Basement Window well issues

[WB9YZU]

So... It's been raining ...

And the house I'm in has water coming in through the casement windows.
So I notice that the windows are real dirty and dark, so I look in the window well and see... dirt/sand has filled in the wells about 1" up the window.

So I get a trowel and excavate down 4" below the window sill.
One thing I noticed is that the window well metal only reaches the top of the window sill.

So how far down should the well extend?

 

[XJEEPER]

The metal well's purpose is retain the dirt, not water. I'm not sure what your water table and soil type is like, but here in the high desert with coarse soil (gravel) I have an 8" depth of 1" diameter gravel in the bottom of my window wells to provide adequate drainage.

Sounds like you need to excavate them down about a foot (more gravel is better than less for drainage) and fill them up wiith gravel, stopping 1-2" below the window buck.


Also check that the ground against your foundation slopes away from the house.

 

[WB9YZU]

Thanks for the reply

Back fill is sand.
The PO put 1" stone at the bottom, but it gets covered with sand.
The metal well does not extend past the top of the window sill (even level with stone).
Topography of the site is an issue. Land where problem exists slants towards the house and no way to fix that as there is no way to drain the water around the house.

I don't think excavating deeper is the issue as when I do that, it fills back up with sand and I get the water problem.

Problem as I see it: Sand is getting into the well and filling it up.

So basically my question is:
How far down should the metal extend?
Below the window?

If that's the case, and I suspect it is, is there a way to "Fix" the problem without spending all day digging out the old Window Well casing and replacing it with a deeper one? (Insert product or solution here).

I am also thinking of installing a huge rain garden to try and trap some of the water coming off the slope behind the house before it gets near the foundation.

I can do the work, I just want to solve the problem the 1st time

 

[MT Mike]

Pictures are worth a thousand words.

 

[WB9YZU]

Good idea, I'll see what I can come up with.

 

[Wayne Sihler]

Just did a quick search at "Lowes" and found about 90 styles and types,,,, Most are only about 20" tall and as stated are to hold the dirt/surface water out. There were some stackable ones that could be stacked 5 high,2 would get you 36" down. There were covers available to keep stuff from getting in from the top.But it is my understanding that the water is comming up from the foundation .
You could dig down to the drain tile around the footer of your foundation and put stone and a drain pipe from the well to the footer drain(IF your area requires foundation drains)
Or as you have suggested intercept the runoff farther out in yard..which I see as being easier ...

 

[XJEEPER]

French drain time?

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=6eHpMvvtUTk&desktop_uri=/watch?v=6eHpMvvtUTk

 

[WB9YZU]

Not there yet.

We looked stood back and took a more global view, like from 30 feet out.
The gutters are either flat, or drain the wrong way. I asked when the last time they were cleaned and got a "They need to be cleaned" look.

No gutter covers, so they have 35 years of stuff in them.

Will start there.

I'm also looking into deeper well casings as (like I said), the other ones don't go 4-5" below the bottom of the window, but stop level with the bottom of the window. I was kinda hoping for a solution that wouldn't involve me tearing up a stone (6'X6' Slabs) patio, but if that's what it takes to make this go away once and for all, BG I'm gonna do it

 

[kastein]

If the water and sand is getting in from above, it sounds like you need some of those clear window well covers/greenhouses. If you don't like how those look, I would add a french drain in the bottom of the well, draining through a pipe into the foundation to the sump pump pit, basement slop sink, or sewer line (through a trap, clearly) depending on your inclination and available options.

 

[WB9YZU]

If the water and sand is getting in from above,

Below

Like in is coming in below the well skirt.

We have covers on them, but that's not where the water's coming from.

We have gutter folks coming next week to replace all the gutters and outfit the new ones with leaf eliminators to hopefully get rid of maintenance issues.

Maybe reduce the amount of water near the foundation.

 

[kastein]

Whoops, apparently I didn't read that the first time through :doh:

Yeah, all you're going to be able to do is seal them better at the bottom, drain them somehow (one of the methods I mentioned), or get the water away from the foundation (what you suggested.)