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OK, get this: I bought my 1st house this Sept. Though the bank owned it when I bought it, I was able to meet the guy that built the place( he had sold it 8 years ago, but the bank repoed the next owners). The guy that built it said there was a slight water problem, but the sub-pump would take care of it. I asked about drain tiles, but he said it came up from the ground (high water table). Well anyway, 2 weeks ago water started coming in. The 1st day the pump was fine. 2nd day had trouble keeping up & by the 3rd day I had 16″ of water down there! The fire dept. pumped me out & then I went & bought myself a 3″, 5.5 HP, Honda water pump. After 2 weeks, the sub-pump looks like it can keep up. One guy has been telling me about this stuff called “stackbond”, that you just put it over your blocks and no water will come in. Another guy told me if you use that stuff & only put it in the interior block walls it could create pressure & mess up the walls. I’ve only just started in the remodeling business & have no exp. w/basements or concrete. Appreciate any ideas you might have on what I could do since I don’t want to risk my wood furnace or gas water heater to water damage. Thanks
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Sounds like your water problem is more than "slight". imho, you will need to excavate around the foundation, and install proper drainage and waterproofing.
*While proper dainage is always a good thing, it may be that the groundwater, region-wide, comes up in spring. You have spring rains combining with thawing ground, rising rivers, and snow melt from higher elevations all contributing to high water events. Ask a local rental yard if this year was worse than most. From the hydrogeologic perspective a foot or two of groundwater isn't a big deal. But when it interects your basement excavation, it is (to you).You should determine if the groundwater come up regionally (out in the yard, the neighbors house, down the block) or very locally (immediately around your foundation). If it came up regional, drains won't do any good - there's nowhere for it to go.If it is just the area right around your house, then better drainage is the easiest thing to try. Slope the land away from the foundation. Direct all downspouts well away (10-20') from the building. Gravel backfill against the foundation could be catching runoff and percolated water and holding it against the foundation. You would need to keep the water out of that backfill. Get the kids some radio-controlled boats to play with down there. -David
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OK, get this: I bought my 1st house this Sept. Though the bank owned it when I bought it, I was able to meet the guy that built the place( he had sold it 8 years ago, but the bank repoed the next owners). The guy that built it said there was a slight water problem, but the sub-pump would take care of it. I asked about drain tiles, but he said it came up from the ground (high water table). Well anyway, 2 weeks ago water started coming in. The 1st day the pump was fine. 2nd day had trouble keeping up & by the 3rd day I had 16" of water down there! The fire dept. pumped me out & then I went & bought myself a 3", 5.5 HP, Honda water pump. After 2 weeks, the sub-pump looks like it can keep up. One guy has been telling me about this stuff called "stackbond", that you just put it over your blocks and no water will come in. Another guy told me if you use that stuff & only put it in the interior block walls it could create pressure & mess up the walls. I've only just started in the remodeling business & have no exp. w/basements or concrete. Appreciate any ideas you might have on what I could do since I don't want to risk my wood furnace or gas water heater to water damage. Thanks