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Pump Conversion
Laing DDC pump conversion
Cellar Conversion Case History - How to avoid a common mistake
The year was 1998, two apartments had been created out of an old redundant boiler room in a medium rise block of flats in Wembly NW London, the owner lived abroad and found it difficult to deal with the problem remotely, relying on local 'experts' to advise on remedial measures for the waterproofing.
The old boiler room had originally had a sump and pump that was relied upon to keep ground water out of the cellar. This was dispensed with when the cellar was converted and an asphalt coating was aplied to the walls and floor to hold back the ground water.
Not long after the cellar conversion was complete, with living room and kitchen at ground level and bedroom and bathroom in the newly converted cellar, disaster struck. The asphalt tanking failed and 900mm of water flooded onto the basement floor.
The next attempt was a different kind of waterproof coating (tanking) system, this time a cement based waterproof coating was applied on to the surface of a new inner skin of blockwork. Alas, the problem recurred.
The picture below illustrates the dramatic effects that water pressure can have - it is hard to imagine how any bonded coating could succeed in such circumstances as the structure to which the coating is applied to is what actually fails: -
The final solution was to re-introduce the sump and pump concept, together with some underfloor drainage and drainage membranes to the wall and floor.
The result was a beautiffuly restored pair of dry basements...
At the time of writing the basements have been dry for 11 years with the pumps about to be renewed as part of the post installation service program.
So why did the tanking fail and the drainage / pump system work?
As is so often the case, the substrates of old building are usually not rigid and strong enough to hold a tanking system in place, however well it is applied or regardless of the quality of the material. A drainage and pumping system on the other hand does not rely on the properties of the structure as the water pressure is eliminated.
This is an expensive and painful lesson to learn first hand, yet there are many who have learned the hard way. Hopefully by learning from the mistakes of others it will be possible for clients and project managers of new cellar conversion projects to get it right first time.
There are many different types of drainage and sump and pump systems on the market these days and their specific features are dealt with in more detail in my other articles.
If your basement has flooded you may be able to make a flooded basement insurance claim.
About the Author
Ray Foulkes is the UK's leading expert in basement waterproofing, and is the principle author of the Design Guide 'Waterproofing Existing basements' published by the British Structural Waterproofng Association. Ray has also created an illustrated on line Guide to Waterproofing Basements http://www.importsuppliesdirect.com/guide-to-waterproofing-basements-3-w.asp Ray also offers a full contracting and consultancy service for cellar conversions - http://www.polycrete.co.uk and you can chat to him live on line at http://www.polycrete.co.uk/contact.html for free expert advice on your cellar conversion or basement waterproofing project.
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Frequently Asked Questions...
why can't I pump gas in my van normally outside of florida gas stations?
I have a 96 ford e-150 conversion van. here in south florida i have no problems pumping gas. but north of the border when i try to fill the tank the pump clicks off and i can only pump the gas at a very low rate(read trickle). Is this a problem with fords? how can I remedy the situation? with a 35 gal tank it takes the better part of an hour to fill it up...
Answer:
The gas probably comes out of the nozzle faster at these other stations you are not used to. Therefore the safety mechanism in the pump nozzle gets backflow and it shuts off. I try to pull the pump back a little out of the filler and then try again and it will flow normally without the click off. You can also see if your filler tube is damaged or crimped so the fuel cannot get into your tank and just fills of the tube.
























































































