Need to pour concrete in holes w/ water


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Old 04-19-06, 09:37 AM
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Need to pour concrete in holes w/ water

We are in the process of building a new deck. When we drilled our holes for our footings, we hit "old drain tiles" according to the city engineer. He suggested to not worry about it and continue with building the deck. The problem is that the holes have water in them. We've drained most of the water, but it comes back a bit (a few inches).

Is it possible to pour concrete and have it dry properly if there is water in the holes? Any suggestions on what to do would be appreciated. Thanks.

Susie
 
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Old 04-19-06, 09:40 AM
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In my limited experience, concrete will dry, even underwater, just takes longer. I would say pump it out right before you pour in the concrete. You could try lining the hole with visqueen or something before you pour in the concrete.
 
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Old 04-19-06, 10:29 AM
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Is the City Engineer aware that the hole continues to get water after being pumped? Is he sure its just ground water and not water from the drain tile doing what it's supposed to do? I would be a bit concerned about plugging the drain tile with your new foundation (if that's what you're doing) and starting a problem in your house.

When I added a 3-season porch on to my house, I ran into some drain tile that looked like it hadn't been used in years. Being very conservative and rather than take a chance, I redesigned my foundation to work around it and patched the break. Any chance of you doing the same thing?
 
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Old 04-19-06, 10:37 AM
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Modern concrete is hydraulic, so there is no issue with it setting up under water. The other questions are best answered by your inspector.
 
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Old 04-19-06, 01:00 PM
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Bruce - no the city engineer does not know it has put more water in the hole after being drained once. He was pretty convinced it was the old drain tile and told me to go ahead with drilling our holes and pouring the footings (didn't seem to interested in investigating it for me). The tile we are hitting is 10 ft away from our foundation (crawl space), down the slope of our yard so maybe that's why he didn't seem too concerned (I did ask about repairing it, what to do with it, etc.). All the research I've done on drain tiles (because of this) indicates that it should be closer to the house/foundation for it's purpose of pulling water away from the foundation.

Everyone else - thanks for your information on the concrete drying even with the water.
 
 

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