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How does the song go, "it never rains in Southern California." Boy, have times changed. And those who have drainage issues know all too well the problems rainwater can create.
The big issues come when water gets dammed up and can accumulate. When retaining walls crack or lean over, called "rotation" in engineering terms, it’s almost always due to water building up pressure behind the wall. Water weighs about 8 1/2 pounds a gallon. When you add that weight to the weight of the soil it puts a tremendous amount of pressure against the wall.
The simplest and usually the most effective solutions are to drill holes through the wall near the bottom sufficient to allow the water to seep or "weep" out. Creating a way for the water to flow out relieves the pressure and the wall is less likely to rotate.
Another popular way to dam up water that can cause issues is the practice of creating planters around the foundation walls of homes and buildings. Again the water becomes trapped, however in this case, a different problem occurs. The water trapped along the foundation will seep into the soil and make it soft. The base of the foundation needs to sit on hard stable soil or rock; otherwise, the building will sink or settle, hence the term "settlement."
This type of settlement is responsible for the overwhelming majority of cracks in interior plaster and exterior stucco and concrete walls. In more severe cases it causes floors, doors and windows to go out of level. Most commonly the building will settle only a fraction of an inch each year but even if it only settles 1/16th of an inch yearly, in 16 years there is a full inch of settlement. That will be enough to make windows and doors stick and floors to slope.
The basic rule when it comes to water is: control the flow of water away from the building and off the lot to an approved drain, namely the public storm system.
By John A. LaRocca. Inspector Member of the California Real Estate Inspection Association (CREIA) and a licensed general contractor. For other questions, he can be contacted at (818) 951-1795 or www.LaRoccaInspect.com.
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