French drain.
 

Planning on building water drainage system along the sides of my house... never done this before and was wondering if there were any tips floating around here.

Thinking Ditchwitch? Wondering how deep, how close to foundation, and should I make a C shape?

The street is 10' below the first floor and I am seeing some morter seperation (like steps from top front to bottom rear) starting 3 to 6 feet back at both front corners of the birck (on one side) and block (on the other.

TIA

well you should line the hole with lanscape cloth to delay dirt infiltration when you fill with gravel. you will have a perforated pipe near the bottom for the wtare to drain and this will have to be extended away from the house to a point it can empty...and don't forget a proper slope on the pipes for it to drain correctly...

others far more knowledgible than me will add to this I am sure.

I've done this before but construction is not my line of work.

Unless your lining the trench with peastone you should use the sheathed drainage tile its $38 for 100 ft. The real secret is if it is a primary drain and you can't rish it backing up, you have to A: bury it beneath the frost line B: run a heat tape through it, I had one frozen through the end of april before. I've put salt in them with about 50% success.

and boenhead covered it pretty good.

Do a perc test. Should be directions on the internet.

B

I forgot about red clay country somehow. Speaking of that B (minor hijack) were you involved with Ft. Polk in the early 90's. Some guy from the fed came and said they were going to fine us for digging fox holes and destroying foilage for camoflage.

I am confused by your post.
Are you seeing differential settlement? That is are parts of the house settling differently from other parts?
What makes you think that water is the casual agent in this problem?
It can be--depending on the soils involved, they could have a large shrink/swell potential, but its also possible that the issue is improperly compacted soil under the house foundation.
It also may be that when the house was backfilled, that there was no compaction and this soil is settling over time--this would be consistant with you noticing cracks around the house 3 to 6 feet from the walls. The steps may be built on this loose soil and so as it settles, it carries the soil with it. If this is the case, then the problem is not too serious as it doesn't affect the house itself.
Some questions--
Where are you located?
Is the house built on FILL or natural (original) ground?
What are the soils that support the house? ( Gravel, Sand, Silt or Clay)

The house was built as a brick 2 story in 1944. Within 15 years the original owner built additions to accomidate his growing family. the additions are single story brick along the sides and rear of the house. The cracking that I discovered is in the outside walls of the additions. When I say 'steps' I mean the block on the right outside garage wall has begun to seperate in a step pattern along the morter. (the outside of this wall is below ground) The front corners do appear to be setteling faster than the rest of the house. While clearing brush and saplings on the front left corner of the house this weekend I discovered similar 'steps' in the brick their, though not yet as advanced.
Last year when Pittsburgh had its Ivan related flooding (we had 7" of rain in 24 hours) a lot of water pooled on the brick patio behind the house and water poured waterfall style through the seperated block at the front right corner into the garage, filled the garage a few inches deep and the flowed out into the street. when the water table is high and during heavy rain I also get seepage into the basement from the rear wall of the house.
I am in Pittsburgh and although I have not checked under the house itself, my work in the yard indicates a few feet of topsoil with clay below it.

P.S. The mauve paint was the previous owners idea and it is now somewhere slightly pea of forest green. :rolleyes:

Thanks for your suggestions. I'm thinking of putting this off until next spring as I have to pull up lots of brick and pavers all around the house, rebuild a stone retaining wall at the right rear corner to make room to dig through and tear down the retaining wall at the right front corner... and I have a lot of other projects to attend to before winter arrives.
I am starting to get my mind around the the job though and took a look at the ditchdigger at the tool rental today (about $250.00 per day). It is now clear to me that if I prepare my site in advance this monstrosity will dig my ditch. I am going to start planning some other ditches for the same day... maybe run some electric around the yard and build some defenses. :D

The step-like cracking maybe due to some foundation settlement. You might want to contact someone in your area who specialises in foundation repairs; probably some sort of mud jacking. They might be able to help.
It is possible that you have an expansive clay--that is, it shrinks when dry--creating voids that are pathways for water, and then it expands when wet.
I just tested a local soil ( Elkton, MD) that expands when saturated, with a force of over 2000PSF. Its enough of a problem that the Engineer is lowering the footings 2 feet to get into a more stable moisture condition.

Don't forget to call the utility companies beforehand in case you have gas lines or something burried.....

Thats the kind of surprise you don't want.

Thanks for reminding me... hear in PA we have a utilities backed 'one call system that is free to home owners... they will come out and mark all underground lines.

I'm pretty sure my route avoids all the underground lines but it can't hurt to know that for sure.

Miss Utility....we have that here too.

Lots of utilities burried you may not even know about sometimes.

I do feel the water drainage issue needs addressed. The street I live on is called 'Spring Grove' for a reason. My neighbor has a pipe, that comes out above a storm sewer, that 'runs' a good percentage of the year.

But I am not convinced it is the sole cause of my cracking walls. Their is movement of the earth on the site evidenced by some colapsing free stone retaining walls that had been shored with anchor bolts and plates prior to my tennancy.

Can you suggest any good reading or sites that discuss causes of foundation deteriation? I would like to educate myself a little before relying on commercial appraisal to diagnose what should be done. I googled 'perc test' and 'mud jacking' and found lots of good info on those subjects. But I am looking for something to tie them together and to my site. Something to lend direction to my appraisal. If I could use this pricy ditch digger to address the stability of the whole site, as opposed to building a mote and finding out that I have other issues unresolved. Since I have the winter to prepare I might as well prepare.

Edit: I found this usefull page: http://www.inspect-ny.com/structure/foundation.htm