There is only one solution to water in the basement, and that is to manage it. If water can come in, it will. And it will do a massive amount of damage. The foundation should have been built with tiling both inside and out the footing. They should be connect thru the footing  to create one system.

If this was originally drained by gravity to a storm or sanitary system and it is inadequate, you need to abandon that and replace it with a pumped system: a sump and pump. The ideal place for this is, near where the old floor drainage exited the building. You may find that there is a floor drain and trap right before the exit.

You can buy a Zoeller pump; and you can buy a Liberty, made in New York, and my favorite. You should be able to purchase the 1/3 HP with switching mechanism for approximately $100.

We can walk you thru a good set-up, after you get ready to do the work. ItÂs great fun!

Pinoke

I knew you would answer ! Thanks - "great fun" well your definition and my don't correlate - but I'm much obliged that you are here!

The ideal place for this is, near where the old floor drainage exited the building. You may find that there is a floor drain and trap right before the exit.

How do I find that????? no floor drain and no trap - I'll search again but I have gone over this floor with a fine tooth comb....
Another thought - although unlikely is - Last fall when we took in a LOT of water - I was using the 12 gal shop vac through the nite to keep the water managable - following that we had a company come and remove ALL The paint from the slab - house is 75 yrs old they used a soy type stripper - as lead paint was found & they have to adhere to guidelines for removal - could that have affected anything? AND once I get the sump pump in do I re paint slab ? with what drylock, 2 part epoxy?

I'll meet with the mason perhaps he can find something i'm not -

"step by step" is what i need now - in the interim i have the whole renovation project upstairs to attend to

Many thanks
Eileen

You know, every home is built uniquely and in its own location. It is impossible to tell you what to look for and where, except that if the house was built to BOCA code it will have some standard features, including the footing drainage.

In those years, it was acceptable to connect the foundation drain to the sanitary drain. It was known then that plenty of water is good for a sanitary line. But, over the years, waste water management has changed the rules. So, your lines may have been altered in that much time.

Since you are seeking professional service, the mason can tell you the specifics of this house, relative to the drainage.

The issue of lead-in-paint is right up there with fixing global warming. If you dont live in Massachusetts, Id be surprised. Removing lead-based paint from a basement floor using tofu, yet is so kinky, I get horny just writing about it.

I mean: who would give a fig if a floor were painted with lead-bearing paint? That issue is limited to children eating the paint from the walls of houses that were so-painted. They are all adults now and teaching college at Berkley. Soon they will be rounded up and melted down and turned into solder; and the problem will go away forever.

In the meantime, you can take comfort in the fact that UGL® and epoxy type paints will keep the water out of your basement. The bad part is, it will cause your basement floor to float, lifting it, and blasting you out of bed on a Sunday morning, just because you maybe should have been in church, instead.

Im sorry, Eileen, to sound so judgmental, but when you say, " they used a soy type stripper," I can just imagine that you have been, ahm, abused. "A soy type stripper?" My gosh! Lord knows, there are still too many Kennedys. And the good die young.

Somehow, you need to get reality in line with costs. Let me tell you an anecdote.

I had a mother-in-law. (It came with the wife. Not something I asked for.) She lived her whole life with flooding basements. When she, once, had a modern home with three pumps to evacuate her sump, it so happened that the power had a way of going out, too.

After one storm, she called to explain that she spent the whole night dipping water from her sump crock and carrying it to the top of her stairs, where she dumped it into the toilet. Of course that water went out to the sanitary sewer.

What she did not understand, and refused to believe, was that, for every pail of water the she removed, another pailful entered, because water seeks its own level. She insisted that she had kept the wolf from the door, by carry water all night. Hopefully, you can see the folly in that.

(As for MIL, she now rests, eternally, in ground water, which is both a tribute to her and a well-deserved outcome for not believing me.)

I would never wish that upon you, I lean. I say that only because you trust me, something MIL refused to do; probably because her daughter, still my heart of hearts, became the mother of my children.

What all of this leads to is, water will go to the lowest place in your basement.

That is where it should flow to the outside. Either it already does; or you must force it to do so.

But go gently. MIL was buried with her glasses, a pearl necklace and a 5-gallon bucket. My guess is, she cant keep up with the water. Someday, Ill check just to make sure shes OK.

Pinoke

Ask this old house did a segment on installing a sump pump.
They ran the outlet pipe out the side of the house by drilling a hole through the rim joist and running the pipe on the ground to a flex pipe and out into the yard.

a sump pump

Tom helps a homeowner install a submersible sump-pump to help relieve hydrostatic pressure underneath her basement floor. Tom begins by determining where to locate the pump. He then takes a sump basin, turns it upside-down, and traces the circuference onto the concrete floor. Tom and the homeowner then use an electric jackhammer to break up the concrete and then dig a pit deep enough to accept the plastic basin. Tom cuts off the bottom of the basin and inserts the basin into the sump pit on top of a layer of filter fabric. The hole in the bottom of the basin and filter fabric will allow water to enter from underneath without clogging the pump with silt. They then add crushed stone around the basin to keep it upright. Tom then puts some crushed stone and a paver inside the basin to prop up the pump to the desired height and keep gravel from getting sucked inside. Tom then installs a check-valve to prevent water that has been pumped out from reentering the pit. Tom then cuts a hole in the framing above the pump for a discharge pipe that will carry water to the outside of the house. He then glues and assembles the parts for the discharge pipe and fastens it to the foundation wall with brackets and masonry fasteners. Finally, Tom trowels concrete over the crushed stone and feathers it to blend with the surrounding floor. Back in the loft, Tom and Richard show Kevin two types of "backup" sump pumps. One operates off of a 12-volt marine battery and another is powered by city water pressure.

Where to Find It
RIDGID (model#SP-500)
888-743-4333
www.ridgid.com/Tools/SP-500-Sump-Pump/

Sump pumps and the other tools and materials for this project (including PVC pipe, brackets, check valves, and jackhammers) can be purchased or rented at you local home center.

Up in the loft, Tom and Richard showed two types of emergency backup sump pump systems. A 12-volt marine "deep-cycle" battery powers one and another is powered by city water pressure.

Battery-powered backup sump pump (with alarm):

Aquanot II
Zoeller Pump Co.
3649 Cane Rd
Louisville, KY 40211
800-928-PUMP
www.zoeller.com/zcopump/products/backupsystems/aquanot.htm

Rjoh - Thanks I printed this & will go over it w/mason - what a great help!!! the kind i really need

Pinoke,

Not only are you a wonderful reference - you are HYSTERICAL - I could not stop laughing reading your post ... it is just my kind of humor -

I have to have my husband read this, he will die - His claim is "family, people you would not ordinarily be associated with" coupled with "i hate people" - nice ..
I can picutre your MIL with glasses, pearls and bucket, resting in or floating in peace - too funny

I didn't go into lurid details re: "tofu" stripper - We had a flood Oct 05 due to a faulty auto feeder valve to steam furnace - When the boiler called for water - it got water ! and then some, and then some more - Dear hubby was outside "saving money" by attempting to do his own brakes on the Crown Vic (estimate was $800)in the driveway - I was at a college volleyball game w/my son - I came home to my prized possession - oriental rug in the driveway in a ball - hubby in living room under hurricane conditions- w/the 12 gal shop vac- "Raining" in my living room, a pond on the floor and radiators that were spewing water everywhere.

Fast foward to the professional cleanup crew (after I cried, called insurance co. they sent them) - they brought all their sucker upper equip, dehumidifiers, ripped up carpeting took out all area rugs etc...

Came back the following week to remove the largest plaster ceiling in the house Living room 12'x23' despite my inquiry and concern with exposure and enviromental concerns- they were going to "seal the area off" - hmmmm-
So, imagine the debris, mess, aftermath of this "sealed off" area w/plaster (wood lathe) being carried throughout the house to the dumpster!

We have 7 children btwn hubby & I the youngest is 2yrs old -
They wanted to pull carpeting up from a floor (used to be a porch) that had 9x9 tile under it, I refused to let them - they wanted to take out the entire dinning room ceiling -I called environmental testing Co - Made the insurance adjuster cringe -
Yes, we were + for lead throughout the house - Ins co. wanted to just test the living room area after much debate I stood my ground with the issue that the demo sent debris to all areas of the house -

I think it was the day I had a meltdown and sent 10 workers who were demo'ing out - Ranting "we have 7 babies what is (actually i said H-E (double hockey sticks) wrong with you people why would you knowingly expose us to this???"

and the ins co. was giving me a hard time about the envirn testing issue with the "well we don't know what the prior condition was", "did you ever have lead testing done" - My response was no, i had not, I had no reason to, as we we not in a state of disturbing 75 yo lead paint - But if they felt the need to continue down this road I had a solution - I had just had the 2yo tested for lead 4 mos prior - so, I knew her "pre-existing condition" - I could easily have her tested so we could have comparitive values and deal with the facts - Then I stated - "you will no longer have just a property and personal belongings issue, you will have a human life issue and we would have the 6 other children tested as well" I also starting asking if the insurance adjuster had environmental awareness training of what potential exposures are - hmmmm yes, she did - then the finger pointing game began ins co. vs. the remediation co.

I suddenly got the most unbelievable service!!! Funny how things happen - I'm a fair person - but when I feel you pushing & shoving me into a corner - Look out!
That (sorry a long way to get here) led to the basement floor issue, as the flooding caused 75yrs of paint to peel

I think all involved may have learned something by there stupidity - The remediation co. told me they have since adopted a new policy - No demo prior to envirn testing -

The irony is, the insurance co. new all along they would have to displace us while our home was under repair - DUH why have demo while we are still in the house - Penny wise pound foolish -

So, while I'm NOt a tofu head - I do believe that we have to protect the innocent from any evil or exposure to the best of our ability - that my friend is a the long and short of it. Just stupidity in my book - We cried at the loss of plaster as well as the exposure - it was all needless - the entire ceiling did NOT have to be demo'd
I did not pay for the "tofu" paint removal - the stupid insurance co. did - once revealed they HAD no choice but to abide by strict protocol -

Hazmat suits and all - so the state certified remediation crews descended on our home while they had to put us up in a hotel (kids loved it, I didn't) then we came back to the house only to move back out to a rental (that i found thank you - they were talking about a condo - hmmmm I don't live in a condo and I have a single fam home, garage etc....)

I could have really kept going here - if nothing else you helped me purge some pent up frustrations with the stupidity of corporate america -

whew I feel better now -
thanks for your humor and your advice

Eileen

Glad you feel better, girl. You need the relief.

I think on second thought you might better put in the ½-horse pump. Sounds like you generate your own Katrinas back East.

I was going to suggest a great way to find out where the low spot is in your basement. But it seems redundant, now.

Maybe, in another thread, we can make sure your foundation drain is ready for the worst.

Pinoke

"The issue of lead-in-paint is right up there with fixing global warming. If you dont live in Massachusetts, Id be surprised. Removing lead-based paint from a basement floor using tofu, yet is so kinky, I get horny just writing about it."

Clever. I'm surprised that twelve-year olds are present in plumbing forums. It's pathetic to think that anyone who calls himself an adult would make such an ignorant statement, and even sadder that there are humans miserable enough in existence to see humor in it. Really, go back to b^tching about gay marriage and the dire need to save babies in a world with 6.5 billion people.

What?????????

You're so freakin' bored, you had to reach back almost a year into the archives just so you could post your silly rant?

Get a life!!!