On Jul 3, 12:34*pm, "
wrote:
On Sat, 3 Jul 2010 09:52:49 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:



On Jul 3, 1:08*am, "
wrote:
On Fri, 2 Jul 2010 21:00:17 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

On Jul 2, 6:14 pm, "
wrote:
On Thu, 1 Jul 2010 07:44:21 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

On Jul 1, 8:46 am, keith wrote:
On Jul 1, 6:40 am, " wrote:

On Jun 30, 10:00 pm, aemeijers wrote:

wrote:
On Jun 29, 10:52 pm, Bryan Scholtes wrote:
OP postrer needs interior french drain before ANY FUTHER WORK
with a sump draining to a pump or ideally daylight
What do you think about just a sump pump? I suppose the water table
may be the problem, as I've never had any water in the basement, ever,
until now.

What would a french accomplish that a sump pump by itself wouldn't?
I'm being sincere, I really don't know.

interior french drain collects water from all over basement area,
directed by underground lines to a sump and pump or better a daylight
drain its far superior to just a sump and pump which will only collect
water from its immediate area.

before finishing basement you really must fix the moisture issue.
otherwise mold bad odors etc will ruin your new room.let alone the
possiblity of a flood someday

as to fix grade redirect downspout drains etc.

i spent over 8 grand doing that with new sidewalks steps etc and 6
months later still had a wet basement....

the interior french drain with sump cost $3500 bucks and i didnt have
to do any work, i was the laborer for the 8 grand job without my bck
breaking effort it would of been 12 grand took most of summer

sure fix obvious issues, but before finishing a basemet install proper
drainage.

otherwise one storm can ruin all that work...........

and its far easier to install french drains with a nice open basement
with no finished walls etc.

you CANT seal out water all you can do is direct it somewhere else!!

I still say retro-fit interior french drains are always a last-resort
solution. They break the slab-to-footer connection. If water table is
high enough, sub-floor drains should go in before slab is poured. I've
personally seen one extreme installation, where a rich doctor simply HAD
to have a basement even though local water table was high, and every
other house in the sub was on a crawl or slab. Whole network of sub-slab
perforated tile leading into 2 sump pits, and a doomsday overflow line
leading into a precast manhole-size sump in front yard, so silly doctor
could go rent a commercial pump and drop it in the hole in an extended
power outage, and pump it out into street. Not sure where they thought
it would go, other than into the neighbor's yards- whole sub was rather
flat.

And yes, you CAN seal out water, with proper prep work as foundation is
being built, as slab is poured, and wall sealer and proper footer drains
installed before backfill is put in. They do it in swimming pools all
the time. All a basement is, is a swimming pool with the water on the
outside. That doesn't mean you don't need to grade the yard properly and
have good gutters, of course, since nothing is perfect or lasts forever.

--
aem sends...- Hide quoted text -

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around here code requires french drain with every new home built. and
exterior french drain too.

Did you even read what AEM wrote?

far too many wet basement complaints........

and would you really want to remodel a basement into a nice room/s
then have water issues a year or two after spending all that money?

the time to fix this is before remodel......

Retrofitting exterior drains and interior would make such a remodel
prohibitively expensive and still not guarantee that there wouldn't be
problems. As AEM suggested, breaking the slab/footing connection
isn't a good thing to do. If you're going to insist on going this
far, sell the house and buy one that works for you.- Hide quoted text -

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Indoor retrofits typically come with lifetime warrantiesand elminate
the need for outdoor french drains..... they tend to clog over time
anyway. I found some in a gravel bed packed with dirt.

Like all warranties, these aren't often worth the paper the trees wasted. I've
heard the same from the water-proof paint types, too.

so whats the big deal of breaking the slab footing connection? its
replaced with concrete and around here is only a inch or two thick so
its not providing much structurally anyway.

If it's only an inch or two thick, no wonder you have problems. Every slab
I've had was 4'6", and certainly is structural.

It cost me $3500.00 bucks to do a interior french drain, I first spent
over 8 grand plus me free labor doing the outdoor drain that
ultimately didnt stop the water

You're lucky. They don't always work either. I've seen a lot of homes
(immediately crossed of my list) that had such abortions in the basement, that
didn't work out so well. One that did, couldn't be closed because there was a
stream running though the basement.

Lessons learned the hard way, yard looked great, and asseors noticed
that too

The reason why thos who have been there done that have such strong
opinions?

We learned the hard way

So have I. Move before ****ing money down a hole.- Hide quoted text -

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well wet basements in pittsburgh is almost normal, concrete floors are
normally just a inch or two thick. homes with basements sit on the
footer 3 feet below the frost line.

Wow! *You have some real crooks building houses there. *I knew Pittsburgh was
the pits, but that's worse than I thought. *I've *never* seen less than 4"
used, and often 6". *Even my first crappy house (bad enough that the roof
decking was luan) had a 4" slab.

now over many years a waterproofing company may go away, national
franchises can protect you from this, the offer warranties backed by a
insurance company rather than a mom and pop joe and larry
waterproofing warranty.

If the warranty isn't full of disclaimers...

paints are near useless........

...and "waterproofing" companies are right next to "settle your debt now -
government bailout" companies.

exterior french drains must be below footer to be most effective...

Certainly. *That's why they're such a ball-buster to install after and why I'd
sell the house and move before retrofitting.

certinally nothings perfect but interior french drain appears the most
effectie

Moving is far more effective than most any addition to a house.- Hide quoted text -

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moving is assuming your new home has no water problem and never will.
so hows that guaranteed?

If it does, it has a higher chance of having future water problems than if
there is no evidence that it does. *It's really that simple. *You said it
yourself, fix the water problems before renovating. *My fix is to move to a
house with no problems.

lets assume a $100,000 home in pittsburgh its OK but not fancy.

So you would sell and move? fine the realtor fee to sell is 7% thats 7
grand, now assume painting and fixing up before putting on market, 3
grand is probably not too much.

so your going to spend 10 grand to save $3500 fixing water problem?
You know you MUST disclose that water problem local realtors claim wet
basements can decreas home value 7 to 10 %. Perhaps its more cost
effective to spend the $3500 fixing the water problem before sale?

... a $3500 bet on the come. *You bet I'd move, in a heartbeat. *I'd move
*immediately*, before there is an issue with mold. *If there already is, well
I screwed up.

sorry your decision to sell is completely non effective, a real money
looser.........

Nope. *Taking a risk on a money pit is the real loser. *It's almost always
cheaper to move than do any major renovations.

any response to this? bet we hear dead silence

You bet wrong, as always.

Dude, admit defeat on this one. Putting it a drain is not a big job
(unless you are a complete novice). My house has a 1800 sq basement
and it took a day to punch out the trench, run pipes etc, and the next
morning to concrete over. From that point on, no water, no damp and
no worrying whenever I hear rain at night. It cost me about 6k to
do, but I had knocked the same amount off the price I was willing to
pay for the house. Suggesting someone needs to move house because of
something like this is ridiculous. You must be the type of guy that
sells a car because it needs new tires.