Hello, I have an old house with an unfinished basement that has a slab floor of about 3-4 inches. The floor looks like sections were added at different times since there are some seams in places. Also between 2 sections of the floor there is a 4 inch by 4 inch trench that disects the section. With all of the Michigan snow beginnig to thaw and seep into the ground, I have noticed a lot of water entering my basement. It is not from the ground level as would happen with rain, but it is coming up from under the slab floor in the basement or so I think. For instance, the trench almost fills with water on a thaw day. Doe sthis sound possible? If so, is it a huge problem? THe only solution I can think of is to break up the floor and repour with some kind of vapor barrier included. Will that Dry-Lok basement floor paint do anything for me? THanks in advance

 

With the amount of water that you are talking about, the worst thing you can do is trap it under the floor. The water needs to go somewhere and if it needs to it will force the concrete out of the way.

You need to put in a drainage system that utilizes a sump pump or gravity flow. I would tear up the floor and put drainage pipe around the perimeter and then go to the sump or natural flow into the yard. If possible, go the gravity route- it costs nothing to maintain, works when the power is out...