Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire 3 month nightmare help comments or prayers please

We have oversize gutters and down spout pipes. The fact that its basically plugged just 15 to 20 foot total of the 6 foot pipe from the house is the problem. The force of the water causes it to spray under pressure under the footer of the house it has sunk some of the piers and the right side of the house almost 3 inches in 9 months. There are spots on the beams where there is one inch of fall in two foot. The design is against code as it allows the water to drain against the house instead of just backing up in the gutters. It basically screws the foundation if it gets plugged and it did.

Some water gets out of the pipe at the end but it takes force to move the entire 6 inch full pipe of water 40 foot before it empties and comes out the other side. In heavy rains it can come out the other side. I wont know for sure how much or what until the engineer can look at it and calculate. I know since the gutters are off its stopped and we can get it dried out hopefully.

Additionally the cameras show the 4 inch gutter pipes around the foundation are constantly full of almost two inches of water because they are not pitched to drain properly which they probably got moved around when back filled. I am not sure how that effects what calculation but its not a full pipe of water to begin with. I am just the guy stuck with all the bills.

A 1 foot piece of 6'' K-style gutter holds 2 gallons of water, during an extended rain event a one story 3,100sf house would dump thousands of gallons of water.

I'm likely way off base here, but that volume of water, coming from 10/12 feet overhead did not have the head pressure to overcome the accidental 'trap'?

There seems to be some serious back pressure issues here, in fact reverse flow.......

Regardless, Hope you get it all corrected.

Jeebus!
That sounds horrible.


Time for a big woodworking project. Lots of varnish, apply with old rags, stack next to furnace.....

If I can find the time I'll run sizing on roof drains,,,,,4 inch roof drains are very common, on a flat roof....

And again, sounds like the people on site are starting to figure it all out,

Other than who's paying for it.

Volume has nothing to do with head pressure, in this scenario. 10’ vertical of any size pipe or line can only build .433 psi. 12’ would only build 5psi which is not near enough to move the volume of water in the horizontal line. Water always takes the past of least resistance. In this case the line back u see the house.

We would backfill that foundation drain pipe with drainage rock here and probably all the gutter discharge pipe at least a good compacted aggregate bedding to prevent settling and breakage. This is often skipped though to “save money”.

Look at the bright side. You could have bought a 30' boat for the same money.

You have three real choices.
Good attorney.
Learn to live with it.
Fix it.

(And any plumber will tell you that rule number one is that [bleep] don't run uphill.)

The original post, is for people who live where no codes and enforcement are applicable. Makes one wonder about the electrical install. As far as the footings not matching the plans, the owner should be checking work each day. My 2 cents!

H5farm......going by what is shown and your description.....my guess is the line wasn't bedded right and if it had been you would have been fine....looks like a clean job.

as far as day lighting in the woods.....if done right no tree or turtle can stop the flow.......in a nutshell....extend line out....dig deep hole.....put washed rock in....take line elbow down in washed rock...top off with washed rock...cover with fabric so no dirt filters in...cover up....something to that effect....bob

yep pinched line ...just made water flow uphill......the system will work if bedded right and pointed downhill....bob

I'm just curious, but are there no building inspectors in your area to enforce codes? Seems some of that stuff should have been easily caught. As a contractor for the last 41 years I'm no big fan of inspectors, but in this case they could have saved you and your contractors a lot of money and headaches.

Ummmm….he said the county he built in doesn’t have code inspection or enforcement. Right in the first post.

Bingo. Not that I expected Bob wouldn’t be right on the money. Even if the system was undersized, it would have still been working to some degree. Maybe a silver lining that the kink illuminated the bad design and bad work rather than slowly eroding over time?

OP insurance companies have lawyers on the clock, 24/7. After the receptionist denies your claim, the adjuster will, next. They don't stay in business by spending money. If you want an adjustor to think twice about your losses, that will require an experienced attorney. Nothing, and I mean nothing else gets their attention. They are already lawyered up. Why would you not be?

Get a good lawyer, yesterday.

Hired a lawyer to head claim with insurance company. The adjuster is coming out tonight to look at the buried pipe. Thanks for the advice.

Best of luck to ya!

Any update?

This.. in spades.

Your as much as fault for not verifying and vetting all contractors as they are for the shoddy work
You cut corners to try and save money on building it by not checking their work history and proper licences and permits .
They cut corners knowing you wouldn't question it until it was to late