Sorry, I wasn’t sure which forum this would fit best in.
Here’s the situation...
We did a soil survey in February, and it already showed groundwater at a depth of 1.8m (6 feet). However, because of the basement, we need to dig more than 3m (10 feet) deep. Our immediate neighbors didn’t have any issues with groundwater. They built basements and everything was fine. The only difference is that they started excavation in May/June, while we planned to start in March.
The construction company suggested that to keep costs efficient, we should wait 1–2 months until the groundwater level settles. We suspect there was a lot of rain in January/February.
The builder said we could also pump out the water, but that would add around 10,000 USD in extra costs. Is it really that expensive?
We plan to wait until the end of May, then check again if the groundwater is lower and start construction. If there’s still groundwater, I guess our only option is to pump it out, right?
Here’s the situation...
We did a soil survey in February, and it already showed groundwater at a depth of 1.8m (6 feet). However, because of the basement, we need to dig more than 3m (10 feet) deep. Our immediate neighbors didn’t have any issues with groundwater. They built basements and everything was fine. The only difference is that they started excavation in May/June, while we planned to start in March.
The construction company suggested that to keep costs efficient, we should wait 1–2 months until the groundwater level settles. We suspect there was a lot of rain in January/February.
The builder said we could also pump out the water, but that would add around 10,000 USD in extra costs. Is it really that expensive?
We plan to wait until the end of May, then check again if the groundwater is lower and start construction. If there’s still groundwater, I guess our only option is to pump it out, right?
We also have groundwater at this depth and for that reason alone, we did not consider having a basement. We don’t miss the basement at all, even though we had one before. Our neighbors built with basements; we know that one of them paid an extra 30,000 euros for a waterproof concrete shell (“white tank”). Another neighbor had no groundwater during excavation. About six houses down, a house with a basement was built last year, and during the entire basement construction, groundwater was pumped out day and night—I walked by there every day... it was incredible how much water was flowing out through thick hoses. I have also seen several houses in this development where basements were waterproofed afterward, and the soil around the basement was excavated again—the houses have been standing for 10 to 14 years. So having a “white tank” does not mean that the basement will stay watertight for decades.
Best regards,
Sabine
Best regards,
Sabine
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