ᐅ Water Issues in Winter in the Shell Construction or Basement
Created on: 10 Feb 2014 09:47
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p.galiosHello dear forum community!
We are in the process of building a wooden house, which will not be erected until early March.
At the end of December this year, our basement was completed (outside: poured concrete walls, inside: brick walls).
Currently, however, there is about 2-3 cm (1 inch) of water standing in the unfinished basement.
The basement ceiling is provisionally covered with boards and plastic sheets around the riser shafts, staircase opening, and chimney hole, but this is still not fully effective, so water keeps seeping in.
There are no windows installed yet either.
Now to my question:
Should I pump the water out of the basement, or is it not a problem?
My construction supervisor says it is absolutely no problem to leave the water standing since it’s still just a shell.
However, I am worried because I’m afraid the water will freeze during winter and could damage the brick walls.
I also understand that I will never be able to completely get rid of the water, as water will continue to enter until the wooden house is in place.
I could pump out the water once a week since there is only about one month left until the wooden house is erected.
And even after the house is built, I would have to pump the water out eventually, as otherwise it will never dry out.
I would appreciate your opinions on this topic.
Thank you in advance!
Peter


We are in the process of building a wooden house, which will not be erected until early March.
At the end of December this year, our basement was completed (outside: poured concrete walls, inside: brick walls).
Currently, however, there is about 2-3 cm (1 inch) of water standing in the unfinished basement.
The basement ceiling is provisionally covered with boards and plastic sheets around the riser shafts, staircase opening, and chimney hole, but this is still not fully effective, so water keeps seeping in.
There are no windows installed yet either.
Now to my question:
Should I pump the water out of the basement, or is it not a problem?
My construction supervisor says it is absolutely no problem to leave the water standing since it’s still just a shell.
However, I am worried because I’m afraid the water will freeze during winter and could damage the brick walls.
I also understand that I will never be able to completely get rid of the water, as water will continue to enter until the wooden house is in place.
I could pump out the water once a week since there is only about one month left until the wooden house is erected.
And even after the house is built, I would have to pump the water out eventually, as otherwise it will never dry out.
I would appreciate your opinions on this topic.
Thank you in advance!
Peter
We had a similar situation. The statement was also: drying it completely is very difficult.
In the meantime, we emptied it once and then, one week before the house arrived, we fully dried it using construction dryers (fortunately, it didn’t rain for that week).
The problem is: once the house is installed and fully sealed after three days, all the moisture from the basement rises into your wooden house. That’s why it’s important to try to get it dry as much as possible one week in advance.
In the meantime, we emptied it once and then, one week before the house arrived, we fully dried it using construction dryers (fortunately, it didn’t rain for that week).
The problem is: once the house is installed and fully sealed after three days, all the moisture from the basement rises into your wooden house. That’s why it’s important to try to get it dry as much as possible one week in advance.
@ Wastl:
Thank you for the suggestion.
I will now simply dry out the basement once a week until the wooden house is built on top of it.
This is mainly to prevent frost damage and also because otherwise, the drying time would be much longer.
I already have a pump and a wet vacuum cleaner available, and the temporary construction power supply is still connected.
As a builder, you really have to take care of quite a few things yourself that you wouldn't have expected beforehand.
Many thanks!
Thank you for the suggestion.
I will now simply dry out the basement once a week until the wooden house is built on top of it.
This is mainly to prevent frost damage and also because otherwise, the drying time would be much longer.
I already have a pump and a wet vacuum cleaner available, and the temporary construction power supply is still connected.
As a builder, you really have to take care of quite a few things yourself that you wouldn't have expected beforehand.
Many thanks!
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