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I'm digging out my basement and am seeing water flow in because the water table is very high right now. My thoughts are that once I cemented the basement and created a sealed box so to speak the water would not come in. My neighbor disagrees and says the water will lift the cement floor. I've dug down 3 feet so far and prior to this dig out I only had water come in on occasion, not nearly what I'm seeing now. I find it hard to believe that 3 feet of compressed dirt would prevent water and 12 inches of concrete would not.

Am I wrong?

Tester101
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BasementDigger
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1 Answers1

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I'm not entirely clear what you are asking. If the water table is 3' from the surface, I agree with your neighbor...a basement is a bad idea.

Concrete is porous so in and off itself will do absolutely nothing to stop the water. You can waterproof it by applying a rubber based membrane to the outside, but with a high water table, it will always try to find a way in. You'd have to definitely install French drains and a sump pump as well.

DA01
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    +1, without proper drainage and waterproofing, you will be building an inground pool! Your neighbor is right. – shirlock homes Oct 17 '11 at 22:33
  • i dont think the water table is 3' from the surface. I was 3 feet down all summer and didn't see water. Only recently with the recent storm I can see that the water table is quite high. The lake around the corner is at its highest edge. – BasementDigger Oct 18 '11 at 01:01
  • wait...there's a lake around the corner? That's another strike against a basement being a good idea in this location. – DA01 Oct 18 '11 at 01:39
  • The lake is 1.5 miles and down a hill – BasementDigger Oct 18 '11 at 10:02