Exterior Drain Tile Systems Near Sherwood Park, St. Albert, Edmonton

Pros and Cons of Repairing your Wet Basement
with an Exterior French Drain/Weeping Tile

Cutaway of a French drain system installed on the outside of the concrete footing of a home foundation. A discharge line would also be included to send the water away from your home.

Shown in this photo are the French drain itself (filled with water), a fill of stone, and the backfilled soil.

One way of basement waterproofing that many contractors will suggest for waterproofing a basement is to install a french drain system along the outside perimeter of your home.

At Basement Systems Edmonton, we do not recommend this type of drainage system installed in your home. Instead, we suggest installing an interior basement drain along the inside perimeter of your basement or crawl space. For a free waterproofing quote in the Edmonton, St. Albert, Sherwood Park, or North Central Alberta area, call or e-mail us today!

To install an exterior French drain, the contractor will take the following steps:

1. First, the entire perimeter of your home must be cleared. Gardens, steps, porches, etc., must be removed before the work can begin.
2. Next, the contractor will dig out the perimeter of your home. Excavated dirt will be heaped around the house.
3. The drain will be laid in a bed of stone along the bottom. The stone, and possibly a layer of filter fabric, are there to protect the drain from clogging.
4. The excavated soil will be "backfilled" on top of the system. In a year, this soil will settle, and the contractor will need to return to fill in more soil.

Getting Ready To Install an Exterior French Drain
	You Will Need to Remove:
	Trees Shrubberies Gardens	Porches Steps Sidewalks	Patios Driveways ..And More
	You can expect the contractors to create huge heaps of excavated soil all around your home, creating a mess. On top of that, the process is extremely expensive, costing $15,000 to $20,000 per installation. The installation time is twice as long or more than if you choose to have an interior system put in.

Failing French Drains in Alberta

A clogged French drain systems found installed around a home in Vermillion, AB.

French drain systems have been installed on the outside of homes in Edmonton since 1954, and if they were the best way to dry a basement, Basement Systems Edmonton would be installing them, too.

Unfortunately, placing a French drain or exterior footing drain along the outside is a recipe for failure. When you put a drainage system several feet under the earth, even in a bed of gravel, it will eventually clog with dirt, roots, and debris.

Sometimes, a contractor will try to stop this by laying down a layer of filter fabric around the drain. In this case, instead of the drain clogging, the filter fabric does and won't let water into the pipe.

Other problems such as freezing pipes and improperly sloped lines are also common. This type of exterior drainage commonly will not handle water that collects under your basement floor, in which case you'll still need a sump pump inside your basement.

For a FREE waterproofing quote, call or e-mail us today!

We service the Alberta area, including Edmonton, St. Albert, Sherwood Park, Grande Prairie, Spruce Grove, Camrose, Leduc, Fort Saskatchewan, Lloydminster, Wetaskiwin, Stony Plain, Lacombe, Cold Lake, Nisku, Bonnyville, and the surrounding areas.

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