uhhhh...like...at one point tonite, this "jackhammer" thread and uhhhh...Angela's thread featuring an image of her husband in like a broken bed were on top of each other.

i just couldnt imagine doing this work in the confines of a basement.

Sure you need a french drain? How old is the house, where are you located, and what is the problem?

I think these guys have full basements not like us here in CA. Still, we get in there and start digging with cut off shovels and electric hammers (I love small hammers for this reasons). You do what you have to do.

I think someone suggested this already.
Break a section of slab in your basement and install a sump pump first. See if your problem goes away.
Some locations frown on discharging the sump pump to the sanitary sewer and it must be discharged back outside.
When I put some new footings in the basement, I scored the floor with a diamond blade in the circular saw. I used my shop vac with a high efficiency filter to grab some of the dust and also sprayed the blade with water to cool it down. Once you have made a couple of passes fill the cut groove with water to cool the blade as you cut. I also used the hilti drill to drill along the cut line every so often and broke it out with a sledge hammer. Slab was about 2-3 inches thick.

this is a slab foundation? i am not a home builder, and all the foundations i deal with are huge..90 foot deep piles, etc.

but if this is a slab foundation, and you cut a trench around the inside perimeter..are you not jeopardizing the integrity of the slab? i had a civil professor tell me that basement slab foundations are essentially "rafts" for the home to rest on. and that concluded that topic of the lecture. he never went any further than that..

maybe i am not picturing the issue here. sorry.

^^^^ The outside walls rest on a footer that's independent of the slab. The slab just sits on a bed of gravel, etc. though it can have grade beams or pads for walls, posts, etc. to sit on.

I usually install a drain system in every basement that's run to daylight in addition to the normal exterior drain and waterproofing. It's cheap insurance.

thanks A930..

my brother's home in texas..is a true slab foundation..thanks for the clarification.

also consider cutting it, then using "dexpand" (sp?)

Nothing like a bunch of car enthusiasts weighing in on how to remove concrete. Like the one comment about using a lawn edger with a diamond blade. Seems to me I might have tried that when I was like 14 or so and found out the thing didn't have enough weight or HP behind it to cut plastic.

If the slab has any reinforcement in it, especially going into the walls, you will have to break it out in chunks. I try to cut through any concrete all the way cutting all the rebar and mesh. I always pry and lift out the biggest pieces I can transport once it is free.

I broke concrete into rubble twice in my long construction career, one time in a basement where it was tied with mesh and the whole thing had to come out and once on an outdoor patio which was the biggest mistake of all. The next week I saw a front loader take up a 20' by 20' driveway in less than 10 minutes.

It HAS to go inside because a 40 ft inground pool with 60 ft concrete slab is directly behind the basement at ground level. Around front the porch is set on concrete as well. No choice here. the drain goes Inside

to answer a couple more questions,
I am in WV and my basement has an 8 ft ceiling. I installed a french drain around a building once before. just never done one inside

My initial response was to one of the other posters... I know with a full basement installing drains on the interior is much more economical then excavating around your whole basement... as I noted in a later post..

I am a car nut, in addition to that I am a licensed Profession Engineer, who has worked in heavy and residential construction for over 30 year...

Yes the diamond blade on an edger is some funny schiess...

I would bet big that the slab has no reinforcement.......

Think I am about done with Pelican...

Well the funny part is I saw a friend of mine cut his slab using the edger /diamond blade setup. When I saw that I started laughing so hard I was almost crying but, it did work much to my surprise Almost as good as a commercial concrete saw. Just a little slower. He did have a 5hp motor on his edger though.

Dave

[QUOTE=TimT;6327167]My initial response was to one of the other posters... I know with a full basement installing drains on the interior is much more economical then excavating around your whole basement... as I noted in a later post..



I am a car nut, in addition to that I am a licensed Profession Engineer, who has worked in heavy and residential construction for over 30 year...

Yes the diamond blade on an edger is some funny schiess...

I would bet big that the slab has no reinforcement.......

Tim
Please advise.......I don't care to rent the concrete cutter but I want to buy the hammer so I wont be rushed. That is how you make mistakes. If I come back away from the wall a bit that will help. It is not coming in through the wall. the water is underneath the house after a big rain. it comes up all over the place through the cracks in the floor. That is why I think a full french drain and sump pump is the correct solution.

I will get the big walk behind saw with the water hose hook up to keep dust down.

you should be done with pelican cause you're a freakin idiot

you think running a 2 cycle engine chop saw in a basement for a half hr is gonna kill somebody????

oh wait you are a licensed professional engineer...that makes sense, you are probably a big Obama fan also

Nope wont kill someone... but it will stink up the house for a while.....There are simpler and more elegant solutions than the big fukcing hammer approach....

And why did you have introduce politics into this discussion?

Carry on

Well, Tim, if you'd like me to apologize, you have it. I do have some practical experience on this issue having removed my share of concrete. But no reason to be pissing people off, so I acquiesce.
No need for that kind of post. A few of those and you will be banned.

Oh, and on the lawn edger issue, there are some grades of concrete that would saw with a hand saw. The kind I seem to always encounter would laugh at me using a Skillsaw or anything less than a machine designed to cut concrete.
I have probably dry sawed a quarter mile of stucco which is 3/4 to 7/8" thick. Speed averages about 2'/ minute and the stuff is soft compared to concrete with 3/4 rock.

If any of you want to compare how much dirt, concrete, debris, lumber, materials, paint, plaster, plywood, drywall, roofing, steel, etc. you have hauled on your back with the 40 years I have been doing that, bring it on.

You can rent concrete saws for about $25 a day. They come with a garden hose hook up to keep the dust down. Used one this last summer to strip stuco off a garage.

From the sounds of your updated description of the water problem a sump pit should solve the problem. That and diverting water away from the foundation (grading and extending downspouts).