Your foundation is your home’s defense against basement damage. One of the ways you can protect your foundation is by maintaining your weeping tile. eieihome.com spoke to John MacRae of GJ MacRae Foundation Repair about how you can tell when your weeping tile is failing.
Weeping tile
Weeping tile is placed below grade, at footing level. Its sole purpose is to carry water away from your foundation — providing drainage and preventing standing water from accumulating around the perimeter of your exterior foundation walls. Standing water is the last thing you want sitting next to exterior foundation walls.
Weeping tile failure
“You will see wet spots, discoloured concrete and/or continuous water marks along your inside foundation wall (where the floor meets the wall) or water coming through your basement floor. This is different than a specific leak area,” says John MacRae.
Newer homes are built with engineered, filter sock four inch PVC corrugated circular weeping tile with at least one foot of three-quarter clear gravel around it. Over time, tree roots and silt block and choke the weeping tile enabling water to get in either through your basement floor or walls. When the weeping tile fails you will notice the signs mentioned earlier.
New advancements
“Today, we value a dry basement because it’s part of our living space; we use it and consider it part of our property square footage; adding to your home’s equity,” says John MacRae. “Because of this, manufacturers took additional steps and created the dimpled drainage board.”
The dimpled drainage board is installed from the top of your foundation wall at grade, down to the weeping tile and gravel bed at footing level.
Preventing blockages
Weeping tile is circular and manufactured with an engineered, filter sock placed around it. The filter sock protects the weeping tile from evasive tree roots and silt which will block the draining process over time.
“If you see water coming up through the concrete floor or continuous water markings on the foundation wall– call in a professional for an assessment right away; don’t wait,” says John MacRae.
