Perimeter drains sit under the ground around your foundation, so nobody thinks about them until water is somewhere it shouldn’t be. By then the drain has usually been failing for years. The good news is that a drain on its way out gives you warning first. Here is what to watch for.
1. A damp or musty crawlspace
Stick your head into the crawlspace after a few days of rain. If the air smells like a basement or the ground looks darker than the rest, water is getting in. On the coast that almost always traces back to a drain that has stopped moving water away from the footing.
2. Water pooling against the house
Walk the perimeter during a real downpour, not a drizzle. Water should run away from the foundation. If it collects in a low spot against the wall, or the ground stays soggy for days after the rain stops, the drain below isn’t carrying it off.
3. A driveway or patio that floods
Hard surfaces shed a lot of water fast. If your driveway turns into a pond every November, the drainage that is supposed to catch that runoff is either undersized, crushed, or full of silt.
4. Efflorescence on the foundation
That chalky white residue on concrete is left behind when water passes through the wall and evaporates. It is a quiet sign that moisture is sitting against the foundation instead of draining away.
5. The house is 20-plus years old and nothing has been touched
Older homes around here often still run on clay tile or early plastic pipe with no filter fabric. Roots find it, silt fills it, and it slowly stops working. If your drains are original and you have never had them looked at, age alone is a fair reason to check.
What to do about it
A camera down the line tells you whether you are looking at a clean-out or a replacement. We would rather find a crushed section or a downspout dumping into a flowerbed than sell you a full dig you don’t need. If it does need replacing, that means excavating to the footing, laying new perforated pipe on the right slope, wrapping it in filter fabric, and backfilling with clean drain rock so it doesn’t silt up again in five years.
If any of the above sounds like your place, tell us about it and we’ll come have a look before the wet season does it for you. More on how we handle drainage and perimeter drains.