Home Reno - Floor drain and weeping tile | GTAMotorcycle.com

Home Reno - Floor drain and weeping tile

sburns

sburns

Well-known member
Like @mimico_polak I too experienced a lot of sketchy kevin reno DIY stuff in my house. This last item has plagued me for years but I think I this might solve it.

Some background, I've had some moisture water issues with this house. Nothing leaking in or visible water signs, just vapour and feeling of dampness.
When I got the house the laundry room had laundry machines, a stove and a shower. Yeah some weird 2nd living space in the basement. I quickly removed that stuff with a basic reno. The shower drain was run into the main basement floor drain. We'll come back to this.

After some basic reno's I soon discovered I had some moisture issues at the front of the house and some mold. Had some exterior water proofing done around the front and side. Talking with the contractor about the weeping tile he mentioned the systems useually are built using 2 methods. 1 around the house and out to the street (city sewage). 2 around the house then under the house then to sewage. Anyhow the water proofing helped the problem but not entirely.

For some reason I had to revisit the laundry room for some more reno and dug up the main drain and this is were I found kevin had broke the connections to the other floor drain and what I suspect is the connection to the weeping tiles. See diagram.

I'm still dealing with some moisture issues, and after this discovery I suspect the water from the weeping tiles is just draining under the house and turning into vapour creating the dampness, or just sitting there with no where to go.

I spoke to a plumber/drain specialist in the summer to kinda confirm what my water proof guy told me and the only way I can confirm where that broken connection goes is to dig it up and run a camera down there. My thought is if I have to dig it up I will just connect it and be done with it.

So that is my plan right now to dig up that drain, make the connection to what could be the weeping tile but not the connection to the drain at the back of the house.

Thoughts, experience?

Visual for reference

floor plan.jpg
 
sburns said:
Like @mimico_polak I too experienced a lot of sketchy kevin reno DIY stuff in my house. This last item has plagued me for years but I think I this might solve it.

Some background, I've had some moisture water issues with this house. Nothing leaking in or visible water signs, just vapour and feeling of dampness.
When I got the house the laundry room had laundry machines, a stove and a shower. Yeah some weird 2nd living space in the basement. I quickly removed that stuff with a basic reno. The shower drain was run into the main basement floor drain. We'll come back to this.

After some basic reno's I soon discovered I had some moisture issues at the front of the house and some mold. Had some exterior water proofing done around the front and side. Talking with the contractor about the weeping tile he mentioned the systems useually are built using 2 methods. 1 around the house and out to the street (city sewage). 2 around the house then under the house then to sewage. Anyhow the water proofing helped the problem but not entirely.

For some reason I had to revisit the laundry room for some more reno and dug up the main drain and this is were I found kevin had broke the connections to the other floor drain and what I suspect is the connection to the weeping tiles. See diagram.

I'm still dealing with some moisture issues, and after this discovery I suspect the water from the weeping tiles is just draining under the house and turning into vapour creating the dampness, or just sitting there with no where to go.

I spoke to a plumber/drain specialist in the summer to kinda confirm what my water proof guy told me and the only way I can confirm where that broken connection goes is to dig it up and run a camera down there. My thought is if I have to dig it up I will just connect it and be done with it.

So that is my plan right now to dig up that drain, make the connection to what could be the weeping tile but not the connection to the drain at the back of the house.

Thoughts, experience?

Visual for reference

View attachment 52573
Click to expand...
I don't think weeping tile should not be connecting to city sewer. They should go to the sump pit and be pumped outside.

Sent using a thumb maybe 2
 
Scuba Steve said:
I don't think weeping tile should not be connecting to city sewer. They should go to the sump pit and be pumped outside.

Sent using a thumb maybe 2
Click to expand...
I thought they used to connect to sewer but as the sewers were overwhelmed the city stopped allowing those connections….but I could be talking out of my bum.

I sympathize with you @sburns … there’s too many Kevin’s around. I’m sure whoever buys my house may say the same about me.
 
In the city the main drain would be connected to the sanitary sewers. If there is a storm sewer too, the weeping tiles would be connected to it, otherwise both would be go to the sanitary system.

Excessive moisture coming thru a stable is easy to measure. Using further rope, fix a 24x24" clear plastic square over a bare spot in the slab -- if visible droplets appear in 24 hours the slab is too wet.
 
Hey guys, I should mention my house was built in the 60's, it bungalo and the weeping tiles are clay. So it might be during this time they may have done things differently where it ends up compared to today.

Either way my main issue is the weeping tiles is not connected to anything, and the water is just sitting there, and I should repair that broken connection so the water can move, reguardless if it is going to the sewer or sanitary.
 
Scuba Steve said:
I don't think weeping tile should not be connecting to city sewer. They should go to the sump pit and be pumped outside.

Sent using a thumb maybe 2
Click to expand...
See my other post above older home older methods.
I still have a downspout connected underground which, corresponds to the left part of the drawing all the plumbing in the house is on that side. Anywho the city asked to remove it, but I can't because of the sloping of the eve's
 
Mad Mike said:
In the city the main drain would be connected to the sanitary sewers. If there is a storm sewer too, the weeping tiles would be connected to it, otherwise both would be go to the sanitary system.

Excessive moisture coming thru a stable is easy to measure. Using further rope, fix a 24x24" clear plastic square over a bare spot in the slab -- if visible droplets appear in 24 hours the slab is too wet.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tip Mike, unforunately the basement in that part of the house all has flooring, no bare slab.
 
Our house is about the same age and due to minor seeping, we had the exterior waterproofed. The rec room floor was badly cracked so we had the contractor replace it as well. When they broke the slab up there was a lot of standing water under it. It soon dried out, never returned and was suspected to be an accumulation from the seepage.

I am under the understanding that there are three systems. The sewage goes to the sanitary sewers, the eaves and weeping tiles go to the storm sewer. There is a push by municipalities to remove the eaves from the system and let them run out on the ground. That prevents the storm water over running into the sanitary and overloading it.
 
nobbie48 said:
Our house is about the same age and due to minor seeping, we had the exterior waterproofed. The rec room floor was badly cracked so we had the contractor replace it as well. When they broke the slab up there was a lot of standing water under it. It soon dried out, never returned and was suspected to be an accumulation from the seepage.

I am under the understanding that there are three systems. The sewage goes to the sanitary sewers, the eaves and weeping tiles go to the storm sewer. There is a push by municipalities to remove the eaves from the system and let them run out on the ground. That prevents the storm water over running into the sanitary and overloading it.
Click to expand...
This is exactly how it's designed here now. How it was 70 years ago, that I do not know.
 
Any "clean" water shouldn't be discharged into a sanitary sewer and as mentioned above, many municipalities are trying to remove direct connections from storm sewers.

From what little I know, weeping tiles (which are located at foundation footings?) were commonly connected to storm sewers though a lot of them were clay and were prone to collapsing.

You may want to consider a French drain system (not sure if that was included with your "exterior waterproofing) which will help move water away from the house and you can have a discharge onto your lawn or a drywell.

You can get a borescope and check the lines inside the house and see what goes where. A plumber should be able to do that.
 
sburns said:
Either way my main issue is the weeping tiles is not connected to anything, and the water is just sitting there,...
Click to expand...
I doubt this is the case, water has to go somewhere. During a good rain your roof collects a lot of water, if this was being channeled to your weepers with no where to go your basement would fill up quickly and you would certainly see standing water.

I think you mentioned you live on a ravine, if so you might have an easy solution. The rear yard probably has a good slope away from your house, you would trench to a corner of your house and drop in a big-O pipe to carry weeping tile water to the ravine. This requires a very small trench that can be dug easily with a rented mini excavator. Not a tiny job, but you don't seem like the type deterred by a bit of work!
 
Mad Mike said:
I doubt this is the case, water has to go somewhere. During a good rain your roof collects a lot of water, if this was being channeled to your weepers with no where to go your basement would fill up quickly and you would certainly see standing water.

I think you mentioned you live on a ravine, if so you might have an easy solution. The rear yard probably has a good slope away from your house, you would trench to a corner of your house and drop in a big-O pipe to carry weeping tile water to the ravine. This requires a very small trench that can be dug easily with a rented mini excavator. Not a tiny job, but you don't seem like the type deterred by a bit of work!
Click to expand...
ok that might be true, one of my eve downspouts still goes underground at the side of the house and most likely some of the weeping is connected there as well.

Yes I do back onto a ravine. But the land is sloped to the front. I have a ditch at the front of the house no sidewalks here. Also all the soil is sand, which might help mitigate any water collection. But seems like an interesting solution, will have to give it some consideration, thanks.
 
I also own a bungalo that was built in the 60's. My understanding is that the subdrain would be connected to a sanitary sewer and the eaves downspouts to the storm sewers. The reason being is that that the storm sewers are typically shallower than the sanitary sewers. Usualy only 1.5 m deep. So in a major storm event the storm sewers risk surcharging on an older system not designed to handle todays storm events.
I have disconnected my downspots and let the drainage travel overland where i have sufficent slope and distance from the house.
On one of my connections. I couldn't safely do this. So I buiilt a minor storm pipe 20 m of 150 mm pvc pipe buried 1-2 m sloping away from the house into a dry well in my backyard. The pit or well is approx 2 m deep by 1.5 m wide sqaure. Placed filter cloth around it then filled with 75 mm crush run stone.
I placed an acceess catchbasin in beteen for access and screening of the drainage prior to the pit.,
The system works good so far. No perfect. During really intense storms the systems does surchage at the catch basin. But I have overland slope and drainage onto the rear yard at this point.
You may want to consider something like this for the downspot connections.
 
250R-ICE said:
I also own a bungalo that was built in the 60's. My understanding is that the subdrain would be connected to a sanitary sewer and the eaves downspouts to the storm sewers. The reason being is that that the storm sewers are typically shallower than the sanitary sewers. Usualy only 1.5 m deep. So in a major storm event the storm sewers risk surcharging on an older system not designed to handle todays storm events.
I have disconnected my downspots and let the drainage travel overland where i have sufficent slope and distance from the house.
On one of my connections. I couldn't safely do this. So I buiilt a minor storm pipe 20 m of 150 mm pvc pipe buried 1-2 m sloping away from the house into a dry well in my backyard. The pit or well is approx 2 m deep by 1.5 m wide sqaure. Placed filter cloth around it then filled with 75 mm crush run stone.
I placed an acceess catchbasin in beteen for access and screening of the drainage prior to the pit.,
The system works good so far. No perfect. During really intense storms the systems does surchage at the catch basin. But I have overland slope and drainage onto the rear yard at this point.
You may want to consider something like this for the downspot connections.
Click to expand...

Yeah I may have used the wrong wording in my initial post. Honestly I don't really know where the water goes other then all below ground drains exits to the left side of my house then down to the street someplace. Even the downspout is attached there.

As for that downspout. The way the eve's are configured I can't remove it. This is because I have an overhang above the front door which slopes the eves in different directions and I need that spout there. Also if I were to just disconnect at the bottom there is no way to direct the water as it is in direct path of the driveway, front door walk and all foot paths, I would basically have to re-engineer the whole area, not worth it.
To help all this I did add a 3rd downspout at the back of the house with a really long run and a diverter into a rain barrel. I plan to add a second barrel because it works so well.

Actually these trench ideas have giving me some thought to some other water issue specifically for the overhang I have at the front door, which has this DIY eve's dropping water in one spot at the front. If I build a trench then I can move that water. :unsure::unsure:
But that is for another thread.
 
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We have a ton of ponding happening between my neighbour and I….about 3ft from the curb onto the street.

Am I allowed to drill a hole into the curb to let that water run out? I see people have drilled big 2” holes in some curbs and have a trench with pipe from their backyard to their front street to aid in draining.
 
mimico_polak said:
We have a ton of ponding happening between my neighbour and I….about 3ft from the curb onto the street.

Am I allowed to drill a hole into the curb to let that water run out? I see people have drilled big 2” holes in some curbs and have a trench with pipe from their backyard to their front street to aid in draining.
Click to expand...
It was that way when I got here.

Officially probably not as it's municipal property. Realistically, unless someone takes a picture of you doing it and sends it in, I expect nothing will come of it.
 
mimico_polak said:
We have a ton of ponding happening between my neighbour and I….about 3ft from the curb onto the street.

Am I allowed to drill a hole into the curb to let that water run out? I see people have drilled big 2” holes in some curbs and have a trench with pipe from their backyard to their front street to aid in draining.
Click to expand...

No but that doesn't stop anyone from doing it. You might be able to end the pipe a few meters from the curb and use a pop up emitter instead
 
Well I got started on this project during the holidays.

Based on this info from Toronto city hall and a fourm post, which funny enough is very similar to my situation. Re connecting the weeper to the floor drain is the correct thing to do.

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terrylove.com

re: Weeping tile pipe towards interior. where does it go?

Hello, I just recently excavated the exterior of my home to install a drainage mat and damproofing membrane. When the hole was excavated, I hired a drain company to scope the weeping tile. During the excavation, I found a clay pipe that attached to the weeping tile that went into the house...
terrylove.com terrylove.com

The start
01 IMG_5131.jpg

Old config - weeper not connected.
I could feel the draft from the clay weeper as mentioend in the above info.
02 old config.jpg

The new config with the weeper connected
03 new config.jpg
 
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