Hi all.

So, I am about to give up

I've been pumping water out of my basement every evening for two weeks
now (following NE two weeks ago). The water is still comming back.
Every rainy day sets me about 5 days back (in my basement water
condition). It looks water table is not going anywhere any time soon.

So I am almost about to pay big bucks for something to be done in my
basement.

My basment is unfinished and consists of crawl space and another space
6 feet high, deeper in the ground. The floor is concrete, and it is
not even (I have to pump out of three different spots now).

One of contractors suggests 2 separate systems -- one for the crawl
space and one for the another space -- each one with sump pump and
french drain. He is saying that two systems are nesessary because the
different floor level, and the french drain is especially necessary
since the floor is not even. He is asking $7000 for this work.

I am in NJ.

Do you think what he suggested to be done is reasonable?

Do you think the price is reasonable? How is it affected with the
fact that the work seems urgent?

Thanks for any advice.

Arkadiy

On 29 Apr 2007 07:14:23 -0700, Arkadiy wrote:

Hi all.

So, I am about to give up

I've been pumping water out of my basement every evening for two weeks
now (following NE two weeks ago). The water is still comming back.
Every rainy day sets me about 5 days back (in my basement water
condition). It looks water table is not going anywhere any time soon.

So I am almost about to pay big bucks for something to be done in my
basement.

My basment is unfinished and consists of crawl space and another space
6 feet high, deeper in the ground. The floor is concrete, and it is
not even (I have to pump out of three different spots now).


You're doing treatment without diagnosis.
Where is the water coming from, and where is it going?
Where would you like it to go instead?

Goedjn wrote:

You're doing treatment without diagnosis.
Where is the water coming from, and where is it going?
Where would you like it to go instead?

I agree

But who is going to provide such diagnostics (except the people
interested in doing the work)?

The water seems to be comming from below, because the ground is
saturated and the water table is high... But this is only a guess.

There are some bad areas outside the house, with the concreet pavement
sloped in the wrong directions, where the water is gathering during
the rain. Can be the problem, but again, I am not sure, and I can't
fix it easily to try...

If the water is pumped out, I would like it to go to the street, where
I am pumping it out now.

Thanks,
Arkadiy

On 30 Apr 2007 10:24:25 -0700, Arkadiy wrote:


There are some bad areas outside the house, with the concreet pavement
sloped in the wrong directions, where the water is gathering during
the rain. Can be the problem, but again, I am not sure, and I can't
fix it easily to try...

That certanly sounds like A problem. When my cement trough at the
bottom of a downspout fell backwards so it sloped towards the house, I
had a wet piece of sheetrock for a couple years.

Didn't do it any good. And I have to cut off the ruined 6 or 8
inches and replace it. It's in a corner of the room behind the
fireplace and below a chair so no one sees it, but I know it's there.

When I put rocks under the trough, the area inside dried up (I think).
And the trough is only ?? 16 or 18 inches long.

mm wrote:

That certanly sounds like A problem. When my cement trough at the
bottom of a downspout fell backwards so it sloped towards the house, I
had a wet piece of sheetrock for a couple years.

Didn't do it any good. And I have to cut off the ruined 6 or 8
inches and replace it. It's in a corner of the room behind the
fireplace and below a chair so no one sees it, but I know it's there.

When I put rocks under the trough, the area inside dried up (I think).
And the trough is only ?? 16 or 18 inches long.

Well it definitely not 18 inches

A large area of my backyard is covered with concrete slobs. Now all
this concrete is sloped toward the house. It always made me nervous,
but didn't cause visible problems until recent noreaster. I will
definitely have to deal with this, but I don't know if this should be
my first priority right now.

On 30 Apr 2007 13:08:01 -0700, Arkadiy wrote:

mm wrote:

That certanly sounds like A problem. When my cement trough at the
bottom of a downspout fell backwards so it sloped towards the house, I
had a wet piece of sheetrock for a couple years.

Didn't do it any good. And I have to cut off the ruined 6 or 8
inches and replace it. It's in a corner of the room behind the
fireplace and below a chair so no one sees it, but I know it's there.

When I put rocks under the trough, the area inside dried up (I think).
And the trough is only ?? 16 or 18 inches long.

Well it definitely not 18 inches

A large area of my backyard is covered with concrete slobs. Now all
this concrete is sloped toward the house. It always made me nervous,
but didn't cause visible problems until recent noreaster. I will
definitely have to deal with this, but I don't know if this should be
my first priority right now.

Does the cement run right up against the house, or is there
someplace you can intercept the water with a drainage trench
before it gets to you? Is there any low spot to dump the
water using gravity, or are you going to have to
pump it whatever you do. If you dump the water into the street,
where does it go after that?

Goedjn wrote:

Does the cement run right up against the house

yes

or is there
someplace you can intercept the water with a drainage trench
before it gets to you? Is there any low spot to dump the
water using gravity,

The street would be the low spot (but not lower than the basement
floor). I would have to brake the concrete and some asphalt next to
the house, and then run the drains around the house and onto the
street. Looks doable, but porobably expensive too. But I am starting
to think this needs to be done before anything inside is done, since
it looks more logical to reduce amount of water comming into the
basement than to pump it out when it's already there...

or are you going to have to
pump it whatever you do. If you dump the water into the street,
where does it go after that?

down the street and into the sewer

Arkadiy