Enlarging a basement stairwell drain to earth
I'm addressing damp basement issues. One casuse is the basement stairwell, which fills up during thurnderstorms and flows under the basement door. The stairwell has a drain that goes to earth. (Inside the basement, the center of the basement floor also has a drain that goes to earth. Our home was built in the 1920's.) I don't want to put a sump pump in the stairwell as this would take up space in the bottom of the stairwell that I don't want to give up; it would also detract from appearances, and the water would have to be pumped up grade for quite a distance. The existing drain works but just gets overwhelmed during thundershowers. I periodically clean out the sediment from the drain by hand, but this does not resolve the problem. I can put my arm in the drain up to my elbow (it is NOT a pipe), and I feel bricks in the hole that are at an angle and other rock and uneven concrete with crevices. I am planning on enlarging the drain myself with a jackhammer and installing a grate (PVC or cast iron) from the local lumber and brick yard. My question is this: Do you have any advice on my enlarging the drain? Any problems I might expect? Thanks. -John
