Completely new at this :/

[aighead]

I'm enjoying reading the thread, I don't think you are being a pita at all, every time someone posts I'm likely learning something.

Also, I'm not trying to call out your spot but you mention South Bristol, NY as your location on your profile page. And you mentioned 20' depth for adjustments. Looking at the terrain map of your area I buy it, the terrain in a lot of NY is huge elevation changes in not much distance, similar to West Virginia. Just the first terrain spot I paid attention to was 400 feet up in a thousand out.

 

[MG84]

Thanks again for the information and I will rely on the recommendation the last excavation guy gave me last summer and go from there..... Did not mean to be a P I T A here.

You're not a PITA, and I too have enjoyed reading this thread. I hope my post didn't come across as harsh, it wasn't meant to be, just that there is only so much we can help via the internet. This is a boots on the ground type of problem, hopefully you've gained enough knowledge to tackle the problem yourself or at least be better informed when talking to contractors. If you want to take the time to shoot some elevations and draw out a map it would help both you and those trying to help.

 

[crane operator]

Here's what is supposed to be happening in your basement. The house has footing tile. It also has the outdoor grate. Both those water sources, drain to this pit. When the water gets high enough in the pit, the "sump pump" in the pit, is supposed to come on, and eject the water to wherever this upper PVC goes to, from the pump. The outside water is not supposed to be ejected into the tile under your basement floor. The idea is to get the water out of the house....

So when the water comes into the basement, is it coming from the grate and the sump pump can't keep up? Or is the grate not handling or catching all the inflow, and its running under the garage door?

 

[Tinkerer]

If people didn't come to HEF looking for help the forum would die a quick death.
There are no PITAs.
Except for two that I remember.
Earlier in the thread I thought the water from the basement drain pit was flowing out to the pit that is outside.
Nope. You said the water in the outside catch drain, drains into the basement.
It took a special kind of halfwit to install that set-up.
Today I looked closer at your photos and I see it is quite amazing that all the water from that slope alone is being directed into the basement.
I would have installed two separate drain pipes to the hillside. One (a big one ) for the outside water and a 4" for the basement footing

 

[Project-man]

Thanks again for some patience, I'm not writing these posts to bore or offend anyone, I'm just looking for an economical solution to a problem that's been bothering me for the last couple of years and I really appreciate everyone's 2 cents....

I'm sure when the original house was constructed there were the proper footing tile and drainage away from the home.....10 year later, the previous owner added an addition to the home basically doubling the sq. footage and creating this garage/basement area so he could work on his snow mobiles and ATV's and such..... so basically this addition and basement area was never drained properly and I have no idea how many minor floods the previous owner had before we bought the home.

Our S. Bristol home is on a plateau overlooking Canandaigua Lake and around 1/2 of our property there is @ a 300' ravine with a creek flowing at the bottom of the ravine. I believe the previous homeowner did not want to spend the money digging a trench deep enough to the ravine with the proper pitch for proper rainwater drainage and probably thought the 50' of coiled perforated flexible drainage pipe would do the trick.

It's supposed to hit 50 degrees today so I'm going to stake out the pool gate pathway and with some crude calculations try to figure out the amount of material it will take to create a curving wide pathway which at the same time, isolate the downslope leading into the garage/basement area....I think that's probably the best economical solution to this problem at this point of analysis.....:/

 

[skyking1]

Thanks for posting that last picture that gives some dimension to the depth of cut.
Looks like a 6' cut to get through the ridge at the far left.
That would be a bit of trenching and shoring to get to that drain. Agreed that a little swale is easier, now that I can see it from that angle.
Me for myself I would put in the pipe for any and everything that I wanted to drain out. Downspouts, area drains, all out to the ravine.
But it is what I do.

 

[edgephoto]

I for one am enjoying this forum and all the threads.

I am just starting the process to build a house on 15 acres I bought just before the world changed and covid was unleashed on us.

Keep posting pictures. If it was me and I could scrape together the money I would have a pro re-grade the yard and put in proper drainage. To save money I would probably rake and seed the lawn myself.

 

[CM1995]

Thanks again for some patience, I'm not writing these posts to bore or offend anyone, I'm just looking for an economical solution to a problem that's been bothering me for the last couple of years and I really appreciate everyone's 2 cents....

You're just fine PMan and not boring or offending anyone as far as I'm concerned. As Tinkerer said this is a discussion forum where we, well discuss stuff.

 

[Willie B]

I don't know where to buy one. Neighbor had a sight level. Quickest way ever to figure approximate heights. Measure your height to eye. Sight to a point uphill, that's 63", repeat. Gives a quick way to estimate grades & ditch depth. I also have a few cheap laser levels, not as useful in bright sunlight. Best I have is a Berger I paid $850 about 20 years ago. It is manual levelling, so takes time to set up. I use a Porter Cable auto levelling near daily, but again not as good in bright sunlight.

 

[skyking1]

I don't know where to buy one. Neighbor had a sight level. Quickest way ever to figure approximate heights. Measure your height to eye. Sight to a point uphill, that's 63", repeat. Gives a quick way to estimate grades & ditch depth. I also have a few cheap laser levels, not as useful in bright sunlight. Best I have is a Berger I paid $850 about 20 years ago. It is manual levelling, so takes time to set up. I use a Porter Cable auto levelling near daily, but again not as good in bright sunlight.

This johnson at Amazon is OK.
https://www.amazon.com/Johnson-Level-Tool-80-5556-Contractor/dp/B000KKWQ9S?th=1

I prefer my David White 2.5x magnification unit.

https://www.whitecap.com/product/25x-hand-held-sight-level-352NHL25X

 

[edgephoto]

A transit is great as long as you have a second person. Using one by yourself takes ingenuity.

I just bought a Spectra LL300N-2 rotary laser level. Picked it up used off eBay. It is a complete kit in a carrying case. Level, tripod, grade stick and receiver. I have about 40% from new. Once my house project is complete I will probably sell it.

Being able to stake grades by myself is the main reason I sprung for this over a transit. Asking my wife is fine, she will help. The issue is keeping her from wandering off.

 

[Tinkerer]

I used a transit many times by myself.
I would stick a spade in the ground at an angle and I would set the rod in the handle.
Only for shooting elevations.
Never for setting lines, that requires two people.

 

[CM1995]

Asking my wife is fine, she will help. The issue is keeping her from wandering off.

I feel your pain.

 

[edgephoto]

I used a transit many times by myself.
I would stick a spade in the ground at an angle and I would set the rod in the handle.
Only for shooting elevations.
Never for setting lines, that requires two people.

Like I said, ingenuity.

 

[oarwhat]

. Asking my wife is fine, she will help. The issue is keeping her from wandering off.

My guys used to get bored, and I couldn't get their attention . Shouting wouldn't do it with equipment running around. I had to chuck a stone at them to bring them around.

 

[HarleyHappy]

Clod of dirt doesn’t hurt as bad.
Lol

 

[edgephoto]

Throw a rock or dirt at my wife?......I do not have a death wish.

 

[4x4ford]

I would cut the concrete around the outside drain and plug the line running into the house and trench a new drain running away from the house that never should have been drained back to the house even if you just have to run it away from the house and dig a deep hole and fill it with rock for it to dissipate just make sure it’s lower than your basement. Just my amateur opinion.

 

[Project-man]

Again thanks for the understanding and patience. Last evening I pulled out some 50 lb fishing line, a string level, some stakes and a 100' tape measure. Since I wanted to create a pathway from the pool area to the front yard I secured the line @ 1' from the bottom to the gate post and set up some stakes to visualize what a path would look like and approximately how much material it would take to create a raised and curved path.

The most alarming feature of this project stared me in the face when I hade my line level from the pool gate post to the outside corner of the house. By creating the curved level line from the gatepost, it would be necessary to raise the height of this wonderful retaining wall that channels rainwater under "any" rain condition onto drain in front of the garage door.

I took some pictures to show the height and approximate location of the pathway I'd like to construct and this is what I came up with.... Gate post line height 1', 1st stake 2'4", 2nd stake 3'3", 3rd stake 3'5", last stake (by the house) 1' 6". I would like the inside (steepest) curve of the path to be @ 45-50' and judging by how much material that will be needed to create this pathway, I'm thinking the outside curvature (orange stakes) will need to go well beyond what I laid out with the average width of the pathway to be 12-15'.....

Thanks again for the knowledge and encouragement.....If it's possible for me to complete this project on my own, I would value the experience far more than watching someone else do it and not learn nearly as much......

 

[skyking1]

Now you may be seeing why I would trench a pipe out of the existing low spot and be done with it.