Mother of all Overactive Sump Pumps 1

[Fibernut]

Hi,

I own a house built in 1910 which is one block off of a large lake, and near some storm-water marsh/pond areas. There is a reason why builders don't put basements in lake-homes, and my house is an example of why this is a bad idea.

During the spring and summer a large volume of clean water is constantly being expelled, eventually running into a pond across the street. The pump will run 5-7 times per minute for two months, gradually slowing and some years stopping by late fall. This winter we had 2" of rain new years eve, and now it is pumping again (in the middle of Minnesota winter!!!)

Surface drainage issues are fine. I am convinced the problem is groundwater related. Once in the 6 years I have owned the house the pumps failed during a large storm and an inch of water quickly entered the basement. The rest of the time the pumps do their job. It is just an extremely annoying problem that I would like to permanently solve.

THANKFULLY.... the 500 sq-ft basement is unfinished, with utilities and laundry only.

I am considering my options and would like some opinions from anyone who has dealt with a problem such as this.

I am considering abandoning the basement and moving utilities into a newly built 'utility room'. As part of this rennovation I would basically raise the floor three feet, which would match other areas of the house with a crawl-space underneath.

* What are the foundational issues with this.
* What type of fill materials should be used (they will be wet for a few inches at the bottom.

Thanks for your comments.

 

[oldestguy]

Wow, usually the question is how can I add a basement.

I'd not do it. I'd continue to live with it and sell the house some day with a full depth basement. You might not get in enough fill to be sure of no water. Really crawl spaces are not nice for some folks.

For that occasion when the pump fails, with a flood in the basement, why not do some work to mitigate the problems then. The problems of moisture affecting the upper floors would seem to be the main thing to think about.

This can be handled by insulating between the floor joists and then covering the underside with a good vapor barrier.

In this way you can vent out the place to reduce the moisture and eventually get back to normal.

We have added an outside man-hole connected to the drain systems like yours, so that during high water and power outages a gasoline driven pump can run out there.

I have worked on a site where the basement crawl space was built like a concrete boat to float on crappy soil, but the local building department didn't want to see the building float when flood waters came up. So, they insisted on filling the crawl space with clear stone (just adding weight we were trying to keep off the site). That stone fill would not get muddy and be difficult to drain later.

I would just have let the water in throuth openings and later let it flow out when the flood went away. The floor above in that case was treated as I describe above.

Depending on your site, if the water is sitting on top of some impervious maaterial such as hard clay, rock, etc. the outside can be surrounded with a water proof seal. This can be done by digging a trench and filling it with "sealing" material, such as clay or, if you can afford it, a barrier made with soil and bentonite. Such a barrier is commonly done for leaking landfills, etc. There are contractors in this business. It needs the design by an experienced geotechnical engineer.

 

[bimr]

oldestguy has provided a good post.

There are not any big issues involved. If you are tired of dealing with the problem, go ahead and put in a crawl space.

You will need to put in a new foundation drain and sump pump about 3 feet above the current system.

Use aggregate as fill and place it on the existing floor.

Install holes in the foundation walls as well as in the old floor to allow the water to enter and exit. You probably should just break up the floor and leave it in place. It is doubtful that the old floor is very thick since it was not common to put in a thick floor that many years ago.

Install a new vapor barrier and crawl space concrete floor at the new level.

You also need to add a sanitary drain on the new floor as it is require by the plumbing code. (A sanitary drain is required when you have a concrete floor.)

 

[cvg]

maybe it would be cheaper / better to upgrade the sump and pump. Enlarge the sump significantly to hold a larger volume. Upgrade the pump at the same time and then maybe you can reduce the pump starts to only a few times per hour. Installation of a second pump might be useful - if the first one fails you will have a spare, plus they could be set to alternate starts which would extend the life of the pumps.

 

[Scott367]

I think adding a battery back up would be some cheap insurance against outages during a storm when you most need it.

 

[bimr]

A water-powered backup sump pump is probably the way to go rather than the battery backup model. No maintenance and and reliable if you are on city water.

http://www.aymcdonald.com/ProdList_Pumps.cfm?getgroup=95&sendCat=9