So that's why I have a damp basement

[RU482]

I was out digging post holes for my kids new swingset, and hit water at about 20 inches down on all four holes. Yikes

 

[Kreon]

that's not good...
Is there good soil drainage where you live?

Do you have a sump pump?
That things saves me every 5-10 minutes...

 

[RU482]

The house is from the 50s, so there is no drainage and no sump pump. The walls are epoxy coated, FWIW. I also am installing an egress window in the basement, and noticed that it is dirt right up to the foundation (no pea gravel). The soil here is very thick, with alot of clay. I hope there are no wet summers while I live here!

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

Originally posted by: redly1
The house is from the 50s, so there is no drainage and no sump pump. The walls are epoxy coated, FWIW. I also am installing an egress window in the basement, and noticed that it is dirt right up to the foundation (no pea gravel). The soil here is very thick, with alot of clay. I hope there are no wet summers while I live here!

I would look into having a sump pump installed. It would probably be worth it in the long run.

 

[JRock]

Maybe a french drain while your at it... and some hydraulic cement around your existing foundation.

 

[Muse]

There's various possibilities. You can get foundation specialists to evaluate, and possibly bid on work. A guy told me you can lay down a moisture barrier, basically plastic sheeting on top of the soil in my crawlspace. Since you have a basement, you may not have a crawlspace. If I dig down in my soil (also heavy with lots of clay) I will come to water less than 2 feet down. I dug a trench in my backyard in early March, about 2 feet deep in order to plant tomatoes. Leaving it overnight, I find next day that there was around 3 inches of water in the bottom of the trench.

A foundation guy told me it's possible to install a french drain after doing a foundation job if it's determined it's necessary. He didn't recommend putting in a french drain at the time of a foundation rebuild. Other guys have different ideas. One guy wants to put in a sump pump. When you talk to enough of these guys (at least with my house) you soon realize that they all have different ideas.

 

[MageXX9]

Since it's such an old house you need to take measures to fix this NOW!

It starts with proper drainage around the foundation of the house, sump pump inside if need by, and dehumidification.

If you don't get this fixed now, you could have more trouble than you would believe, mold being the worst which can affect not only your health but the sell of the house.

DO IT!

 

[RU482]

Mage...good advice. But, being that the house is 50 some years old, why is it not infested with Mold today?

I mean, hell, its a dry/normal year. I cant imagine what happened down there in 93

 

[thedarkwolf]

Dude across the street just put a sump pump in his basement himself. Its pretty easy if you can get your hands on a jack hammer .

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: thedarkwolf
Dude across the street just put a sump pump in his basement himself. Its pretty easy if you can get your hands on a jack hammer .

Sounds like it might be possible. I highly recommend talking to a number of qualified professionals. You are the person who's ultimately going to have to make the decisions about what, if anything, should be done. So, you will need to be smart, level headed and inform yourself, weigh what people say and conduct yourself as the situation dictates. And before you decide to have any of these people take on a project, make sure you have at least 3 bids (for foundation work, I'd double that, personally) and check out references. Good luck!

 

[RU482]

just discovered something very interesting. There is a well maybe 20 feet away from where I was digging and hitting water at 20 inches. The well is 150ft deep. The well is dry at the bottom. weird

 

[Sphexi]

Just call up Mike Holmes. He'll come tear up your yard, destroy your basement, and hook you up with a wicked ass new finished basement that'll never leak.

 

[NoShangriLa]

The repair isn't worth the trouble...take a lost buy another house.

 

[tasmanian]

We had to put in a shed in our back yard. It had to be dug maybe 1-2 feet. The soil was so dry that we had to use a pick to break the dirt. I think the main reason is we have like a 50 foot willow or oak tree in the back yard.

 

[RU482]

Originally posted by: tasmanian
We had to put in a shed in our back yard. It had to be dug maybe 1-2 feet. The soil was so dry that we had to use a pick to break the dirt. I think the main reason is we have like a 50 foot willow or oak tree in the back yard.

That is confusing. You have dry soil and a willow thrived?

 

[RU482]

Originally posted by: NoShangriLa

The repair isn't worth the trouble...take a lost buy another house.

OR, cover it up, move and profit!!!!

 

[iRONic]

Originally posted by: redly1

Originally posted by: tasmanian
We had to put in a shed in our back yard. It had to be dug maybe 1-2 feet. The soil was so dry that we had to use a pick to break the dirt. I think the main reason is we have like a 50 foot willow or oak tree in the back yard.

That is confusing. You have dry soil and a willow thrived?

The tree sucked all the surrounding groundwater up?