I installed a bathtub on a concrete slab in the basement. In order to have access to the drain p-trap I had to create a hole in the slab. The open area is about 12" x 12" x (7" deep). The slab is 4" thick, however, the 5 walls of the boxed area of the recessed hole are concrete but only 1" thick. Its spring now and have had lots of rain, the ground water has seeped up from under the slab and into the hole. My sump pump about 20 ft away from this area has been running every 5 minutes.

Any suggestions for preventing ground water from seeping up into this hole?

1.) Thicker concrete walls inside basin? But not sure if this will prevent and still need a sealant and all wall intersections.
2.) Add sump pump in this hole? This sounds like a pain!
3.) Completely fill hole and have no access to p-trap then seal around drain? Not cool, with no access for clogged drain if this occurs in future!
4.) Somehow pump this water from this area to sump pump area? Not easy, unless create channel in concrete to sump pump 20 ft away. Probably opening up the slab for more potential leaking in future?

Several options come to mind. You have already started to water proof the tub trap when you poured a cement box. Now it's time to water proof the cement box. I have used both hot roof tar androof cement to accomplish this. Your vlocal hard ware store might have some waterproofing products you could use. The only other way would be to trench a drain line from the dap-out to the sump pit. However, that would mean jackhammering up the floor, running a pipe in the trench and then patching the floor. Try waterproofing the box first. Good luck, Tom

After having record rain fall followed by a few feet of snow here in VA, I now have about a foot of water standing under one section of my home. The water is just a few inches below ground level. The section of my home where the water is standing has a cement slab and is the lowest area of the home. After pumping all the water out for a third time I noticed several square holes in the bottom of the floor. They look as if they were put there on purpose but there is deffinately water pouring up from the ground through the holes. Should those holes be there? How can we fix the problem? We had the house on the market for a year and just got an offer so we are desperate to fix it fast! That being said with two mortagages our financial situation is equally desperate and we would like to be able to fix this with out paying some one else.

How to keep reainforcement in floor slab