Basement issues

[Tujo (WavyGlass)]

I have a tiny basement, low, cramped and only under the kitchen. It serves its purpose - it holds the boiler and water heater. The rest of the house only has a crawl space which is above grade. The basement used to have a cistern, the wall around it is partially smashed. The window in that area, which is below grade, leaks and a small amount of water flows down the wall, through the cistern, across the basement and into the sump.

So two issues - what can be done with a window well in an old stone basement, and am I safe to insulate the crawlspace. The window well is on the uphill side of my house, and is right next to my driveway. I was thinking of digging the window well down a couple of feet, putting a drainage pipe that fed through the wall into my basement and then piping that directly to my sump, then filling the bottom of the window well with gravel. Has anyone seen something like this done? The alternative I guess would be to dig a trench to daylight, but that would be over a hundred feet.

Insulating the crawlspace walls - spray foam? I don't think the stone freezing should be an issue - it's above grade so I don't think frost should be an issue. The floors in this house are freezing already it's not very cold yet.

[1850Farmer]

I prefer to take any outside water to daylight vs. bringing it to an interior sump because of the flood potential during a power outage. Even a pump w/a battery backup could be a huge problem during an extended power outage combined with a few days of rain or snow melt.

Foam works for sealing small gaps in the stone, or between the stone & the sill, but our local code says you need to cover any foam board or spray foam wall insulation with drywall because of toxic fumes during a fire.

We also have a partial full basement with attached, accessible crawl spaces. We sealed all our gaps w/ foam and then covered the foundation with a fiberglass blanket & 6 mil plastic. The dirt was also covered w/plastic for moisture protection. I insulated the entire 1st. floor joist area too so we could have a cooler crawl & warm living space. We have duct work running through our crawl so we put 2 small adjustable vents that allow a small amount of heat in the crawl just to keep any water lines from freezing, no need to keep it any warmer than 45 or so.

[Don M]

Our house has a mostly full basement with a rubble stone foundation. Our craw space has a concrete floor. The ceiling in the basement has rigid foam installed between the floor joists. I have a very efficient boiler & indirect water heater. The basement is much cooler in the winter since the old cheap boiler was replaced.

[phil]

I was interested in one house and had it inspected and they said it had a "fully functional interior perimeter drain" the water ran around the inside of the basement!.. I went through the inspection phase and the inspector suggested a new foundation about 70 grand or so at the time. Then it could have a suite downstairs and full hieght,, but I ran..

could a small bobcat make it around the outside perimeter to install proper drainage on the outside of the foundation? if you seal up the walls to well you might decrease the ventilation and without getting rid of that water from inside your house could make it worse perhaps?

[jschneider]

I was interested in one house and had it inspected and they said it had a "fully functional interior perimeter drain" the water ran around the inside of the basement!.. I went through the inspection phase and the inspector suggested a new foundation about 70 grand or so at the time. Then it could have a suite downstairs and full hieght,, but I ran..

could a small bobcat make it around the outside perimeter to install proper drainage on the outside of the foundation? if you seal up the walls to well you might decrease the ventilation and without getting rid of that water from inside your house could make it worse perhaps?

Sounds like it works as designed!