Basement Drain, Installing Foundation Footer Drain Waterproofing Tile

Why Basement Foundation Footer Drain Tiles Are Important In Homes

If you are a homeowner, especially in the northeast, then your basement foundation footer drain tiles are a very important part of protecting your home from flooding and water damage during rainy parts of the year.  Proper basement waterproofing, to include the correct installation of footer drain tiles, is a vital factor for any homeowner in an area with a significant annual rainfall where groundwater saturation can cause hydrostatic pressure on your foundation walls.

We specialize in excavation and the installation of basement footer drain tiles, and we’ve seen plenty of different cases of significant foundation damage caused by ineffective drainage around local homes.  Actually, although proper foundation drainage is very important , it’s also an important part of the construction of pretty much any home in the country, regardless of where you live.  Even homes built on slabs without basements in dry states need to have some minimal drainage to prevent flooding in certain conditions.  If it rains in an area that has slab homes with no basements and no proper drainage, you run the risk of water pooling around the home or even underneath the slab itself.

In areas where most older homes have basements and the ground is more often saturated by rainwater, drainage and waterproofing becomes extremely important.  Saturated ground causes hydrostatic pressure on basement walls and even pushes up on the basement floor, which can lead to cracks, shifting, water damage, mold, mildew, flooding and a host of other problems.  Basement foundation footer drain tiles were originally developed many years ago to help move subsurface water away from your foundation and pipe it to another location where it won’t harm your home.

How Water Damage Affects Basements And Foundations

To understand the way that basement footer drain tiles work, it’s important to have a grasp of how subsurface ground water movement usually works in nature.  In undeveloped areas where no homes or construction are present, ground water continually seeps downward and is moved by gravity through the soil, where it eventually connects with underground reservoirs.  Ground water in undeveloped land can also eventually come out to feed rivers, creeks and springs.

When there are buildings, homes, basement walls or other man made structures in the way, however, this natural movement of ground water through the soil becomes impeded and some bad things can happen for the people who own these structures.  Many people who don’t understand how powerful the hydrostatic forces of saturated soil can be are often surprised at how much damage can occur to their basements over time if proper drainage or basement footer drain tile isn’t installed.  Actually, the gradual pressure and corrosion caused by water pressure in the ground is one of the most destructive forces that can act upon a home.  It may not knock down your foundation walls as quickly as a hurricane, a tornado or an earthquake, but over a long period of time it can destroy your home just as surely through flooding and water damage.

If you are not experienced in drain cleaning, excavating and plumbing, then it’s always best to contact licensed and experienced professionals to handle the installation and servicing of your basement foundation footer drain tiles.  Still, understanding the process of installing footer drain tiles around your foundation will help you make better decisions when choosing a competent company to help you find a solution to your flooding and water damage problems.

Repairing Existing Footer Drain Tiles

One thing to keep in mind is that your home almost certainly had footer drain tiles installed around the basement foundation if it was built anytime in the last fifty years, since it has been a standard practice for quite a long time.  Although the general concept of how drainage operates around a home basement is still the same today, the methods and materials used to waterproof a home are a bit different in modern times.  New equipment like compact excavators make digging around a home foundation much easier, and modern materials such as plastic PVC pipe and polymer based sealants do a more effective job of waterproofing and last much longer than the clay, cement and concrete used in piping in decades past.

Because most homes in the northeast area generally have some type of footer drain tiles installed, it’s often possible to clean, jet, repair or replace small sections of existing drainage, which is much more affordable than completely redoing your entire basement waterproofing setup in the first place. We have seen numerous situations in which basement water damage can be fixed by tapping into existing footer drain tiles and cleaning them out with a drain snake auger or by using our high pressure water drain jetting system.