Comments on: Waterproof Basement (mostly) http://www.nifty-stuff.com/waterproof-basement.php Everything Nifty - From Chickens & Gardening to Printers & Technology Wed, 28 Jul 2010 21:11:41 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: KEN BANGERTER http://www.nifty-stuff.com/waterproof-basement.php/comment-page-1#comment-1884 KEN BANGERTER Sun, 09 May 2010 22:41:23 +0000 http://www.nifty-stuff.com/waterproof-basement.php#comment-1884 YOU DEFINITELY FOUND THE LOCAL WATER TABLE AT THE 3/4 LINE. IF YOU SET THE PUMP FLOAT SWITCH TO PUMP AT THAT LEVEL, IT WOULD RUN FREQUENTLY OR CONTINUOUSLY UNTIL YOU LOWERED THE WATER TABLE. NOT SMART.THE ONLY PRACTICAL WAY TO LOWER THE WATER TABLE IS TO BURY DRAIN TILE BELOW THE WATER TABLE THAT CAN DRAIN BY GRAVITY TO LOWER GROUND. LACKING A PLACE TO DRAIN BY GRAVITY, FORGET ABOUT PUMPING DOWN UNLESS YOU OWN A POWER PLANT OR RUN A DC PUMP FROM YOUR SOLAR CELL SYSTEM. IT'S MORE EFFICIENT THAN CONVERTING THE DC TO AC TO RUN THE PUMP. YOU DEFINITELY FOUND THE LOCAL WATER TABLE AT THE 3/4 LINE. IF YOU SET THE PUMP FLOAT SWITCH TO PUMP AT THAT LEVEL, IT WOULD RUN FREQUENTLY OR CONTINUOUSLY UNTIL YOU LOWERED THE WATER TABLE. NOT SMART.THE ONLY PRACTICAL WAY TO LOWER THE WATER TABLE IS TO BURY DRAIN TILE BELOW THE WATER TABLE THAT CAN DRAIN BY GRAVITY TO LOWER GROUND. LACKING A PLACE TO DRAIN BY GRAVITY, FORGET ABOUT PUMPING DOWN UNLESS YOU OWN A POWER PLANT OR RUN A DC PUMP FROM YOUR SOLAR CELL SYSTEM. IT’S MORE EFFICIENT THAN CONVERTING THE DC TO AC TO RUN THE PUMP.

]]> By: Rob http://www.nifty-stuff.com/waterproof-basement.php/comment-page-1#comment-273 Rob Thu, 13 Mar 2008 05:24:25 +0000 http://www.nifty-stuff.com/waterproof-basement.php#comment-273 Lucky, thanks for the comment! I think a major reason for the previous water problems was the poor water drainage around the property. I've tried to alleviate that as much as I can. This winter (just ending) was pretty wet, and so far adding gutters, pulling the water away from the foundation with pipes and trenches, and plugging the holes in the walls has almost completely stopped the water from coming in through the walls. When the torrential rains were really hitting us, the pump was running quite frequently, but was more than able to keep up with the amount of water entering the sump pit. What I found interesting, and would love to get answered, is this: The sump pump would drain all the water out of the pit and then pretty quickly it would fill up about 3/4 of the way with water again. Once it hit this point it would significantly slow down and almost stop rising. I could then manually start the pump (lifting the float valve) and the same thing would happen again. Does this mean the water table / level was just at that 3/4 line of the pit for the surrounding area? Lucky, thanks for the comment! I think a major reason for the previous water problems was the poor water drainage around the property. I’ve tried to alleviate that as much as I can.

This winter (just ending) was pretty wet, and so far adding gutters, pulling the water away from the foundation with pipes and trenches, and plugging the holes in the walls has almost completely stopped the water from coming in through the walls.

When the torrential rains were really hitting us, the pump was running quite frequently, but was more than able to keep up with the amount of water entering the sump pit. What I found interesting, and would love to get answered, is this:

The sump pump would drain all the water out of the pit and then pretty quickly it would fill up about 3/4 of the way with water again. Once it hit this point it would significantly slow down and almost stop rising. I could then manually start the pump (lifting the float valve) and the same thing would happen again. Does this mean the water table / level was just at that 3/4 line of the pit for the surrounding area?

]]> By: Lucky http://www.nifty-stuff.com/waterproof-basement.php/comment-page-1#comment-242 Lucky Thu, 28 Feb 2008 06:23:06 +0000 http://www.nifty-stuff.com/waterproof-basement.php#comment-242 Just a few thoughts on water tables. A Water table is a body of water/saturated earth under the surface. It is were people get well water. You are not going to suddenly dig into an underground lake by putting in a sump-pump, you would have to go much, much deeper. Also its not just like a clear lake under the ground, it is composed of very saturated soil. I do think you are in an area with a high water table to be having such major problems. Judging by the pic's your house shouldn't even have a basement, but its there, so dig as many sump-pump holes as you want it won't make a differance. If your hole was 50-100 ft deep then you might have the problem your dad is describing, it's hard to tell because i don't know your location. Best of luck, looks like you need it. Just a few thoughts on water tables. A Water table is a body of water/saturated earth under the surface. It is were people get well water. You are not going to suddenly dig into an underground lake by putting in a sump-pump, you would have to go much, much deeper. Also its not just like a clear lake under the ground, it is composed of very saturated soil. I do think you are in an area with a high water table to be having such major problems. Judging by the pic’s your house shouldn’t even have a basement, but its there, so dig as many sump-pump holes as you want it won’t make a differance. If your hole was 50-100 ft deep then you might have the problem your dad is describing, it’s hard to tell because i don’t know your location. Best of luck, looks like you need it.

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