construction process. That is by far the most suitable time to complete the job because it will only take a few hours.
However, you have to work a little harder than that if you want to add a footing drain to a building that’s already complete.
Firstly, anyone who wants to install a footing drain will have to dig around the perimeter of their houses until they reach the foundation footing.
That is usually at least a couple of feet down, and so it might take a while to complete that task. You then need to create a trench in much the same way as you would with other types of French drains.
Sometimes there are issues when it comes to making sure the ditch slopes enough to move the rainwater.
If you can’t get a decent slope, it might make sense to use a pipe to transfer the collected water into a tank or bucket in your basement. You can then empty that item whenever it gets full.