Discussions

We are planning to buy a house. There's one house that we like but the problem is there's a well at the basement of the house. The agent said it is covered and not used for a long time. the thing is i don't want it there. coz it might coz problems in the future like insects inside and water might overflow on winter or when it rains. Is there any possibility that it can be removed? Thank you!

A construction agent..... I would think something could be removed but I do not work construction either maybe call Ben wiebe or consult an inspector

Neighbors have a well in their driveway. Every couple of years they have to haul in material to fill it up. The material kept disappearing. I assume the underground water vain was taking the material away.  
 
Not something I would want in my basement.

I don't think insects travel through wells. Likely you could just plug the well with a bit of cement in the winter when it is dry.

You can get them filled. If it is still flowing, as Sharon K said, it might be a continual fill. I don't know if there is a permanent fix besides that. I would call a place that drills wells, restores them or does fill in wells and see what they each might have to say. I would also ask what potential issues it could cause and perhaps when they might arise based on its condition.  
 
Also, has it caused any issues in the past?  
 
Edited by Flutterby, 2015-07-16 09:08:06

You might try contacting conservation/water stewardship. We live in Souris, and after the "high water event" (flood) we had our well in the basement capped for a charge of $100. I believe they even do it for free now. This included a clay based "plug" at the bottom, gravel fill and more clay at the top. I added cement at the top to complete the job.  
They do this to ensure that wells are properly closed and will not contaminate ground water sources.

How common would wells be in basements? Would they have been used for drinking water, or something else? Would you have had to go down there and hand pump it, or would there have been an electric pump i.e. it was recently used? Was it for early indoor plumbing?  
 
I'm just curious. We looked at a house built in 188? in Brandon, it had a cistern in the basement at one point.

Are you sure it's not a sump pit?

it's not a sump pump?

I don't have a well in my basement but do have an awesome sauna. PM me for details

What kind of well it is. I have a well in my basement and the hole is only a couple inches in diameter. There's a lot of city people on here lol that don't realize there's a lot of people in this wonderful province of ours that run on wells. Your best bet would be to call someone that does wells. They can survey it and tell you what needs to properly be done to take care of it permanently. There is companies around just can't think of the names offhand sorry.

How would insects get in that well? Only way you could get insects in that well is if they came out of the basement.  
 
For the water flooding issue, is the water table 8 feet or less? actually doesn't matter if the water table got high enough to flood that basement through the well, it would likely flood if there was no well.  
 
Unless this house has the most well sealed basement on earth, if the water table gets higher than the basement floor it is going to get wet, well or no well.

We put a sandpoint well in our last two houses (new construction) because there are many less problems with wells when you don't have to deal with freezing and out side issues. The well is attached to our outside water tap/sprinkler system and saves a fortune in grass watering - I wouldn't be without one now!  
 
If the well still works or could be made to work, you may want to consider it a selling feature, not a problem.

Here you have free water and you don't want it?  
 
Cover it up until you NEED IT!!!!

We've decided not to buy that house. It's too complicated thinking about the well and maintaining it. Thank you for all your help guys!