After a great deal of panic and hand-wringing, we contacted a company called Pipe Vision who came over and ran cameras through the weepers to see what was going on.  Sure enough, the weepers were so plugged with silt in several areas that the camera could not even penetrate.  While this answered the question of why the basement was wet (weepers not working), it still did not answer why these relatively new weepers could be so clogged.

I know from 21 years in the real estate business that the very best contractor around for this type of problem is a fellow named Frank Fisher – a third generation excavator who has seen just about everything in this area.  Between him and his side-kick John Bettencourt, they know soil conditions and construction issues the way they know how to breathe.
 
Although we had to wait a full 3 months for them to be available, they finally came and the fun began.  With incredible finesse and skill, Frank excavated our entire foundation.  All we saw were 20 foot high mounds of dirt.  The grass was pretty well gone.  Our stone patio and entry stairs were gone, our two decks were taken apart and it felt a bit like a noisy war zone most days.  As it turns out, it was a great learning adventure.

We learned three important things:
1.  There was a very old (likely from the 1800’s) clay drain tile emptying about 3 feet away from the foundation providing a continuous source of water underground.
2. The weepers that were put in before were installed incorrectly!  As pointed out in part 1, the weepers must be installed BELOW the footings whereas these ones were resting right on top.
3. The aggregate (stone) covering the weepers was dirty stone as opposed to clean stone meaning that silt filtered through directly into the slits of the weeping drainage pipes and, there was no proper filter cloth creating a screen.

Over a period of 8 days, all the weeping tiles were replaced with new ones, new clean stone was wrapped and put in, the walls were re-tarred for damp-proofing and a rubber dimple wrap was added for water-proofing.  The soil was filled back in, the land graded and the first stage of construction completed.

As John says, you could float the house in Georgian Bay now and we’d stay dry.  I think he’s right!  Here’s a 90 second clip showing some of our adventure.

A little history:  the house was custom built and then changed hands a few times. From what I’ve heard from neighbours, a wet basement had been an issue for a long time. Then, the owner before us decided to rectify the situation once and for all.  She had the foundation dug up, new weeping tile installed, the foundation walls wet-proofed with a blue skin membrane and put in the beginnings of a back yard drainage system.

This is a weeping tile

When we bought the house about 6 years ago, we were given copies of the invoices showing the work that had been done.  We then completed the drainage system in the rear yard which works like a charm.  We had confidence that any problem was surely rectified so we went ahead and finished the basement.  So, you can imagine our heartache when we opened a wall running along the back of our home only to find water running along the base where the floor and wall meet.  Everything above was dry which ruled out things like burst pipes, snow, rain or grading issues.  I knew right away that it was the weepers.  The 8 year old weepers!  I turned into one myself.  We wondered, how is this possible?

It’s worth taking a moment to explain weeping tiles.  According to a reference in Wikipedia a weeping tile is “used for underground drainage. The pipe is usually made of  plastic with small slits cut lengthwise into it. It is buried and surrounded by aggregate larger than the slits. The aggregate rocks prevent excessive soil from falling through the slits into the weeping tile. With this arrangement, water in the surrounding soil above the weeping tile flows into the weeping tile. The weeping tile then drains into a storm sewer or a sump pump.”  “It is used for water drainage near basement foundations to prevent flooding. It can be used in farmer’s fields to drain waterlogged fields. Such fields are called “tiled”. Weeping tiles can be used anywhere soil needs to be drained.”

“The weeping tile is to be installed so that the top of the product is lower than the bottom of the interior concrete floor. The weeping tile should be connected to a sump pit, located on the interior of the home. The ground water collected in the sump pit can then be removed by a sump pump. The exhausted water can be pumped a safe distance from the home by means of a flexible line or in some areas, into the city storm drains. Care should be taken not to create flooding conditions for adjoining properties.”

Next week- what we found and what we did

If you recall, I first wrote about this  in May of last year.  Our lawn had already been free of chemicals for almost two years but the poor thing was suffering.

Then, about 15 months ago, we hired Garden Holistics to come in and apply some organic magic.  I know many people are sceptical about organic solutions but I can tell you from experience, it’s worked really well for us.  Here is our lawn today:

It’s not perfect and yes, there are some weeds here and there but it’s healthy, soft, lush and happy like us.  Most communities have now followed Collingwood’s lead and banned the use of pesticides and lawn chemicals.  Alternatives exist and get better each year.  Now, when I see an artificially and perfect bright green lawn free of a single weed, I can’t help but think of how unhealthy it really is.  Organic has proven to be more than satisfactory without putting our health at risk.

Could he have meant two months?  Since that first post, the lawn has been aerated, top dressed, over-seeded and naturally fertilized.  Nature has been most cooperative with abundant rain but quite frankly, our lawn is looking better than most who are only now on their first year of chemical withdrawal since the pesticide ban came into effect in Collingwood.

Look at these pictures.  I can’t believe how far it’s come.  My husband says it’s “juicy.” 
So far, so very good.

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We replaced the driveway with one made of stamped concrete and we lined it up to the side of the property.  We filled the old driveway in with top soil and seed.  We put in a huge front garden which is totally organic and thrives although we’ve been known to battle a few aphids, ants and slugs.  But alas, the lawn has gone to weed.  We’ve not been the best at watering and, I’m not sure the blades are always sharp on the mower.  John hand fertilized and we even had a commercial fertilizer, not weed killer, applied but the truth is, it now looks sad.  And the grubs have come too.

They say that landscaping can add as much 20% to a homes value and while we’re not at that level, I do think there is a big difference in value between having bare soil versus something attractive at the front of your house.

Not only is Collingwood pesticide free now (hooray!) but we wouldn’t use them anyway despite the fact that I think we’re one of the only ones on our street that may feel that way.

So, here’s what we’ve done.  We hired Jerome at Garden Holistics to come in and do some soil testing.  The results were dismal.  He then recommended a plan that involves top dressing, aerating, over-seeding and adding a custom, natural fertilizer blend.  It’ll take a few years perhaps but he feels pretty confident it will work.  So confident that he has agreed to let me follow the story of the lawn’s reaction right here on the blog.

The pictures in this post were all taken this week. 

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When it’s time to buy or sell real estate in the Collingwood, Blue Mountain or Georgian Triangle area, contact Marg, an experienced and competent Broker who is ready whenever you are!