Hey folks, after looking and reading some of the horror stories on here, i'm hoping what I have not quite as bad as what I've seen. What we have is a basement cellar that has been dug out to accomodate an oil burning furnace, water heater, and sump. At some point, one could see a concrete slab around these areas but now only traces. When we first looked at the house with the realtor, I walked into the basement and found mud approx 2" thick all on the floor (did not see the slab at this time). The perimeter is squared and its est 12'X20'. Surrounding this perimeter are walls of dirt at 90 degree angles but they are eroding (crumbling) in some places. The mud on the floor and the erosion tell me this is an existing problem from water seepage from under the foundation. Keep in mind that this house probably does not have a poured slab but maybe one or two rows of cinder blocks and then 2' of bricking on top. The house is pretty old. After having a structural engineer/home inspector do a home inspection, he said we should install a french drain around the perimeter of hte inside dirt walls directing any incoming water into a large sump. Since our first visit to the house over four months ago, the problem has dried up and now its packed dirt on the concrete floor put in umpteen years ago. We have gotten estimates and consultations from waterproofers over the last couple of weeks and have been told relatively the same thing as the inspector to run a french drain around the perimeter of the dirt walls into a sump. We may even should consider blocking the perimeter to prevent anymore erosion of the dirt walls after the drain was installed. One contractor said they would also paraseal the two outside walls where most of the water is coming from (forgot to say that our backyard slopes directly down to our backside foundation). It seems that the problem with many of hte houses in this particular area have the same problem that water does not come through the cracks in the foundation walls but from underneath the foundation and out of the dirt walls that surround the cellar perimeter if I understand this correctly. Tonight I went and saw what the most expensive contractor will do. He will jackhamer/dig about 18"s both into and away fro the dirt walls. Then he will install a "technical" french drain system around the perimeter into a newly dug sump system. After, the drain and sump are installed, he will sink 4x4 posts along the perimeter and wall up to the edge of the 18" drain with OSB. He will then repour approx 4"'s back into the walls and he flashed from the repoured concrete to the OSB. The people were very please with what he had done and he has many references, but the job is pricey. I have hte basic concept of what he plans to do and a general idea of the crush and run perf piping system (i will need to do some more research but I think I understand the concept). I'm not afraid of hard work. I am not an engineer but I'm pretty sure I can do just as good a job if I take my time. Now, my question to the experts. Where am I wrong? Where might the contractor be wrong? I have not taken pictures of the cellar but would be more than willing to do so if someone would like to see them and could guide me further. Thanks.
Mortimer