Six Inch Rule For Foundation

[succeed]

I have been reading that the grade against a house should start a minimum of 6" below the top of the foundation (or 6" below where the brick/siding ends).

However on one side of my house (the side that gets water leaks), I have soil all the way up to where the brick begins.

How important is this 6" rule?

I have had 4 landscape contractors here in the past few days to give me estimates for grading, and none of them have suggested that we remove any of that "high" soil. Sure, I know it will be a gruesome job to remove all that soil and regrade, but I'm surprised absolutely all of them ignored the soil being up as high as the top of the foundation. Instead all of them were interested in putting in a weeping tile.

Do I need to have some of that "high" soil removed? Or is this as non-serious as they seem to imply?

[JWL]

Never heard of that rule specifically, but it makes sense. Your foundation is all cement and reasonably waterproof. On top of it is wood with either siding or brick on top. You don't want soil or the water in it in contact with wood. If you are already getting water leaks on on the side where the soil is up to the brick, I think you already have the smoking gun on this issue.

Hopefully you have a place to put the soil on your property. With luck you might save some money with your new landscaping if they can move the soil and not have to bring any in. As this would be lost revenue for the landscaping companies perhaps that is why none mentioned it.

[Mars2012]

The soil needs to slope away from your house. Weeping tile would be the proper, albeit expensive, solution. If you can get someone in to give you an objective opinion, that might be the way to go.

[succeed]

The soil needs to slope away from your house. Weeping tile would be the proper, albeit expensive, solution. If you can get someone in to give you an objective opinion, that might be the way to go.

On that side of my house, the soil DOES slope away from the house. But my concern is that it's banked so high - up to the top of the foundation.

At the BACK of my house, there is a negative grade, and that slope does have to be corrected. However, each of these landscapers wanted to bank the soil up to the top of my foundation in the back. And I had to firmly disagree with them.

Is it just me? Am I the only one who has read that the grade should start 6-8 inches below the top of the foundation? It is such a surprise to me that not only did these landscapers all ignore the high banking on the side of my house, they wanted to repeat the error in my backyard.

So I'm left wondering if they simply don't understand the inaccuracy of what they recommended, or if it's not as serious as I think it is.

[GTT1]

I think your leaks are do to something other than the soil being up close to the brick line. More than likely it is a problem with your weeping tiles or a crack in the foundation.

I didn't know any better when I landscaped our last house 25 years ago and had garden beds right up to just below the brick line and never had a problem from it.

[succeed]

I think your leaks are do to something other than the soil being up close to the brick line. More than likely it is a problem with your weeping tiles or a crack in the foundation.


Thank you - your comment has really got me thinking over the past couple of hours.

I know my backyard has a negative grade towards the house. So I know that needs fixing.
But maybe I need to take a closer look at what is going on on the side of my house where the leak is. Read up about window wells, leaking basements, etc. Maybe there is a need for a more thorough solution. Thanks.

[Techhead]

Can you post a picture of the affected area? and the whole wall?

Do your eaves drain away from the house? Are your eaves clear of debris?
When is the water getting into your basement? During rainstorms?

[PhuFighter]

I've never read anything about the soil being away from the brickwork, but I've seen episodes of Holmes on Homes (or another one of his shows) where it was an issue. Rather than clear away that much material, I believe what ended up happening was that he removed a large amount of soil, added weeping tile and the dimpled plastic up to the brick work, and then added the soil back up to ALMOST where the black dimpled plastic was. Perhaps the plastic was an inch above the soil. This was the episode with the hoarders.

I think the net is that water could cause the brick to fall apart, but replacing the brick may be easier than regrading the entire neighborhood.

[svrmetro]

Soil should be below the seam where brick meets concrete. It is not necessarily water tight if you have wet soil leaning against it at all times. Mortar and brick may act like a sponge because it is a porous material, but they are generally sufficient to sheet away water from weather and there's also waterproofing material behind the brick as well. However, the joint between brick and concrete is a weak link and water can travel along the top of concrete foundation until it finds an opening and will start to drain inside.

[leonk]

Century old homes only used brick. Waterproofing is always the recommended solution below grade. All stone/concrete will shift with age/crack eventually.

Consider hiring professional waterproofers to do it right, the first time.

[tutchio]

To be honest ciment should always be able to breathe. even paint is not recommendes normally you should have your soil line just an inch or two under the black pitch they put around

my 2centa

[mcplar]

I know you're in Ontario but I don't think the code will deviate too much on this topic.

9.27.2.4.(1) of the B.C. building code.

"A clearance of not less than 200mm shall be provided between finished ground and cladding that is adversely affected by moisture such as <untreated> wood, plywood, OSB, waferboard and hardboard"

[succeed]

Can you post a picture of the affected area? and the whole wall?

http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q155/succeed_photos/side.jpg


Do your eaves drain away from the house? Are your eaves clear of debris?

In the back corner of my house, where the leak is, the downspout directs water into a trench about 4 feet away from my house. However, I know that one of the eaves need to be cleaned on that side of the house, because it overflows during heavy rain, but it overflows in the front of the house, quite a ways from where the leak is.


When is the water getting into your basement? During rainstorms?

Yes, water only gets in during rainstorms, and thankfully, not all rainstorms. Only 1-3 times per year.

I personally think it's a problem of saturation of the area outside where the leak is. So now I'm considering putting in both a French Drain and a swale in that area - might as well make all that digging count. Which is why I asked the question, cause if we're gonna be digging in the area anyway, do I need to dig even more (and remove the 6" of soil that is too high on the wall of my foundation)?

I'm really wondering why anybody would have built the soil up that high to begin with - if I choose to remove that soil, will I possibly uncover something I should have left buried?

[succeed]

Rather than clear away that much material, I believe what ended up happening was that he removed a large amount of soil, added weeping tile and the dimpled plastic up to the brick work, and then added the soil back up to ALMOST where the black dimpled plastic was.

It sounds like you're saying he added the weeping tile pretty close to the foundation. I'm considering putting one in, about 3 feet out from the foundation, and creating a swale over it. I'm wondering if they had some reason to believe that the original weeping tile (next to the base of the foundation (footing)) was damaged, or totally non-existent (maybe it was a very old house)?

But you've given me some food for thought. I'm assuming that there is a proper weeping tile at the base of my foundation (because it is a fairly new house). But the part of the house that has the leak was an addition. And from the workmanship I've seen in the addition, it might be reasonable to conclude that they may not even have bothered to put a weeping tile at the base of the foundation. Wow, that could be one of the reasons for my leak.

[succeed]

Waterproofing is always the recommended solution below grade. All stone/concrete will shift with age/crack eventually. Consider hiring professional waterproofers to do it right, the first time.

I've been trying to find a landscaper to do grading, weeping tile, and a swale - thinking that if I reduced the water in the area it would solve my problem.

I know my grading needs improving. I believe an improved swale would be of benefit. I know that water pools in my backyard. I was thinking of tackling these things (and maybe the 6" below the brick) because these things are obvious to the eye, and I can see they need fixing in order to move the water out of the area.

But am I going about this in the wrong order? Would it be more beneficial to think about waterproofing the wall first?