Dale, This is pretty much what the first company we had come out dexcribe they would do; they would do it all, from the outside.
But, their estimate was three times more, than doing it indoors, and we just don't have the money for that currently. Claudia ----- Original Message ----- From: Dale Leavens To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2008 10:31 PM Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] Another Estimate! I doubt that they plan to set the pumps up outside but it is an option. Rather than build a sump in the basement floor in some or other corner one could dig all around the outside, lay in the tile and backfill with crushed rock and sand but form a sump and well maybe a cement block walled well with a sump at the bottom along one wall with a cover. The pump would live in the sump at the bottom of the well, water would be collected in the tile around the perimeter of the wall and drain into the sump where the pump would carry it away. They don't do it that way here because the frost line generally exceeds four feet particularly where there is any traffic compressing the snow cover although there could be enough heat loss through the basement wall to prevent freezing. If the basement wall is insulated then it would not likely be enough. I am guessing that in Indiana a little insulation in the cover of the well would be plenty. It would mean that you don't need a hole in your basement floor for the sump or the need to push a pipe under the footing to bring the water to the sump inside. I wonder if anyone has thought of arranging the sump on the outside. It is also worth while asking where they intend to pump the water to. Clearly you want it down hill from your home and probably not into the sewer which can be expected to be at capacity during a storm when you need this protection the most. Once water is being withdrawn before it penetrates the walls you should soon experience an improvement in the moisture in the basement area. An indoor collection is much easier to do and thus the much lower price. I would think it also the less convenient in the long term. In the short term though, digging up your yard is pretty darn inconvenient. a trench say two feet wide and four or more feet deep depending on the depth of the basement will liberate a load of muck most of which to be hauled away and replaced with sand and gravel. Messy and of course a lot more money. ----- Original Message ----- From: Claudia To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2008 9:36 PM Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] Another Estimate! Dale, This is exactly what they're planning to do, make a drain tile system around the perimeter of the basement. They will drill three holes in the cinder blocks at the bottom, and build a pit, where one, but possibly two, pumps, will be installed, if we choose to go that route. Are you saying that, if it freezes where I am, we may not want to have the pumps on the outside, as they will freeze? We're in Indiana, so we do have hard winters here. We're looking at three other companies; I hope to get this estimating portion done soon! Claudia ----- Original Message ----- From: Dale Leavens To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2008 6:45 PM Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] Another Estimate! This is typical of cement or cinder block walls. There are cavities and water, filtering through the outer shell will in fact fill the voids in the block and migrate slowly through the inside shell. where the blocks are painted on the inside this takes longer. If the basement isn't sufficiently heated that water can freeze and destroy the block walls and yes it will produce high humidity in the area. Many many years ago I did exactly that for a neighbour, drilled holes at the bottom of the block, three per block. It was remarkable how much water flowed out. I am guessing they intend to bust up a channel around the perimeter of the basement floor and line it with weeping tile and dig a sump hole to empty the tile into. This is not an unusual way to deal with the problem and a lot cheaper, it accepts that water will enter and you will deal with it when it does.It is not the method I would choose although you will probably need to bring the water into the building at some point and into a sump to be pumped out, I am guessing that is what the first company will do. They could of course excavate a sump along the side of the building outside particularly if you live where freezing isn't likely to be a concern, we don't do that up here because the sump would freeze in the winter and destroy the pump but I don't se any reason why not elsewhere. You could have a well down to footing level with the pump in it and a cover for access should it need replacement or to clean it out. I would wait to hear from the others. The cracking isn't probably much to be concerned with unless the outside soil is crushing the walls in. If so then only by excavating around the outside can it be fixed.Really though there isn't now any hurry unless you have another unusual deluge. the work can wait until next spring. This might well be the better time as well. There will be a lot of pressure on the builders now and probably less next spring. ----- Original Message ----- From: Claudia To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2008 2:29 AM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Another Estimate! Hi All, We obtained another estimate from a basement waterproofing company! This estimate came in at $5800, and $7000, if we add another sump pump and a back-up battery system. This company will only take care of the work inside of the house; they are talking about putting a drain tile system, around the entire perimeter of the basement, installing a pit with a sump pump in it. They told us, by measuring the water levels in the house, that we have 3.5 feet of water, within our cinderblock walls. They stated that they would drill holes in the cinderblocks at the bottom that would drain out all of the water that's currently in the walls, into the drainage system they would build. Is it possible that cinderblock can hold such large amounts of water like this? They indicated this is partially the cause of our basement always smelling damp and mildewy! Okay, so this is only an inside system; they will not fix foundation problems outside or cracks on the floors or walls inside! If we don't get the foundation issues resolved as well, which is what Everdry was talking about, what kind of continual damage will we have, to the structure and soundness of our home? We have two more companies coming out, but the first can't come, until 10-17, and the second can't come until 10-27. On another note, the drain in our laundry room has finally been cleared out; there was a lot of gook and sediment in there, from when we got all the water; I am again able to wash clothes, and our washer is finally set up, the way it should have been, from the beginning. Claudia Join either of my groups; the first is for visually-impaired women, while the other is for people wishing to discuss homemaking issues. [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
