Basement on a high water table level
mcelroy
| Posted in GBA Pro Help on
Living in Woodstock, NY. House is on a high water table level. Cracks appearing all over basement floor water coming thru in Spring thaw and heavy rains.
Also, wet walls.
Suggestions, other than moving are appreciated.
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Replies
Patricia,
Here's some basic information to get you started:
https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/green-basics/foundation-drains-0
We had that same problem on a house we built - unfortunately is was not a very cheap fix - we essentially had to get an underground rainwater harvesting tank - a few thounsand gallons I believe and had to put a heavy duty pump on it to pump the water up to the street - none of our foundation drains cold be run to daylight due to the elevation of the lot and the surrounding lots. To be safe we hooked the pump up to a backup generator that ran on natural gas and also had a battery backup. Turned out to be very expensive - so far we have been lucky and have not had any problems but I would recommend hiring a civil engineer to size the tank, pump and discrage pipe.
Hi Patricia,
You might want to read this too:
Water Management
Dan
Depending on the topography and hydrology of the site, the least expensive option might be to dig a French drain in a location which will allow the effective dewatering of the ground around and under the basement.
I would start, however, with a hydrological or soil engineer to determine the source of the ground water and the best strategy for intercepting it.