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greenfreak
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Member since 9/06 11483 total posts
Name:
greenfreak
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French drains & house "settling"
We saw a beautiful house this weekend that had hairline cracks around most of the doorways and windows on the first floor. And one on the second floor, which is only 5 years old.
Basement had puddles of water in it and a half-@ssed attempt at installing a french drain that didn't work.
The realtor admitted that the french drain was needed and would cost between 7k and 8k, and that the owners are aware of it.
I'd like to know if any of you have solved your basement water problems with a french drain, how much it cost, and if you also had the cracks of what everyone tells me is the house settling.
Also, if you have those cracks and respackled/painted, did they just come back again?
Thanks all. 
Message edited 8/6/2007 2:17:02 PM.
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Posted 8/6/07 2:16 PM  |
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bird382
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Member since 7/07 1712 total posts
Name:
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Re: French drains & house "settling"
I had to google French drain to see if we have one - we don't. But apparently they're really easy to install if you don't mind DIY projects.
We have small hairline cracks around about half of our windows. It's normal. From what I understand, it's when the cracks aren't near windows or doors -- like when they're just in the middle of the ceiling -- that could indicate something bad (like a foundation problem).
We spackled the cracks and they haven't come back yet.
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| Posted 8/6/07 2:34 PM |
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Superkat
More a stranger than a friend
Member since 5/06 9730 total posts
Name:
K
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Re: French drains & house "settling"
We have cracks in parts of our house too. Most of it is normal "settling". We used the "elastic" type of patch and it doesn't come back. I don't know anything about French drains but like the PP said, cracks are only a major worry when they are in unusual spaces. 
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| Posted 8/6/07 2:38 PM |
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MrsRbk
<3 <3 <3 <3
Member since 1/06 19197 total posts
Name:
Michelle
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Re: French drains & house "settling"
Posted by greenfreak
We saw a beautiful house this weekend that had hairline cracks around most of the doorways and windows on the first floor. And one on the second floor, which is only 5 years old.
Basement had puddles of water in it and a half-@ssed attempt at installing a french drain that didn't work.
The realtor admitted that the french drain was needed and would cost between 7k and 8k, and that the owners are aware of it.
I'd like to know if any of you have solved your basement water problems with a french drain, how much it cost, and if you also had the cracks of what everyone tells me is the house settling.
Also, if you have those cracks and respackled/painted, did they just come back again?
Thanks all.
We JUST did this last month! It was expensive because we have a fairly large basement (approx 900 sq ft), which was already finished when we bought the house. It cost us (does not include the cost of replacing the carpet) $8500 to put the drain and a sump pump in. So far, so good, no leaks, and we've had some major rain too!
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| Posted 8/6/07 2:52 PM |
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Ang-Rich
Beyond Compare
Member since 5/05 17988 total posts
Name:
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Re: French drains & house "settling"
We looked into this as well for our basement. We received price quotes that ranged from $6k to $13k depending on the company and method of installation. If you need some contacts to set up appts let me know - I can also give you our personal feedback on them.
We fortunately don't have any cracks (and the house is about 60 years old) so we didn't look into anything about that.
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| Posted 8/6/07 2:56 PM |
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cjb88
Little Brother
Member since 5/05 3540 total posts
Name:
C
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Re: French drains & house "settling"
i know that we have a french drain, but i have no idea what the purpose of it is... i do know that our basement has never flooded, and we have been through heavy rains and living in rocky point where it is pretty hill... the roads have flooded, but never our basement... i dont know if that has anything to do with the french drain though...
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| Posted 8/6/07 3:23 PM |
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greenfreak
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Member since 9/06 11483 total posts
Name:
greenfreak
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Re: French drains & house "settling"
Posted by MrsRbk
We JUST did this last month! It was expensive because we have a fairly large basement (approx 900 sq ft), which was already finished when we bought the house. It cost us (does not include the cost of replacing the carpet) $8500 to put the drain and a sump pump in. So far, so good, no leaks, and we've had some major rain too!
I did a search before I posted and read your thread on this - but I thought you said you didn't have to? That it was a different problem that didn't require the french drain?
I'm sorry, regardless of the reason, that you had to put so much money into it.
I'm getting such different feedback that it's confusing. Even if we took another 10k off the price of the house for the drain, we would have that kind of cash hanging around after closing to get it done.
I would LOVE any information, recommendations, phone numbers, etc. via FM if you're more comfortable doing it that way.
Thanks SO much ladies, and if anyone else can weigh in, I'd love to hear your experiences too!
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| Posted 8/6/07 4:10 PM |
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Re: French drains & house "settling"
french drains (+ an electric pump)work.... mom solved a hideous flooding problem with them, but it cost 12k, it wasn't that large of a basement, and that was about 10 years ago 
The cracking thing sounds really difficult to solve. I've tried the mesh + spackle route, which in THEORY should work... alas, it didn't. It may be a bigger problem....
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| Posted 8/6/07 4:20 PM |
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Chatham-Chick
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Member since 5/05 10311 total posts
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Re: French drains & house "settling"
Posted by bird382
I had to google French drain to see if we have one - we don't. But apparently they're really easy to install if you don't mind DIY projects.
I wouldn't consider French drains easy, nor a DIY project. If it was, my DH would have done it by now. 
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| Posted 8/6/07 4:54 PM |
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bird382
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Member since 7/07 1712 total posts
Name:
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Re: French drains & house "settling"
Posted by Chatham-Chick
Posted by bird382
I had to google French drain to see if we have one - we don't. But apparently they're really easy to install if you don't mind DIY projects.
I wouldn't consider French drains easy, nor a DIY project. If it was, my DH would have done it by now.
There are a bunch of DIY sites with instructions for installing a french drain. Looked pretty easy to me, and I'm no handywoman.
I was assuming the OP meant french drain as in the trench you build outside the house to drain water away from the building. A drain and sump pump in the basement is a whole other thing...and not one I'd want to install myself!
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| Posted 8/6/07 5:02 PM |
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MrsRbk
<3 <3 <3 <3
Member since 1/06 19197 total posts
Name:
Michelle
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Re: French drains & house "settling"
Posted by bird382
Posted by Chatham-Chick
Posted by bird382
I had to google French drain to see if we have one - we don't. But apparently they're really easy to install if you don't mind DIY projects.
I wouldn't consider French drains easy, nor a DIY project. If it was, my DH would have done it by now.
There are a bunch of DIY sites with instructions for installing a french drain. Looked pretty easy to me, and I'm no handywoman.
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I was assuming the OP meant french drain as in the trench you build outside the house to drain water away from the building. A drain and sump pump in the basement is a whole other thing...and not one I'd want to install myself!
Trust me when I say hire a professional! I'm sure you can DIY HOWEVER, given we just had this done a month ago, I can attest to the fact it's ALOT of work, not to mention messy.
Our drain was installed inside the house
Message edited 8/6/2007 8:19:08 PM.
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| Posted 8/6/07 8:18 PM |
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