I am going to try to deal with some leaks in my basement.

This is a very old house, with tiles used for the foundation. In the
back, there is what appears to have been an original foundation wall,
but the house extends beyond this by eight feet. "outside" the original
foundation wall there is a three foot area at the level of the basement
floor, then a ledge about 18 inches high, extending to what is now the
outside foundation wall. The floor and ledge are cemented, and the
leaks come through the 18 inch wall on the inside of the ledge. There
are perimeter drains outside the outside wall, but apparently they
aren't deep enough to get all the water, so I get leaks.

My plan, such as it is, is to trench through the top of the ledge, to a
depth below the bottom of the original outside wall, then put in a drain
leading to a sump, and remove the water from there. I will then
recement the ledge. Hooking the drain to the outside drains would be
very difficult, so I will go with a sump.

I've read that drains have to be maintained, but I haven't read of just
what that maintenance is. I expect that the drain would fill with silt
over time, and would have to be routed. Since my drain will be under
cement, would it be sufficient to put a riser on the end farthest from
the sump, with a cap, so I could remove the cap and rout the drain
easily. Is there anything beyond routing that would have to be done to
keep the drain working?

Thanks for any advice. I've been reading this newsgroup for a number of
years, and got the idea of a circulating loop in my hot water supply
line here some years ago. We finally redid the far bathroom and put in
the loop; the contractor had no idea what it was for, but it has worked
extremely well in getting us instant hot water.
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