How do I install a drain tile system in a home that is 20+ years old? How far do I need to go below ground?

Answer 1

The line has to have an overall fall, so the point closest to the house will be barely under the surface of the soil while farther out, it is deeper. You dig a trench just a tad wider than the pipe, clean out the ditch so it's fairly even, lay the pipe in and re-cover. If using perf pipe, you will want to put a sock on it and backfill with gravel. If it is solid pipe, no need, just use the soil you excavated.

Answer 2

The first question to this question is do you have a sump pit? If not then you need to have a gravity fed system. Typically drain tiles need to be at the same level as the footings of the foundation. If this house is on a basement and you do not wish to dig down that far, you will want the top of the tile no less the 30 inches from the finished grade of the ground. You can either have one or two away lines from the main tile. If you only have one then you need to gradually slope the tile from one side of the house to the other in order to get fall of water to the away line. If you have two aways (one on either side) have the mid point the highest and slope in either direction. As for the away lines, at the ends I always prefer the 5 gallon bucket method. Take a standard 5 gallon bucket, punch some holes in the bottom, plant it in the ground, lower then the end of the away line. Fill the bucket with #8 stones and place the end of the away line just under the top of the rocks. If you do that you should have a great drain system. Oh... for the tile I have found that the socked tile works the best. Helps keep the tile from filling with sand. Good Luck!!

Answer 3

I'm not going to get into all the explanation of all these others on here because they missed all the most important question of all. Are you certified to install and, drain tile system and, septic system?

If so, then you should have all the answers you need shouldn't you?

In the first place, you have to meet county and state standards, these can be found at the county court house. Once all the standards are met, the county will come out for the "percolation tests" whether your the right distance below the ground or not, the differences would be met by these tests the county gives. Then the county will tell you what type of back fill your going to have to get in order to meet they're standards.
You will have to have someone that's certified in the "business" in doing this, in order to have a septic system put in.

Answer 4

ideally, it should be at the same level as the footing for your basement walls, and the top of the tile should be at or below the same level of your basement floor. Otherwise, it wouldn't do much good, since the whole idea of draintile is to take the moisture from the top of the ground and keep it from going through any cracks in your wall and from seeping up through your basement floor. You should use the perferated stuff, with a sock on it, and put a layer of rock below, around and a few inches above it, with a piece of pipe going to the surface at about 15 foot intervals, or at least for sure under any windows that are at or below grade. Again, you should use the socked pipe. And, since you've gone through the trouble of digging up around your house, a fresh coat of tar wouldn't be a bad idea either, while you're at it. I know, you're thinking this is a HUGE job. Really, it's not. You can get it done in a weekend, if you have the funds to rent a mini-excavator. All in all, you should be able to dig around an average sized home in 8-10 hours, put the tile in, and back fill( a 10,000-15,000 machine is ideal)