On Jul 10, 10:29*am, Rebecca Webb wrote:
Greetings. *You may remember me from last year's "ELBOWS - seal with
sealant or duct tape?" thread about the extensive downspout system I
used to drain water away from my house to keep it out of the basement. *
It proved ineffective and difficult to maintain (the plastic elbow
joints froze and cracked over the winter). *So I put in a trench/tiling
system, something my neighbors installed a few years ago to keep water
out of their basements. *They swear no water has come in since.

My installers did things slightly differently. *They used a flexible
pipe instead of PVC. *It's covered with fabric to keep dirt out of the
pipe. *And they used a green plastic above-ground grill at the low point
on my property. *My neighbors have a metal grill that lies flat on the
ground above a rectangular low-point opening/front end access spot. *Dad
and I worried the green plastic grill was too high, so the installers
dug it down a bit and we sloped the dirt around it.

Photos of the whole process are hehttp://www.morris.umn.edu/~webbrl/Tiling

The estimate for the work was about $2,500.

This photo...http://www.morris.umn.edu/~webbrl/Ti...00_0668-01.jpg

...shows the low point on the property.

At one point, they did cut the gas line
(http://www.morris.umn.edu/~webbrl/Ti...0_0675-01.jpg). *But the
weather was great for the project, so there ya go.

The raised grill is much better at keeping the drain from clogging.
By lowering it and digging down the earth around it, you've partially
defeated the purpose.

Around here contractors are required by law to call a One Call 800
number before doing any excavation. The One Call people alert all of
the different utilities to visit the site and mark out their
underground lines so people don't get inconvenienced and possibly
damaged.

Thanks for posting the follow up - too often people as questions and
we never now if they got through the project reasonably unscathed.
It's like kids going off to college and never calling home. It
hurts!

R