i had a new 6' window installed in my basement for egress. the window well
has a vertical piece of PVC in the middle which is the drain (it's connected
to a huge drywell about 20' away). there is 4-6" of gravel around the drain
and sloped away from the window in the well.

the concrete foundation is solid and doesn't leak, but i'm concerned that
over time, a problem may develop because the gravel sits right on top of the
soil (which is very clay like) and i can already see the mud rising to mix
with the gravel. by mistake, no landscape fabric was put down between the
gravel and the dirt.

i plan to dig up all the gravel; wash it off; and put down landscape fabric
over the dirt; then the gravel.

two questions:

as a general rule, am i better out digging out an additional 2-3" of the
clay-like soil and replacing with coarse sand? it would then look like
soil, 3"sand, fabric, 4" gravel.

under the theory that it couldn't hurt, since the well would partially
exposed after i dug it out, i thot i'd tar that outside wall as well (not to
the depth of the footing, but just that 12" or so under the bottom of the
window). waste of time? thanks

On Mar 14, 7:13 am, "David Rothman" wrote:
i had a new 6' window installed in my basement for egress. the window well
has a vertical piece of PVC in the middle which is the drain (it's connected
to a huge drywell about 20' away). there is 4-6" of gravel around the drain
and sloped away from the window in the well.

the concrete foundation is solid and doesn't leak, but i'm concerned that
over time, a problem may develop because the gravel sits right on top of the
soil (which is very clay like) and i can already see the mud rising to mix
with the gravel. by mistake, no landscape fabric was put down between the
gravel and the dirt.

i plan to dig up all the gravel; wash it off; and put down landscape fabric
over the dirt; then the gravel.

two questions:

as a general rule, am i better out digging out an additional 2-3" of the
clay-like soil and replacing with coarse sand? it would then look like
soil, 3"sand, fabric, 4" gravel.

under the theory that it couldn't hurt, since the well would partially
exposed after i dug it out, i thot i'd tar that outside wall as well (not to
the depth of the footing, but just that 12" or so under the bottom of the
window). waste of time? thanks

Sounds like good plans to Me but alt.home.repair has about 5,000
members that just love to help,,of course any message might start a
fight there but with luck You'll get Your answers before the fun
begins!! Needless to say I like that group..
Sorry I ca'nt tell You anything deffinate..
Dean