Broken PVC pipe gets fixed in Allenwood, NJ

Challenge

This homeowner in Allenwood had a cracked PVC drain pipe that was connected to the submersible sump pump’s discharge hose in the crawl space. This PVC pipe was above-ground, leading directly to the outside of the home through a hole in the foundation wall. The pipe simply emptied outside by the home’s foundation. 

Solution

The Cowleys crawl space team came in to repair the pipe. However, we wanted to make sure that it was done right and that the homeowner would avoid potential problems of having drainage around his foundation. We were concerned that the sump-pump water could pass through cracks in the foundation wall back into the crawl space. Additionally, water can be pushed through porous concrete and enter the crawl space in the form of dampness and humidity.

We wanted to create a safe, permanent way to collect and disburse the sump-pump water. We first dug a one-foot trench to house the PVC pipe running out of the foundation underground so it would not be subjected to possible damage. We put the pipe in with pitch to carry the water down to the end of the pipe where we installed a dry well.  A dry well collects water and then disburses it. A dry well is nothing more than a deep hole filled with stone. While not complicated, it takes a lot of hard work to actually build one. 

With a dry well, the water filters down to the bottom where it is safely absorbed into the soil below. If there is a really heavy rain, the water will rise up in the dry well and simply go out through the sides of the well. A dry well is one of the safest way to discharge the sump-pump water away from the home. The last thing you want is for sump-pump discharge to turning into a stagnant pool of water collecting around the home’s foundation.