Well, the drain in the window well is a good 8-10 inches below the bottom of the window sill. Im not exactly sure where the water is coming from (water table or surface water) but in either case, the water is coming up thru the drain pipe in the bottom of the window well. Ive been told that the water table is high so Im assuming that after a hard rain, the water table is rising and when it finds a tunnel (the drain) is fill it up and comes up the drain, eventually filling the window well. Ive actually watched the water rise up in the drain, eventually filling up the window well to window botton height…where it comes into the house. Im wondering if it is indeed surface water, how it is getting into the drain. The drain goes just about vertical 4 feet down into the ground from the bottom of the window well.Will filling up the 4 foot drain cause any problems Im not thinking about? thanks in advance. Mike : A little difficult to visualize your problem. If your water table is high I would think you would have water in your basement most of the time. A French drain needs to drain to ground level to be effective. I suspect the problem is surface water after a rain that is coming into your window well. If you can install a new French drain at the lower level of the window well and run it to wherever you can bring it to ground level. Otherwise you may need to install a sump pump. Best I can offer. : : I have an in ground basement with a small window. Outside is a window well that goes a few feet below ground level. In the center of the window well, there is a french drain that goes down into the ground about 3 feet or so. The problem is: Apparently, the water table is very high in my neighborhood and when a heavy rain comes, water comes up thru the french drain and fills up the window well, and then lots of water backs into the window and comes into the basement that way. Not much water comes into the window well from above since I keep it covered. The water is all coming from below the ground up thru the french drain (which just goes into the ground, not into another sewer line or anything) Other than to block up the window and totally get rid of the window well and french drain, I was wondering if simply getting rid of the french drain by filling it up with dirt would stop the water from coming up the french drain and into the house thru the window. I believe there is enough gravel in the window well to let any water from aboe to drain slowly down into the ground. Thanks for any help on this. Mike
