Clean, Fix or Install Weeping Tiles For A Dry Basement

Most homes with basements usually have drain tiles called weeping tiles.  These tiles help keep the basement dry.  The tiles run around the outside of the basement footer just below the level of concrete floor.  The tiles carry ground water away from the walls and into either the sewer line (old way) or into a sump pump (new way).  The old way was done with clay tile and dumped into the sewer line before storm drains were installed by municipalities.

If you have an older home without a sump pump you may have the ground water dumping into the sewer line.  A good way to tell is that someplace in the basement you will have a clean out close to where the sewer line exists the home.  This clean-out is sometimes called a sand trap and it's shaped like a "U" to catch dirt before it enters the sewer line.  If you can locate the clean-out it is a good idea to clean it out  and check to see if water is still flowing through the system.  To clean out the sand trap you can use a wet dry vac.

Before corrugated four inch PVC pipe was used for weeping tiles clay tiles were used.  The standard clay tile size was one foot.  They basically butted the ends together and placed pea gravel around them.  Water would then enter the tiles though the small slots at the butted ends and then into the tile and out to the main sewer line.  However, there was a major flaw with butting the ends and placing the tile in pea gravel.  The problem is that sand and dirt can be pulled into the tile clogging it.  Also tree roots can seek water sources through the small slots.  Since there was no way of tying the butted ends together the tiles can become separated and or move in any direction.

Corrugated PVC pipes are now used and are ran to a sump pump for the water to be pumped out to the city storm drain or back onto the homeowners property.  Corrugated PVC  is slotted throughout the length of the pipe to allow water to enter.  The pipe can be sleeved with a cloth to disallow small debris like sand to enter the pipe.  The pipe is then placed in pea gravel at the footer of the basement wall and ran along the outside wall.  Also the pipe can be run on inside under the concrete floor as well.  Little maintenance is needed for the new way as the pipe should never get clogged with debris either sand or tree roots.

Maintaining the clay weeping tiles can be hard to almost impossible.  When these systems are broken or they get clogged the usefull fixes are:


To clean out the clay tile you still need to dig down to the footer and install a new corrugated PVC tile coming up from the clay tile.  This allows for an auger to be periodically used to clean out the clay tile.  Either way maintaining or fixing the clay tile will be expensive.  However, not fixing a wet basement could cause other problems like, mold, mildews, insects inhabitants, etc.

Below are a couple of photos of sand blocking tile.  With a garden hose and some patients you should be able to clean out the tile and get the water flowing again.

Just because the basement is wet does not mean that you have non function weeping tiles.  Most wet basements are caused by drainage problems where water is allowed to run back towards the house.  Simply sloping the ground away from the house may fix the problem.  Another simple fix is adding gutters to collect rain water and then extending the downspouts out further away from the house.

Drying out a basement and fixing water problems can increase value in your home.  Dry basements give you larger storage areas and or more room to expand your family.  With a dry basement you can add more rooms, and living space which is a great return on your  investment.