Basements....

[noseall]

I was brought along as digger driver to fit a Klargester (septic tank) at a farm. Hole dug, tank fitted with inlet pipes to falls etc. Builder in charge then backfilled with pea gravel but not concrete, which is recommended when the water table is visible. And it was visible.

When we got back to the job in the morning, instead of the pipes running downhill to the tank, they were now running uphill! Start again boys. Luckily we had a huge machine and large amounts of pea gravel at hand. Needless to say, the tank was concreted in.

 

[JDLDIY]

It seems to me that we used to be adept at building basements - the victorians did a lot of it as we all know, but now the mere mention of the word attracts sharp intakes of breath.....my Uncle was over from Canada recently and he just can't understand why it's not an automatic thing to install one, as it seems to be over there.

 

[JohnD]

Victorians built lots of coal-cellars, and the grander houses had basements where they put the domestic staff.

Houses with Victorian cellars and basements find them unacceptably damp.

So, by modern standards, not "adept"

 

[stuart45]

my Uncle was over from Canada recently and he just can't understand why it's not an automatic thing to install one, as it seems to be over there.

In certain parts of the USA and Canada the frost line can be as low as 6 ft so by the time the foundations are dug out below this they may as well take out a bit more and add a room.
They are still a problem where there is a high wate table.

 

[JDLDIY]

Victorians built lots of coal-cellars, and the grander houses had basements where they put the domestic staff.

Houses with Victorian cellars and basements find them unacceptably damp.

So, by modern standards, not "adept"

Point taken, no argument there. They weren't afraid of the hard work involved though - it seems it was a much more normal thing to do when a house was built. Ho hum.

 

[Blagard]

noseall's tank reminded me that even when concreting a tank in you have to hold it down until the concrete sets. The usual way is to fill the tank with water as the concrete surround goes in. Although I have seen some groundworkers tackle the problem with small interceptors by having the excavator park its bucket on top!
A tank for a basement would be ideal! except that having the curved walls of a tank would be inconvenient. The shape of underground tanks is usually like a cylinder so the material is the ideal shape to withstand the hydrostatic pressure where a high water table exists.

Having a water table higher than the floor of a basement is just asking for trouble and best avoided altogether. Keeping ground water in check is bad enough.