cygnusx1 Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax240z Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Ugh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stprasinz Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 wow.... Hopefully its not your basement! But I have a sinking feeling it is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Purple240zt Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Aw man, that really sucks. Sorry to see that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnusx1 Posted March 7, 2011 Author Share Posted March 7, 2011 (edited) The water table rises and comes right up through the concrete floor. It happened once before so I never store anything important on the lower shelves, or on the floor. Last time I only got about 18" of water. This is a record in 15 years. Nothing damaged I think. That's why you put electrical panels, outlets, and house mechanicals up off the floor! The only thing of semi-importance on the lower shelves is an old complete head from a 240Z. I suppose I should unwrap it, drain it , and flush it with oil. Edited March 7, 2011 by cygnusx1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 So what do you do? If you pump it will it just fill back up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoneStarS30Z Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 That's why you put electrical panels, outlets, and house mechanicals up off the floor! That's the first thing that came to my mind. I'm a Texan, so I have no basement experience, but I imagine water submerged outlets would have been a baaaaaaaaaaaaad bad ordeal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnusx1 Posted March 7, 2011 Author Share Posted March 7, 2011 Well the code requires GFCI outlets that would trip if they shorted. Most of all, I would need to reach my hand under water to plug in the sump pump! That would not be smart. Fortunately, the water stopped about 8" short of our main electrical panel which can push 200amps. I am going to install an automatic sump..because twice now it has surprised me. The worse part of it all was putting on my Teva's, my swim shorts, a coat, a wool hat, and stepping balls deep into 40 degree water to search for my pump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSM Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 The worse part of it all was putting on my Teva's, my swim shorts, a coat, a wool hat, and stepping balls deep into 40 degree water to search for my pump. I'm sorry for you, but this made me laugh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnusx1 Posted March 7, 2011 Author Share Posted March 7, 2011 So what do you do? If you pump it will it just fill back up? Yep. I ran my small garden hose pump and a larger pump with a 2" discharge which took the water down to about 2" by lunch time. I had to turn off the large pump because it wont pump down any lower than a few inches. I had lunch. When I went back down, there was another 15" or so of water. Eventually the water table will drop and it stops coming in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi303 Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 I don't suppose you can't strip the basement and paint the concrete with a penetrating epoxy which soaks into the concrete and fills all the porous gaps in the concrete the water seeps through? There are a number of products for that job, mostly related to the penetrating epoxies used to stabilise the brick faces on old buildings undergoing restoration which basicly glue the whole frontage into a single surface instead of singles bricks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnusx1 Posted March 8, 2011 Author Share Posted March 8, 2011 I thought about sealing it and turning into a pool. It never leaks slowly or never trickles. It's always dry. However, when we get these weather extremes, the water table rises and the water just comes right through any crack in the floor. It's all or nothing. I've only had a pool in there 2 or 3 times in 15 years. It's more like a bunker than a basement anyhow. There's nothing important kept below the waterline. It will probably take a couple of days for the water table to drop below the footings. It's a very hilly area so the water eventually runs away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowrider Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 (edited) I don't suppose you can't strip the basement and paint the concrete with a penetrating epoxy which soaks into the concrete and fills all the porous gaps in the concrete the water seeps through? There are a number of products for that job, mostly related to the penetrating epoxies used to stabilise the brick faces on old buildings undergoing restoration which basicly glue the whole frontage into a single surface instead of singles bricks. I would think it a bad idea to seal the basement totally. The force of the water would put a lot of stress on the footings, essentially making it a "house boat" or one would atleast think so. Either way, Its no fun wading in coldddd water during winter/spring time! Edited March 8, 2011 by lowrider Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deja Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Oh man that sucks. Ya just don't think about what happens when all that snow melts. Happened to me when I lived in Ohio. Our basement floor drain plugged up and when the snow outside melted and ran into the basement it had no where to go. Yeah I remember having to wade though that freezing water to did the drain out. So glad I live in the South now, I sure don't miss northern winters! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slownrusty Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 I feel your pain. Water in a house is a terrible and mortifying experience. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnusx1 Posted March 8, 2011 Author Share Posted March 8, 2011 (edited) The water stopped entering last night around 8pm so I was able to catch up and get it pumped down to just a wet floor by around 11pm. Now it's just a puddle. Two days of heavy rain are forecast again this week, so the pumps will stay right where they are. Yes, water outside the foundation creates a lot of hydrostatic pressure but it should not be a problem for these 15" thick poured concrete walls. I don't mind the water at this point. The basement is devoid of anything of value. I consider it an empty bucket. Bring it on! Edited March 8, 2011 by cygnusx1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilC Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 The rain is coming! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Get it all clean and dry, then coat everything 4' up the wall with UGL. That's what I did in michigan, and for the first time since 79 when the basement was put in, the place stayed dry with only a single dehumidifier. NO liquid moisture at all, no 'sweating walls' nothing! But yeah, put in a sump pump. Really, our other place in Michigan had a 'french drain' around the edge walls---basically moved the entire floor up 6" and left a tapered drain around the edge.Sweating walls went into that channel, to the 55 gallon sump under the stairs where a sump pump pushed it out and to the sewer. We had a water powered backup (highly recommended if you have lengthy power failures in the area---basically a jet pump powering the eductor with water pressure, you pull out 5-10 gallons for every gallon you push through the orifice. I make the assumtion this comes in through the wall... A drain arrangement like that, even if you loose 6" of height, gives you back dry floor for stuff. We were the only people in town with a full basement. An old german engineer built the house in 1947 and that was his solution. Worked great! Always have two pumps in your sump, if it really starts pouring in (we could get it from flooding in through the basement windows from standing water!) you can pump like crazy and never get a level in the actual flooring. And if the first one craps out, you can tell by the sound the backup is on. If you hear water running like crazy, you know both the electrics pooped out...and your water bill will be a tad higher that month (ironic, huh?) Or build the place on stilts... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnusx1 Posted March 9, 2011 Author Share Posted March 9, 2011 (edited) As far as I can tell the water flows in through the floor, or the joint between the wall and the floor. It never sweats, drips, or gets damp. It just floods all of a sudden when the water table rises. Our drinking water well is only 50 feet deep, where the usual depth around here is for a well pump is 200-500 feet. I am close some sort of underground water shelf even though I am on a hill. There must be some kind of bedrock formation underneath that pools ground water. I don't think I am going to try to seal it. It's more of a utility area so I will only store thing that can get wet and survive below the 2' line. I will keep a pump with a float switch active so that it won't surprise me next time. When we had a power failure for hurricane Floyd, I had four garden hoses siphoning water out of the basement, down to street level. Fortunately, street level is about a foot lower than the basement floor. Now I have a 6500W generator for that. I would dig a trench to the street and bury a drain line, but I would need to tear up the driveway. Honestly, it doesn't bother us too much since it's just utility space. An indoor lap pool has crossed my mind though! Edited March 9, 2011 by cygnusx1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 UGL is cheap and colorful. When I sealed mine, there was a 5 gallon bucket that someone mis-mixed and was bright pink. Wife said 'do you want that?' HELL YES! Sealant is sealant, I can always put another coat over it. And that is EXACTLY what I did! Whole basement was pink before it was white. Neighbors thought some strange things snooping around while I was working, they stayed politely silent on my color choice until they saw the finished product in white, then to a person they said 'what happened to the pink?' Hey, 5 gallons of UGL Sealant for $25 is TOO good to pass up! Sealing it likely will stop it from happening completely, believe it or not. UGL can take some pretty high hydrostatic pressures. My water table is less than 12' here in CA, so no basement. We're on the lake in Michigan, and it's even less. When the table gets high, both my neighbors are bailing like crazy. As was this place before the UGL. Since it's an 'unattended' place now, I didn't want water sitting there for months. It wasn't good for the floor joists. The humidity was persistently above 80% in the basement and wood borers were at work there. Now that I sealed it, with a single dehumidifier it keeps R/H below 40% and the wood stays dry. No more insects. And that's with a 1200 gallon cistern in the basement it keep it dry! I guess you have a seasonal cistern. You should pump the water to a tank and use it for showers and stuff.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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