Good Morning Everyone.
So I’ve got this problem with my basement, and I figured you guys have a wealth of knowledge which might help me correct this. Last year, we decided to finish off our basement. Up until that point we had very little water in our basement. So I decided to install a floating sleeper floor just in case we have a few drips.
Well naturally after its all done, I noticed a ton of water seeping through the slab cracks in one corner of the house(boiler room). The strangeness of all this is that I have an existing sump pit right next to this area. The sump pit appeared to be poured in place back in the sixties, since it appears to be made of solid concrete. I say this is strange because I was always under the impression that water finds the lowest path of least resistance…We have standing water, so I would assume that level would go up to the level of the slabe before seeping in??
Shouldn’t the water be seeping into the sump pit before coming up through the slab??
And do you guys have any thoughts on how to fix this?
An outside excavation is painfully expensive, and the funds aren’t there this year…
Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks
K
Replies
If the sump is water-tight, how can water get into it? Are there drain tile emptying into the sump?
aside from the usual openings needed in the crock to let water in, they are there to take above slab water and move it outside.
But, what has happened outside to change the usually dry basement?
Downspouts in that area that shows water entry? They could be blocked and dumping water over the gutter and next to the house.
If they go to tile, that could be blocked and backing up, or broken allowing them to dump water too close to the foundation.
Correct that and then you can deal with the sump crock. If no penetrations in the side from interior tile, putting holes in it might introduce silt along with underslab water which could eventually hollow out the ground under the slab while gunking up the sump pump.
Best of luck.
Dan,
It is watertight on the sides, but it appears the bottom is open to regular earth. It also looks like the previous owner may have put in a few pieces of brick to level it off for the sump pump.
And no drain tile emptying into it. Looks like a basic hole in the floor....what do you think? Pop some holes in the side to relieve pressure? OR maybe clean out the bottom, and place some gravel in there & lower the pumps elevation?
Calvin,
Outside, I actually did a good amount of work...but none of it should have increased the water flow...
-I regraded & trucked in a good amount of dirt to run the water away from my foundation.
-I installed an underground drainage system for all downspouts, dumping the water about 15' away from the foundation to a dry well
Downspouts are all cleaned up as well. Looking at my question above with your advice, I think I might skip the drilling of the sides...
BTW. Inserting a picture for reference. That black discharge pipe was also replaced with a new PVC pipe w/check valve that runs out to the street...
So with that said.. Am I just royally screwed or is there a better way?
Thanks.
K
It is watertight on the sides, but it appears the bottom is open to regular earth. It also looks like the previous owner may have put in a few pieces of brick to level it off for the sump pump.
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that it's not open on the bottom, but is simply filled with silt. Have you tried digging down a little bit?
It looks to me like the previous owner may have built the pit to collect water that runs onto the floor, or perhaps to take the output of a washing machine.
-I installed an underground drainage system for all downspouts, dumping the water about 15' away from the foundation to a dry well
That may be the source of your troubles. 15 feet may or may not be far enough away for a dry well, depending on soil conditions, and a dry well can fill rapidly and overflow.
adding another pic
Showing the slab seepage..maybe hydraulic cementing the whole floor will do:)
...if it was only that simple