How is an Interior Drain Tile Installed?

If you’ve noticed water in your basement, it may be a good idea to have an interior drain tile (sometimes called a French drain) installed by a professional basement waterproofing company. Excess water underground will naturally seep through any small cracks, through your basement floor or foundation and into your basement.  A basement waterproofing drain tile system will give that water an alternative place to go, rather than into your basement living space where water damage can occur.  Here is our process for installing an interior drain tile system:

Step 1 – Dig To The Footer

Digging to the footer, through your basement foundation is necessary to create a space for the drain tile to collect water.  When we reach the footer, we dig to 5 or 6 inches down the side of it. This will reduce the water table (the level of collected water underground) below the level of your basement floor.

Step 2 – Lay Your Drain Tile

Drain tile is essentially piping with perforations or holes punched into the top.  The drain tile or “French drain” should be about is typically 4 inches or so in diameter.  This tile is then laid in the trench dug out next to your footer, using corner fittings to navigate around your house. We apply sealant to be sure there are no leaks within each connection.

Step 3 – Installing Your Gravel

Our basement waterproofing experts then surround the drain tile with at least 3 feet of washed gravel, 1 to 1½-inches in size. The loose space between the gravel will give the water an easy downward path to follow, instead of traveling sidewise into your foundation wall.

Step 4 – Installing Your Gravel Cover

After we fill in the rest of your trench with dirt, there are many fluffed and loose dirt particles (called silt) that can easily make their way down your gravel and into your drain tile with the water runoff. If this happens, it will clog your drain tile system and be nearly impossible to fix. The solution is a gravel cover.  Something porous that will allow moisture to seep through, but not the silt. Felt material is what is typically used.  After covering your gravel with felt, we then fill in the rest of your trench with dirt.

Step 5 – Installing your Sump Pump or Water Outlet

The water that drains into your drain tile system will need some place to go. One solution is to continue your drainage pipe away from your house and to a surface location. However, this only works if you live on an incline or a hill, since it relies on gravity to move the water.  The best option and most often used by our basement waterproofing company is to install a sump pump in your basement. A sump pump is a hole in your floor leading several feet below the foundation with a machine to pump the water out.  The interior drain tile system will lead to the sump pump for a water outlet.

Interior drain tile systems are not particularly easy to install and should only be done by a professional  basement waterproofing contractor that has experience in drain tile systems.  There are other options to basement waterproofing that might not include an interior drain tile system.  Contact our basement waterproofing experts of call us today for a free inspection and estimate at 1-888-530-9831.