Hi - I'm buying a house and have been told that I need to have a
curtain drain, about 3' deep, installed around the place. I know more
or less the idea of the curtain drain, but have never installed one
myself - is this a doable home maintenance project? Does anyone have a
synopsis of what would need to be done?

Any advice would be super appreciated!

Thanks, Joshua Curtis

Gordian wrote:
Hi - I'm buying a house and have been told that I need to have a
curtain drain, about 3' deep, installed around the place. I know more
or less the idea of the curtain drain, but have never installed one
myself - is this a doable home maintenance project? Does anyone have a
synopsis of what would need to be done?

Any advice would be super appreciated!

Thanks, Joshua Curtis


GOOGLE around for Curtain Drain for some ideas.

NOT a trivial job. You'll need a backhoe.

At 3 feet deep, is there a place to accept all that
water? That is, some conduit/pond, etc. which is
lower than the bottom of the curtain?

Jim

Gordian wrote:
Hi - I'm buying a house and have been told that I need to have a
curtain drain, about 3' deep, installed around the place. I know more
or less the idea of the curtain drain, but have never installed one
myself - is this a doable home maintenance project? Does anyone have a
synopsis of what would need to be done?

Any advice would be super appreciated!

Thanks, Joshua Curtis

Have a read of this article
http://www.askthebuilder.com/B70_Lin..._Systems.shtml

It is a pretty simple job if there are limited obstructions , just dig
a trench , lay in some gravel , add the perforated drain pipe , fill
with gravel and cap with a layer of topsoil.

I installed drainage on my property, capturing some low areas on my backyard
and my gutter discharge.

What is the problem that drives the 'curtain drain' answer?

For my project I used a trencher and flex pipe, and it was a crap-load of
work.

If you're going near the foundation, you're talking very careful backhoe
work. One inattentive moment and you're crushing your house. Yipes.

The largest part of my job was trenching the discharge. The water has to go
somewhere that it won't cause a problem for you or your immediate neighbors.

El Penguini
"Gordian" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi - I'm buying a house and have been told that I need to have a
curtain drain, about 3' deep, installed around the place. I know more
or less the idea of the curtain drain, but have never installed one
myself - is this a doable home maintenance project? Does anyone have a
synopsis of what would need to be done?

Any advice would be super appreciated!

Thanks, Joshua Curtis

Its a big job, gets bids so you get an idea of it.

I assume the basement of the home has a water problem and the ground
around the home slopes towards the house?

Two things you probably need a interior french drain with sump pump to
really dry the basement! If the exterior slope is wrong UNDERGROUND
WATER may also be moving towards the home the curtain drain wouldnt
help underground water

I had this problem at my moms house

Installed french drain around most of home, regraded yard, replaced
sidewalks and steps that were in the way of this project. Fired first
execvator guy was a thief!

anyhow after a couple weeks of backbreaking work, I was the laborer to
save bucks the execvating was complete, the concrete work was then done
and yard restoration began......

A couple months later the outside looked wonderful! lush green lawn,
all new concrete, real curb appeal as I planned on eventually
selling! hey it was worth 10 grand total cost of job done on budget

Unfortunately the water problem never went completely away, and then
got much worse.

Ended up spending another 6 grand for interior french drain, had
lifetime dry basement warranty company in business 35 years, I can
trust them

Within 2 years more water, lifetime companys president ill with cancer,
company out of business


Spent another grand for additional work and sold home. hoppe its still
dry its been 2 years and havent got any complaints.

hopefully my nightmare wouldnt be yours. If your in a low area a stream
may have been thjere and filled in when homes were built.

Oh and curtain drain!

Use landscape fabric so mud doesnt clog lines, PLENTLY of gravel! for
easy water movement, and heck that corrugated pipe is cheap I would
install multiple lines for delay clogging.

at my moms home I unearthed lots of previous attempts all PACKED with
mud.

I cant overstate the need for LOTS of gravel, and then a place to dump
all the leftover dirt!]

This is one time to get the local building inspector involved since
meeting code will likely result in a better job!]


What you want to avoid is buying home, curtain drain installed, then
getting flodded a year later

dont panic just go in with eyes open!