Drainage Issue - Older Home

[Casey Kooiman]

I was close to putting an offer on a property, but I just came across a Foundation Inspection Report. It is directed towards a bank, so I'm wondering 1) why it was required by a bank in the first place?

Anyways, these are the results: "The basement was dry, signs of previous water seepage along north wall, and there was no sump crock or pump. Homes of that era typically had draintiles below the floor that pitched towards the basement floor drain and drained through a Palmer Valve. It is possible the Palmer Valve is stuck or corroded in the shut position. If this is the case, water backs up when in the draintiles and it will produce water seepage along the walls where the floor meets the wall."

Some Future Maintenance / Prevention methods were included (but none of them listed fixing the Palmer Valve or installing a Sump Pump). Can this still be done? What kind of estimated costs am I looking at?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, my BP family!

[Emilio Ramirez]

Not sure I understand your first paragraph, but could be seen as a liability by the bank. The palmer valve directs ground water (storm water) into the sanitary sewer which is why municipalities, especially ones like Milwaukee with a combined sewer, encourage homeowners to replace when appropriate. 

Drain tile is called that because it used to be literally round clay tiles that would be slightly separated. This allowed the water in and then it could flow. They encircled the perimeter of the house at the outside footing and then typically flowed into the sanitary sewer through the palmer valve under the basement slab. 

The palmer valve had a gravity check valve on it that allowed the water to flow into the sewer, but did not allow sewage to backflow into the drain tile. This valve (which is basically just a damper) is what the inspector is suggesting is stuck in the closed position. Makes sense, Has been found in lots of old houses. There are many companies that specialize in fixing this. 

They come into the basement and cut out the concrete slab about 2 feet from the exterior wall continuously. They install new drain tile ( I would recommend 4" hard pipe) and connect it all to a new sump that they also install. They patch the concrete. It's pricey, but seems to work pretty well in most conditions although the preferred detail would be to install it on the exterior. This, however, would required significant excavation and backfill. 

Been so long that I've dealt with this that I don't dare guess at a cost, but take a look in the phone book. Like I said, plenty of guys who do this in the Milwaukee area.

Go Brewers!