Is a subsoil drain system required?

[nissandave]

What is the name of your state? NC

We bought a new constuction home in April, 2005. After garage flooded with water coming up from flooring, I dug down to the foundation near front corner of house. I continued digging out, of course there was standing water 9 hours after it had stopped raining below and level with the foundation, past the edge of foundation. Cannot find any drain system at all. I want to make sure this is state law that one must be installed. I have decided to complain to NC Attorney General's Office, Mortgage company, and NC Office of Fire Marshal (oversees building codes in NC).

 

[seniorjudge]

What is the name of your state? NC

We bought a new constuction home in April, 2005. After garage flooded with water coming up from flooring, I dug down to the foundation near front corner of house. I continued digging out, of course there was standing water 9 hours after it had stopped raining below and level with the foundation, past the edge of foundation. Cannot find any drain system at all. I want to make sure this is state law that one must be installed. I have decided to complain to NC Attorney General's Office, Mortgage company, and NC Office of Fire Marshal (oversees building codes in NC).

What kind of drain system are you talking about?

 

[nissandave]

I have been told that there should be a layer of rock with plastic drain piping sitting on top of the rocks all around the foundation. This is to drain water as it comes down in the ground to the foundation. It is supposed to be sitting right next to the edge of the foundation.

 

[HappyHusband]

I have been told that there should be a layer of rock with plastic drain piping sitting on top of the rocks all around the foundation. This is to drain water as it comes down in the ground to the foundation. It is supposed to be sitting right next to the edge of the foundation.

Like this?
http://www.ext.nodak.edu/extpubs/ageng/structu/ae1204-7b.gif

Ask your local code enforcement officials.

 

[nissandave]

Thank you for your info HappyHusband. As it turns out, both ends of my drain pipe were never ran out to the ground, hence as the water saturated the ground and the lines were "plugged", the only place the water could eventually go is through the wall where our sewer line comes into the garage at the backside of the house, which is where the highest ground level is. At that point, the drain line is cut so the sewer line can run into the house. Now my question has got to be why wasn't the drain line just ran below the sewer line or over it, so as not to have a break in it.

 

[HappyHusband]

Thank you for your info HappyHusband. As it turns out, both ends of my drain pipe were never ran out to the ground, hence as the water saturated the ground and the lines were "plugged", the only place the water could eventually go is through the wall where our sewer line comes into the garage at the backside of the house, which is where the highest ground level is. At that point, the drain line is cut so the sewer line can run into the house. Now my question has got to be why wasn't the drain line just ran below the sewer line or over it, so as not to have a break in it.

Now my question has got to be why wasn't the drain line just ran below the sewer line or over it, so as not to have a break in it.

Because when the plumber installed the sewer drain line, he felt that it was too much trouble to dig deeper than the ground drain, so he just cut it, thinking that it was then someone else's problem to come back and repair the ground drain (which was probably installed by the foundation contractor or someone besides the plumber).

And then, if there was supposed to be an inspection of the sewer line before it was buried with dirt, no one saw the cut ground drain, or else they saw it and didn't care to tell anyone about it.

But the ground drain, as you described it, is useless because the ground water it collects is not drained away from your house, so the fact that the ground drain line is cut doesn't really matter because the ground drain line is supposed to be porous anyway.
So, the ground drain line system appears to have been installed improperly, because it doesn't drain the groundwater to anywhere, except into your garage, via the hole where the sewer drain line enters the house.

File suit against the builder if they refuse to voluntarily fix the problem.