On 10/22/2011 8:41 PM, Lou wrote:
Hi guys,

About 2 years ago, I removed my basement carpet because I was getting
floods underneath. When I removed it, I saw that the entire slab was
filled with cracks - probably over 100 cracks. Water was coming in
through all the cracks. I live in Staten Island NY where there is a
VERY HIGH water table. Anyway, I had a contractor tell me it was
because I had cracks in my walls. He ripped down my paneling, found a
crack and filled it. The next day, I had the same problem. I bough
hydraulic cement and filled all the cracks. The water stopped. I
then installed a sump pump.

Fast forward to now, the water is back. I now know that hydraulic
cement is only a temporary repair. I will now use an epoxy injection
such as Emecole 555. Finally, here is my question. What can I do to
propoerly address all the cracks in the slab? When I look at it, I
feel like it needs a thick layer, say two inches or so, of some sort
of cementious or epoxy product. What can I do to stop this water
problem? I was originally advised by a few contractors to either fix
the cracks in the wall, install sump pumps, install a french drain,
etc. I did two out of three and neither worked. I want to avoid the
french drain if possible - I dont want to do it myself and dont have
an extra $4000 to pay to a contractor who will offer no guarantee that
this will solve my problem. Please help me out. Thanks.

Lou

Hate to say it, but sounds like you are between a rock and a hard place
big time. I am assuming you have ruled out surface water coming down
outside of basement wall from ponding? If water is coming up from below
hard enough to float the slab and crack it, that lot should never have
had a basement in the first place. French drains may help. but it sounds
like you may need existing slab removed (not topped over) ,and substrate
dug out and done over, with some heavy-duty drainage/sump pits, and a
new slab poured.

I can't remember the proper name for the specialty, but their are
engineers who specialize in stuff like this- bore some holes around the
house and in basement floor, look at the topo and water table maps, and
in general figure out where the water is coming from. You probably need
to find one of them. An independent one, of course, not one that gets a
kickback from contractor that does the work.

--
aem sends...