When I was a young man, I spent many weekends and nights working on side jobs to supplement my income as an apprentice carpenter. Starting pay for a 1st term apprentice in 1968 was about $3.75 an hour and with time missed because of inclement weather or lack of work, I needed it!
One of my favorite projects was finishing a basement for my friends and neighbors. I learned how to do a little bit of every trade. Plumbing, electric, drywall taping, HVAC; you name it. Finished basements included all of it. It was warm in the winter and cool in the summer so working conditions were ideal.
With today’s new ordinances and codes, finished basements aren’t so easy anymore. In fact, most would be almost impossible for me to accomplish on a “weekends only” schedule. The biggest challenge is egress, or means of escape, from the basement in case of an emergency such as fire. It’s a very good change in the codes but often a costly one. An egress other than the basement stairs can be a life saver. If there is a bedroom or bathroom in the basement, a second egress is required by code. In a full basement that means you have to dig out an area outside your foundation big enough to put in a window no more than 42” off the floor and big enough to allow a firefighter in full gear to get in or someone on the inside to get out. Once that area is established the 8” thick concrete wall has to be cut away to install this window and the opening above has to be reinforced to carry the load of the floor, wall and roof.
Now that the opening is in and properly engineered you wind up with a big hole in the ground alongside your foundation! Fortunately there are a number of products made just for that hole. Our pick here at RIGGS Company & Design is “Scapewel” (www.scapewel.com) made by Bilco Corporation. It is designed to secure against the foundation, provide the required steps to climb out of the unit and even comes with an optional cover that can be unlatched from inside or out. The recommended installation includes digging the hole much bigger than the unit and placing clean rock under and around it and a drain pipe out the bottom to allow for drainage. The challenge to the drainpipe is how far it may have to go before it comes out in a lower spot than the bottom of the well or into an exterior drain tile at the foundation’s footing. On many properties there is no such low area or drain tile and it’s against the rules to pipe it into a waste or floor drain inside the house (Often called a “French Drain”).
The only solution then is a sump pump system that will pump the water out of the well and onto the ground where is slopes away from the house. If it’s in the well, you have to run a waterproof, G.F.C.I. outlet on a separate circuit that has to come from within the house in conduit, through the concrete wall and attached to the Scapewel or foundation wall. Of course, a battery backup is highly recommended because the one time the sump pump is needed most is during that huge rain storm the knocks out electric in your neighborhood! Even an exterior sump pump is not a perfect solution. The winter around here can be severe and water will freeze solid and expand enough to burst pipes and/or pumps. Timing is everything when it comes to pulling out and putting in your pump so it lasts for more than one season. If you pull it too early you can get an early winter rain that fills your well and if you put it in too late in the spring, it will flood then as well.
The final solution is to run the drain inside your house into an interior sump pump system that then pumps it back outside. This method is the best but even it has its problems. The penetration of the foundation for the pipe has to be sealed very well or you’ll have leaks on the inside of the basement and if the pump malfunctions the chances are you’ll have water all over the floor! This method means breaking out the concrete floor and setting up the sump basket with gravel all around it and then patching in the concrete. An outlet still has to be run for the pump and it really should be on a separate circuit.
We started installing egress windows in basements using “Scapewel” some years back and it takes a lot of expertise, time and hard labor. It’s expensive but it will be worth the investment if a fire blocks the stairs to the main level of the house.
Next up is why we absolutely, positively won’t finish a basement without installing a full drain tile and sump system along the interior perimeter of the foundation.
