# In areas with a high water table,



## GettingBy (Aug 19, 2010)

anybody do a totally waterproof basement, either with 
a membrane external to the basement or 
a welded steel hull or
a prefab concrete shell?

No sump pump or drainage necessary?


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## dayexco (Mar 4, 2006)

I think depending on elevation of static water table in relation to basement floor elevation if you don't have enough weight on it you may create a submarine. .

Personally I think it would be better to take measures to lower water table.


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## rino1494 (Jan 31, 2006)

Without proper drainage, static water pressure could pop you basement slab. IMO, there is no totally waterproof basement.


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## GettingBy (Aug 19, 2010)

Thanks. This will not be easy. Reading these may put me to sleep.

http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a225108.pdf
and
http://www.google.com/patents/US5845456

I'm thinking the weight of the house will keep a waterproof basement down, but a 900 sf, 8' high basement would displace 225 tons of water. 

Do houseboats have basements? 

Sounds like piers or a sump pump or drainage or a very heavy house or helical piers keeping the basement in the basement.:blink:


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## mikeswoods (Oct 11, 2008)

Some houses should not have basements----you will be running pumps 24/7 --and bailing the place out every time you have a pump failure---


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## muskoka guy (Nov 16, 2013)

I agree with mikewoods. When we built my mothers house she wanted a basement. We did a test hole for the septic system and found the water table only down less than two feet. Sorry ma, no basement. There are people close to her who have half basements below grade. Every spring they are running pumps steady to keep the basement from flooding. Sooner or later the pump will fail or the hydro will go out when your not home. Bad by design. Once something floods it very hard to dry it out properly. Mold would be an issue. We did a full frost foundation then a slab for my mom. We raised the yard two or three feet.


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## dayexco (Mar 4, 2006)

you can buy a LOT of placed fill on a residential lot for 10k....raise the house up to proper elevation and not worry about it.....

OR!!!...place the proper drainage system around the home...

OR!!!...have a pump fail and do $30k damage to your finished basement....

never could figure out why anybody would ever consider putting a structure into a known water table...or with soils that are so saturated/impervious..they've got no where to go but into the basement.

water will take the EASIEST route...gravity dictates that. hole or crack in the wall/floor, it's coming in.


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## GettingBy (Aug 19, 2010)

It seems what saves our basement is the sump water never rises to the floor surface level and is most of the time totally dry. 
We probably never needed a sump pump but it came with the house and when it failed I put in a new 1/6 hp which should be able to handle a 1 GPM refill rate raised 7'.

I read the long document. 
The books mentioned at the end may have gone into later editions but overall I'm not optimistic about waterproofing. 
Even for a perfect system, schedule pressures will possibly prevent following the install instructions to the letter.
Maybe a precast impermeable concrete shell with 1' thick walls could do for a waterproof basement but who does this, if it could be done?

Thanks, folks. . .:thumbsup:


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## muskoka guy (Nov 16, 2013)

I know of one in town a contractor friend of mine did. For some reason they had to have a basement and they lived right beside the river. I think my buddy told me they had to pour the basement floor three feet thick just to act as a weight to keep the house from floating up. Recipe for a large bill in the future WHEN it floods. Would not even consider a basement in a high water table situation.


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## Morning Wood (Jan 12, 2008)

That happened here on a job. Dug hole poured footers walls and slab. Framer came to frame and everything stopped. Apparently the thing had floated up. Ended up hammering everything out and the poured a massive thick slab and added some weird dewatering system. Happened to a builder who is not loved, so i don't think alot of people cared much.


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## Rio (Oct 13, 2009)

Do houseboats have basements? 

No, but they have bilges.


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## GettingBy (Aug 19, 2010)

Rio said:


> Do houseboats have basements?
> 
> No, but they have bilges.


Bilge pump = sump pump


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## GaryEvans (May 13, 2015)

It probably is possible to build a basement that is actually waterproof.

How much money you got ?

You basically have to build it like an undeground concrete water reservoir.
removing concrete, lots of new concrete, zypex, waterstop, engineers..........and more money of course.


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