By digging up the earth outside around your foundation and replacing the footer drain with a new one, you are replacing the same system that failed you–how long will that system last this time?
Excavation is a large problem in itself. You have to dig down to the bottom of the footing (usually 8 feet) and 8 feet out away from the home. Where will all of the dirt that comes out of the hole go? Piled up in the rest of your yard.
Everything in the excavation area will need to be removed and replaced, including, porches, driveways, sidewalks, landscaping, steps, decks, and so on. Then after the work is done, the dirt that was excavated–which is now fluffed up and loose on your lawn, is put back in the trench. It will take years for the dirt to settle. Then you can put the driveway, sidewalks, decks, patios, and landscaping back. This is reason enough to dismiss the idea of exterior waterproofing.
Need more of a reason to dismiss this idea? How about these:
- -Where will the drain go to? If you don’t have a lot of slope on your property to take the pipe out to daylight, then you need to bring the pipe inside the foundation to a sump pump anyway.
- -Exterior excavation does not address water vapor coming through your basement walls or floor.
- -Nor does this method address humidity- and won’t ensure that mold won’t grow either.
- -What if something goes wrong and there is still a little seepage? What will you do then? Dig it up again? Exterior waterproofing systems are not serviceable.
- -It can be costly.
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