Drain Tile and Your Basement

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Drain tile is one of those phrases we hear a lot when talking about foundations. But what the heck is it? Is there really any tile in drain tile? If you have basement moisture issues or plan to start a new building project soon, you should familiarize yourself with the basics of drain tile in your home. Check out our latest video describing the basics of drain tile.

[@jeremysnowdenz]

Very great presentation, nicely done explaining how water is pulled away from basements. Thanks for sharing!

[@pacheson13]

I have water proofed a few older homes in down town Toronto. And used these steps with excellent results. Now I live in rural Newfoundland and I am telling people about these methods and and getting resistance. Can't wait to finish my basement and prove these guys wrong. I know I will. This system works. The only other thing I do is fix cracks with hydraulic cement and use foundation coating with fibre. A lot of the time it is only called roofing on the package. Then I roll 6 mil poly.

[@theruggednorth]

Thank you for this great video.

[@Joshua79C]

Ribbed or smooth pipe either one you want to include a cloth cover that still allows water to pass through as it keeps out most debris and other forms of possible blockage and include an inspection riser or two, also and open top drain tile (trough type) tied in where the outside doorway is would be advisable in a retrofit where a simple single point would be impractical such as precast stairways, to catch and drain away any ingress of rain if the entry leaks or the door is open while it is raining for some reason. This trough inside in the outdoor entry would easily tie into the drain tile pipe and would thus negate need for a riser pipe. For those who get especially heavy rainfall with saturated water retention type soil conditions, would recommend not just an inside or single well, and if the water still tends to pool up in the basement a trough drain across the length or width would also be advisable along with a higher gpm pump. Used to install all kinds of waterproofing systems (for 5 years) mostly retrofit into older basements and newer ones where no drainage system was included or was improperly sized at the time of designing and building or was not installed properly (original contractor literally cut corners). CMU (concrete masonry units) block walls are the worst despite their low cost!

[@Debilane23]

Very informative.

[@karenmilligan9128]

Thank you for this helpful video. We sent an email to you with a few questions. Thanks!

[@15bigdave]

Thanks so much for the information! But how do we know if we have an exterior drain tile? Or even if we knew, how would one know if it was clogged or damaged in need of replacement?

[@OpenBookBuild]

+15bigdave Hi Big Dave. We have quite a few resources at our website that address basement water ( One example is in our Troubleshooting Guide but we also have many free articles as well). In my experience, interior drain tile became more prevalent in more recent homes. This may or may not be the case in your area. Do you have any architectural drawings from the original home build? This would be on the plans. You might also reach out to your local building department to see if they have any local background information from the time your home was built. The local building department typically dictates whether exterior and/or interior drain tile is required. Hope this helps.

[@michaelpiecuch7313]

Question: I'm getting ready to install a sump pump drainage system in my basement with 4" perforated pipe surrounded by 3/4" rock and non-woven doubled punched fabric. I will have an egress window installed at some point . Should I install some kind of drain for the egress window before the cement that would tie in to the drainage system? If so how would I go about doing it?

[@brmelectric]

Great video. Is it normal or not, to have weeping tile under garage floor slab. We have spring leakvevery year.

[@OpenBookBuild]

Hi Brian. I'm not sure what you mean by weeping tile. Can you describe what you are seeing and where the water is coming through?

[@comanchefire]

The home we bought has 3" perforated corrugated plastic drain tile. The daylight drain tube was completely clogged when we dug down to find the drain tile. We teed into the drain tile with a new 4" PVC daylight tube. Before we did that, we ran water through both sides of the drain tile by pushing the hose in as far as we could each way, before the water started to back out of the tile after a few minutes, so I'm concerned there is blockage around the perimeter. Could the corrugated tIle be water jetted out through the new daylight drain? The house is 26 years old. And unfortunately, the drain tile was placed on top of, rather than alonside, the footing. Thanks

[@OpenBookBuild]

Hi Stuart. I don't think you will have too much luck water jetting out a corrugated drain tile pipe. And as you probably already know, a snake will tear up the pipe and get stuck. There's also a chance the pipe crushed which is impossible to fix without digging it up. Are you seeing water in your basement?

[@trsulliv1]

Question, how do I get the external drain tile into the basement sump pump crock if the the footings are solid? Do I run the drain tile under the footing?

[@OpenBookBuild]

Hi Tim. It's best to run the drain tile pipe through the footing. This can be accomplished by leaving a small stretch of footing out or by placing a pipe through the footing at time of pour.

[@ProDigExcavation]

What size bleeder are you drilling?

[@OpenBookBuild]

We install bleeders on new construction homes. Basically a 3" schedule 40 pipe through the footing every ten feet or so which helps to bypass any potential obstructions in the draintile in the future.

[@romansten9]

this video is good for very wet areas, many people may not need this much drainage. extra drain tile inside the house may be overkill for some. keep in mind that in the past, there was no drain tile at all, many just used gravel, and these systems are still working. BUT in wet areas, use as much of these steps as you can.

[@Joshua79C]

Had a few home with the soil getting literally so water logged/retention that we would install out and inside systems with weeping tile and drip edge for days where rainfall gets heavy, This is New England, my step dad owned and operated the business and sold it 18 years ago

[@elvistucek3170]

How do you get rid off water that tile collects? Do you bring it in the sub pump in your basement? Considering house is on flat ground. Thanks!

[@joshuamikolajski3509]

Join Date: Mar 2018 I’m unsure if this is a problem or not, but I have a constant flow of water from around the perimeter of one of the pvc pipes that enters the sump pump crock in my basement. The water isn’t draining from the actual pipe, but from a gap in the cement floor around the perimeter of the pipe. My builder said this is normal. I’m curious if it is normal or not? I have a video of it to.

[@OpenBookBuild]

Hi Joshua. So, the drain tile pipe has slits or holes in it that allow it to collect the water from around the foundation. There is also a layer of stone that typically surrounds the pipe. Your basement floor also has 3.5-4" of stone under it. When there water table rises below your house due to rainfall or snow melt, it reaches the drain tile and the stone. Some of the water enters the pipe while some just flows through the stone. So, the flow of water isn't just contained in the pipe, it also migrates through the stone. So, yes, it is normal for the water to come through the sump crock in places other than thru the pipe. Hope this helps.

[@joshuamikolajski3509]

Armchair Builder kzbin.info/www/bejne/mXa8qqOgob18oas This is a link to a video of it I made. No water comes from the pipe at al.

[@joshuamikolajski3509]

Armchair Builder From the video I posted, does that look norman? Thanks.

[@OpenBookBuild]

Hi Joshua. Yes, the water coming into your sump crock around the pipe is normal and is not a problem.

[@weeshwe]

Is it ok to tie in a gutter down spout?

[@OpenBookBuild]

I wouldn't. Your sump pump will need to pump every drop of water that gets into the system. And you don't want to overload the pump when it rains. If you tie the downspout into the draintile pipe, your pump will need to handle the volume coming off the impervious roof and the rising water table below. Just my two cents though...

[@mike7gerald]

I don't like window wells in new basement construction. Just build the basement wall higher to avoid window wells. Yes/no?

[@MichaelLuckado]

Windows wells can be a problem if they aren't maintained for sure. But if you have basement windows, you need window wells. As you suggest, you could have the foundation wall stick out of the ground more to prevent from having wells, but then you would need to apply siding to the foundation walls or you'll have an unfinished look. This is easy if you are installing stone, but if using siding, it can be a little challenging to adhere the siding properly to the foundation wall...not impossible, but it does take some planning.

[@OpenBookBuild]

The hard hat is to hide the receding hairline.

[@grape9610]

wait what? did you say install the pvc pipe with the holes downwards? how does that make any sense then the water wouldnt be able to enter it and if it did somehow manage to enter the pipe then it would all drain out cause the holes are facing downwards...

[@JohnParliPhotography]

james miller Holes down so when the water table rises it fills the pipes and flows to pump basket.

[@Joshua79C]

the two lines of holes shown provide adequate space between to allow water to flow if properly installed with slight inclination to the sump well to be pumped out, putting the said holes facing up would allow more water to remain in the gravel drainage area. As a former waterproofing professional we always installed with the holes down and evenly leveled and sloped down to the sump system and never got a call about water backing up in the sytem as it is wise to add in a riser for easy inspection and possible cleanout of any growth or removal of blockage with a garden hose or water jet.

[@glennbeerman]

can you tie in your gutters to this or is that not good

[@Joshua79C]

it would be a big NO as it would overload the drain system and sump, possibly lead to clogs from leaves andd other debris that may go down the gutter if you want you can tie the sump for basement water intrusion into a sewer (NOT the septic) system for more convenient draining if you do not live on a sloped property where it would drain into the low end of the property by gravity alone into a leech field if you still want to drain gutter catchment and like previously said you can either tie it together and lead into its own drain to a sewer system or lower property leech field or if your town permits harvest it using a water harvesting system and large capacity tanks to collect the run off

[@steveklick]

Well first off this stuff should not be called drain tile at all. I'm sure somewhere there are tiles placed for drainage and this is not it. Even when your talking about tile and pointing to circles on the drawing board, this stuff is so mental. Just call it drainage pipe, that's exactly what it is.

[@kewa-nh6ch]

What's with the hard hat dude? Are you worried about a lightbulb falling on your head, or does it make you feel important?

[@sef2273]

kewa3182 it fits the roll jackass. Should police interview on television wear t shirts and shorts ?