We are ripping out the cheap wood paneling in our basement and had someone come out to give us an estimate for dry walling. The house is from the 60's and there was some evidence of water from some time ago. We have only lived in the house for about a year but have never seen any water come in. Long story short, he suggested ripping out our existing foundation plants in the backyard and adding 6" of topsoil against the back of the house and doing some grading to have the water flow around the side of our house.
I have several questions about this...
1.) What should we do about the window wells? I was thinking about getting the curved interlocking concrete bricks to build up the wells with the soil. Do you think this would work?
2.) He suggested permanently removing the foundation plantings and just extending our lawn to the edge of the house. We do have a lot more garden space in the back, but I kind of like the idea of having plants there to soften the boxy look of our house. I would also think that the plants would help more with absorbing water than shallow grass roots. What are your thoughts?
3.) We currently have 3 large azaleas along the back of the house in addition to some irises, new england asters, candy tuft, hosta, and black eyed susans. I think the last three should transplant well to other places in my garden, but I've never transplanted iris before. I'm also concerned about losing the large azaleas. Any advice? The shrubs are about 4 ft tall and wide.
We're so consumed by the basement project that this has thrown me for a loop and is stressing me out! We're doing a lot of the basement reno (particularly the demo) ourselves, so we're a bit busy!
couple thoughts here....
>>regrade etc
if the basement was still taking on water, you would have found mold and more mold in the walls. if the walls have been dry for how many(?) years, modifying the exterior grade may be an unnecessary effort.
regardless, I would use the water-resistant dry wall (ala the stuff used around tubs/showers, aka green board, etc)
>>window wells
are there drains in the wells? the interlock blocks are not a waterproof barrier - so mechanically they would work, but if you're getting water from the window wells they won't help that bit. are the wells covered?
>>x , y , z plant roots absorb more water . . .
it's one of those true things, but unless you're living in a swamp, of no importance.
>>regrade etc
if the basement was still taking on water, you would have found mold and more mold in the walls. if the walls have been dry for how many(?) years, modifying the exterior grade may be an unnecessary effort.
regardless, I would use the water-resistant dry wall (ala the stuff used around tubs/showers, aka green board, etc)
>>window wells
are there drains in the wells? the interlock blocks are not a waterproof barrier - so mechanically they would work, but if you're getting water from the window wells they won't help that bit. are the wells covered?
>>x , y , z plant roots absorb more water . . .
it's one of those true things, but unless you're living in a swamp, of no importance.
Grading may be of some use if the water is sitting against your foundation, but the water will still trickle down through the soil. You could put in a French drain and you may not need to remove your plants. I had this problem at my old house and a french drain did the trick. You can seal the cement wall on the inside of your basement and do use the green wall board.
The unnecessary effort is something we were concerned about as well... I've never noticed any water sitting against the house after a heavy rain and the ground has never seemed particularly saturated or soggy in that area. We went back and forth and decided that any preventative measures we can take may be worth doing now so that the work we are having done will not be ruined.
Regarding the window wells... water has never been a problem that we can see. I am not sure if there are drains in the wells and the window wells are not covered. What would you recommend? I'd hate to go through all this work and end up creating a problem instead. The soil is supposed to be delivered on Friday, so I was hoping to get the materials in the next couple of days.
Regarding the window wells... water has never been a problem that we can see. I am not sure if there are drains in the wells and the window wells are not covered. What would you recommend? I'd hate to go through all this work and end up creating a problem instead. The soil is supposed to be delivered on Friday, so I was hoping to get the materials in the next couple of days.
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rainbowgardener
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Iris transplant very easily. I was once given some iris, which I dropped on the ground to wait until I figured out where to put them. Promptly forgot about them and did nothing else. A few weeks later, they had rooted themselves in and were growing. 
The only thing I would worry about transplanting are the large azaleas. They will need good care (but no fertilizer!) for awhile, until they start growing again.
The only thing I would worry about transplanting are the large azaleas. They will need good care (but no fertilizer!) for awhile, until they start growing again.
So we completed the demo process over the weekend and removed both layers of wood paneling (yes, 2 layers, super ugly paneling on top of slightly nicer quality paneling) from the back wall in question. There wasn't even the slightest hint of water damage on the wall, framing, or paneling. The only damage we have found is on the interior walls. One was clearly an old issue of a leaky pipe and the other is the wall that backs up to the laundry room and it's really a guessing game as to what the problem was, but the mold was only at the bottom.
Since there isn't any water damage on the exterior wall and there hasn't been a problem with standing water, we're putting this project off so as not to rush things and end up causing a problem rather than preventing one. However, I have been brainstorming and don't mind the idea of modifying the foundation planting with aid in drainage in mind. Here is what I'm thinking...
The foundation garden is straight and not particularly well thought out. What do you think about the idea of curving the existing garden and edging it with a dry river bed to aid in drainage? I could use the soil used to excavate the space for the river bed to build up the soil level against the house a bit... it still means disturbing the plants but it just seems more planned out and hopefully more effective. Our house is in the middle of a hill. It slopes down to about 20 feet from the back of the house, flattens out for the most part and then slopes again along the side. The slope is heavily planted and has a retaining wall that also helps. Since we haven't noticed standing water in the flat yard space, this may be unnecessary but at least it would be attractive and it wouldn't hurt! This will be more work and more $$$, but I think it could be both functional and beautiful. What do you think?
Since there isn't any water damage on the exterior wall and there hasn't been a problem with standing water, we're putting this project off so as not to rush things and end up causing a problem rather than preventing one. However, I have been brainstorming and don't mind the idea of modifying the foundation planting with aid in drainage in mind. Here is what I'm thinking...
The foundation garden is straight and not particularly well thought out. What do you think about the idea of curving the existing garden and edging it with a dry river bed to aid in drainage? I could use the soil used to excavate the space for the river bed to build up the soil level against the house a bit... it still means disturbing the plants but it just seems more planned out and hopefully more effective. Our house is in the middle of a hill. It slopes down to about 20 feet from the back of the house, flattens out for the most part and then slopes again along the side. The slope is heavily planted and has a retaining wall that also helps. Since we haven't noticed standing water in the flat yard space, this may be unnecessary but at least it would be attractive and it wouldn't hurt! This will be more work and more $$$, but I think it could be both functional and beautiful. What do you think?
The main thing is to make sure water is draining away from the foundation either by surface draining or with French drains.
As for foundation plants, my termite company said it is best to keep 18-24 inches from the foundation as a root free zone. Roots will work their way into cracks in the foundation letting in water and pests.
It is also good to have clear access to the foundation so that you can regularly visually inspect the foundation for problems, access to paint the house, termite treatment would kill foundation plants.
The pest control guy said that it is impossible to keep the area around the foundation 100% dry because it will get wet with rain. He said it was important instead to make sure that the foundation was evenly wet. That meant making sure rain gutters had long extentions. They could be underground to drain the water away from the foundation. Areas where water piled up and comes off the roof in waterfalls should be guttered so there would not be areas of mass puddling.
Grading around the foundation to make sure that water flows away from the house. Most houses are graded by the builders. The first thing homeowners do is "level the yard", build walls that block water outflow, and destroy the swale. That is when they end up needing French drains and rebuilding the swale to make sure water flows into the swale and out of the property or to a collection pond.
Move faucets away from the house and into the yard where you need it. Locate the irrigation manifold in the yard and not against the house. If it leaks, it leaks in the yard.
As for foundation plants, my termite company said it is best to keep 18-24 inches from the foundation as a root free zone. Roots will work their way into cracks in the foundation letting in water and pests.
It is also good to have clear access to the foundation so that you can regularly visually inspect the foundation for problems, access to paint the house, termite treatment would kill foundation plants.
The pest control guy said that it is impossible to keep the area around the foundation 100% dry because it will get wet with rain. He said it was important instead to make sure that the foundation was evenly wet. That meant making sure rain gutters had long extentions. They could be underground to drain the water away from the foundation. Areas where water piled up and comes off the roof in waterfalls should be guttered so there would not be areas of mass puddling.
Grading around the foundation to make sure that water flows away from the house. Most houses are graded by the builders. The first thing homeowners do is "level the yard", build walls that block water outflow, and destroy the swale. That is when they end up needing French drains and rebuilding the swale to make sure water flows into the swale and out of the property or to a collection pond.
Move faucets away from the house and into the yard where you need it. Locate the irrigation manifold in the yard and not against the house. If it leaks, it leaks in the yard.
I have a very similar problem.
On the north side of my house its quite easy to tell the soil there is weighted down with water. The lawn is lush back there along with the moss that grows there as well, very thick moss. The back (north) side of my house is at the bottom of a graded hill so essentially all of the piled up snow in my yard back there slowly makes it way down and then sinks into the ground back there. My basewll is just slightly bowed, however no water is coming through the walls. Its quite easy to tell too because the basement is unfinished.
Regardless though I was thinking of paying a guy to regrade everything but after looking at the plans for a french drain I think I will just do it myself and take care it once and for all. I may have to have someone come out for the basement wall eventually to check that out but at least I can fix the drainage problems myself.
I have a lot of work to do though as the grass goes right up foundation on my house. Fun stuff though
On the north side of my house its quite easy to tell the soil there is weighted down with water. The lawn is lush back there along with the moss that grows there as well, very thick moss. The back (north) side of my house is at the bottom of a graded hill so essentially all of the piled up snow in my yard back there slowly makes it way down and then sinks into the ground back there. My basewll is just slightly bowed, however no water is coming through the walls. Its quite easy to tell too because the basement is unfinished.
Regardless though I was thinking of paying a guy to regrade everything but after looking at the plans for a french drain I think I will just do it myself and take care it once and for all. I may have to have someone come out for the basement wall eventually to check that out but at least I can fix the drainage problems myself.
I have a lot of work to do though as the grass goes right up foundation on my house. Fun stuff though