# Footing High Water Table



## excelsior (Feb 11, 2010)

Looking for some advice on pouring footings on top of stone. I have been told that by putting the footings on stone it will help keep the basement dry. My plan is to put the stone at the point where I hit the water table. I'm in up state NY and building a house where the water table is about 6 ft down ( my excavator dug a test pit last month). The local stone quarry is telling me to use a #2 crushed limestone. My question is whether I will be able to tamp this larger stone enough to be used under footings? I was under the impression that the larger stone was better for drainage and it doesn't seem like you can have good pack and drainage at the same time. Never used stone under footing and have always used natural stone around footings not crushed stone. Also any input on whether it will even help with stone under footings?


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## dakzaag (Jan 6, 2009)

Are you a home owner? I understand in this case you are the home owner, but are you really a GC or just the gc for your own home? There is a section for homeowners to ask questions, if this applies to you then you should go there.

#2 is a good load bearing stone, often the first layer down when building a road or driveway. How are you going to pour the footing on top of water?

Lots of questions, not so many easy answers. Get someone who knows what they are doing to help you. A house should last 60-80 years, it won't kill you to take the extra time and do it right the first time. And the money you save by doing it right the first time you can send to your friends at CT.:thumbsup:


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## excelsior (Feb 11, 2010)

DK I am a contractor with most of my work is in fire restoration and additions. This is a project where I am trying to get a dry basement. The plan as I mentioned was to put down stone at the point where I hit the water table(not in the water), after which we would pour the footings. As far doing things right the first time that why I'm bouncing the idea off of guys on this site


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## katoman (Apr 26, 2009)

We use what is called shot rock. This is stone 3-4" in size. No problem with compaction, but we use a large machine for this, not a hand held unit.

I'm not familiar with your local stone designations, every area seems to use different terms. For a difinitive answer as to what to use in your particular situation, you could consult a soil engineer.

Might be worth the couple hundred bucks. I should note that in our case, it is a soil engineer specifying and signing off on the proper stone product, and the installation of it.


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## greg24k (May 19, 2007)

Keep your basement floor elevation 1' above the water table and you will have a dry basement. I'm building homes with high water table all the time, doing a house right now, water table is at 54".


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## concretemasonry (Dec 1, 2006)

Drain tile inside or outside (or both) at he bottom of the footing is the cheapest thing you can do to get a dry basement and reduce the lateral pressure on the walls. - Drain to daylight and put in a sump and pump.


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## Ayerzee (Jan 4, 2009)

concretemasonry said:


> Drain tile inside or outside (or both) at he bottom of the footing is the cheapest thing you can do to get a dry basement and reduce the lateral pressure on the walls. - Drain to daylight and put in a sump and pump.


I don't mean to hijack the thread but this got me thinking. Is it true that backfilling with tile instead of #57's is better because the tiles lock together and don't put any lateral pressure on the foundation walls?


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