Basement Stairwell Trench Drain Installation In New Jersey

Stairwell Drain Waterproofing For Central & Northern NJ & Jersey Shore

If you want to keep water out of your basement, you must address every possible entry point, including Bilco/ egress doors and exterior stairwells. Despite their importance in an emergency, we regularly come across old, unused stairwells and basement walkouts filled with stormwater, bugs, and mold, all because they lack a proper drainage system.

To help New Jersey homeowners reclaim their stairwells, Blue Umbrella Waterproofing is proud to install stairwell drains, also known as trench drains / speed drains. Combined with our other basement waterproofing solutions, stairwell drains can effectively prevent water from infiltrating and damaging your foundation.

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Waterproofing Your Walkout Basement Stairs

Basement walkout stairs are a great way to move furniture, finishings, and other items in and out of your basement without going through your first floor. Depending on your home's architectural style and intended use, your stairwell might include a solid door, metal hatch, or both.

The International Residential Code requires below-ground doors to include a bulkhead enclosure (stairwell) in all cases. However, the IRC didn't address the need for stairwell drains until 2003, and more than 30% of homes in the Northeast, including in New Jersey, were built before 1940. That leaves hundreds of thousands of homes in desperate need of a stairwell upgrade.

Your Basement Stairs - A Target for Invasive Water

Basement stairways and walkways made from concrete or precast material are highly susceptible to leaks and pooling water for multiple reasons.

Water can slide underneath a metal hatchway (cellar doors) because they are not typically flush with the stairwell they are attached to.
Water can seep into your stairwell through the cold joint where the stairwell meets the foundation wall.
Expanding soil or hydrostatic pressure can crack or erode the stairwell, allowing water to seep through.
Pooling water can seep through your egress door frame if the water is higher than the door sill.

Why You Need a Stairwell Drainage System

Even though stepping over or into a flooded stairwell is annoying, there's more at stake than an inconvenience.

Mold growth: A flooded stairwell can lead to various types of mold growth, including black mold, green mold, and white mold. Eventually, this mold could spread into your basement and affect your physical health.
Breeding ground for bugs: Various species of bugs love to nest in sitting water, including drain flies, mosquitos, and spiders.
Property damage: Pooling water can lead to wood rot, mildew, and other issues that can damage boxes, furniture, and other stored items.
Additional foundation damage: If water enters your basement stairwell through cove joints, honeycombing, or cracks, groundwater is likely gathering in the nearby soil. This can lead to differential settlement, bowing, cracks, leaks, and additional foundation issues.

Basement Stairwell Waterproofing Solutions in New Jersey

Here's how Blue Umbrella Waterproofing prevents stairwells from turning into ponds in your New Jersey home.

What Is A Stairwell Drain?

A stairwell drain, also known as a trench drain, is a system that prevents water from pooling at the bottom of the stairwell or in front of a garage door. Drain types are chosen based on the size of your stairwell floor and typically come in circular and square designs. However, these smaller drain sizes can quickly clog from leaves, dirt, and other debris that fall into your stairwell.

Because of our commitment to using high-quality and reliable materials, we have found the most success with linear channel drains due to their larger size, strength, and resistance to rust, frost, corrosion, and chemicals. As a bonus, New Jersey homeowners can easily maintain their drains thanks to the removable grate and feel at ease knowing plumbing leaks have a safe place to drain.

How We Install Trench Drains

First, we cut a trench into the concrete at the bottom of your stairwell, removing any broken or outdated drains. In some cases, this might involve chipping and replacing the entire stairwell floor if the existing concrete is damaged. Next, we connect an end or bottom outlet to the drain based on where we divert the water.

To efficiently remove water from your stairwell, the trench drain must connect to an interior French drain system with a sump pump. Once the drain is in place, our experts replace the surrounding concrete and ensure a smooth, flush surface.

Note: Structural damage to a basement stairwell must be addressed before installing a trench
drain.

Trench Drain As Part Of Basement Waterproofing

Stairwell drains are only one part of a complete basement waterproofing system. Without the other essential components, your New Jersey basement can still suffer from rising groundwater, expansive soil, hydrostatic pressure, and moisture seepage.

Interior French Drain

An interior French drain system comprises perforated pipes laid in a bed of bluestone gravel along your basement slab's inner perimeter. Any water that attempts to seep into your basement through cove joints (the space between your basement floor and wall) is caught and diverted toward a sump pit. Stairwell drains are also connected to these pipes, and water is deposited in the sump pit.

French Drain Installed in New Jersey Home

Basement Sump Pumps

Once water reaches a certain level within the sump pit, a sump pump activates and ejects the water through a vertical discharge pipe using a motor. We always include battery backups with our sump pumps to ensure water is still ejected in the event of a power outage during a storm.

Exterior Discharge System

Our discharge lines transport water 10 to 15 feet away from your home to avoid recirculating near your foundation. Depending on your New Jersey property's size and slope, discharge lines usually release water at the lowest point of your yard or into a bubbler pot or dry well, where it gradually absorbs into the soil at a safe distance from your foundation.

We Fix Wet Basement Stairwell Issues in New Jersey

If you're experiencing drainage issues or water pooling in your basement stairwell, contact Blue Umbrella Waterproofing. Our foundation experts have more than 20 years of experience helping homeowners across Central and Northern New Jersey and the Jersey Shore upgrade and improve their basement stairwells. Need help determining what your stairwell needs?