[Lynn]

Got the sump pump going again, and started pumping out water. The hand dug trenches and sump pump helped start drying it out a bit.

The plan was perforated drain pipe. Sherri and I eventually trenched for 380 feet of perforated drain pipe. I started with a trench down the South side of the building, to give an exit path for the water. I had to hand dig a trench down the side of the building (no room for a trencher or mini excavator) and bore a 6 inch hole in a 13 inch thick retaining wall to shed all the water. I spent 10 hours breaking out asphalt, concrete and digging clay on Memorial Day. You can see the pipe laying in the trench in the first pic below.

In the second pic below, you can see where I cut out some of the existing slab so I could run the pipe outside that South door and down the side of the building. I have it circled.

While busting out concrete and digging, I ran into an old footer for what must have been a previous structure on the site. I had to saw cut that footer and chip the pieces out one dime size piece of concrete at a time; took two days to get deep enough. I can only saw cut 4 inches deep at a time. So, I would run a bunch of cuts, chip it out the best I could, and cut some more, until I was down a full 26 inches below grade. As soon as I got that path cleared to the pipe out the side of the building, more water started migrating out the side. At this point, I am not sure if this is going to keep me young, or make an old man out of me.