On 30 Jan 2004 10:12:59 -0800, (Dan Caster) wrote:

I am not sure I understand every thing you said. Walkout basement
implies to me that one side of the basement has a door that opens to
ground level. If this is right can you put in drain pipe from the
trench to a lower elevation so you don't need the sump pump?

If the basement was done right, there should be a layer of gravel
topped with a vapor barrier under the concrete floor. If you can put
in a drain so that the water never gets as high as the concrete floor,
you are in pretty good shape. If you rely on a sump pump, sometime it
will not keep up with the water and the concrete floor will adsorb a
lot of water and take months to get bone dry again.

My shop is in the basement. I put drain pipe ( with holes ) around
the basement below the level of the floor and extended it out about
thirty feet from the basement to where it is lower. I don't have
much problem with rust. I do run a dehumidifier, but it is not a very
good one and only collects about a gallon of water a week.

Dan

snip

I guess I got lucky. My wife picked out the house, our first with a
basement. I didn't get outside access but do not have a sump pump
like most folks around here . The basement is dry as a bone, and I
have had _no_ problem with rust, especially compared to the Texas gulf
coast where I spent most of my life. There was no water in the
basement in a major flood here about 15 years ago.

When we move back upon retirement, I already told the wife that there
will have to be an above ground air-conditioned shop.

Pete Keillor