Hole in Basement Floor

[ElBlancoChocolate]

Hello! We have a hole in our basement and I need to know what it is for and what our options are for covering it. Im pretty sure the builder stated it was for drainage if we decided to add a bathroom down here later. We are finishing our basement and it is right where our planned theater room will be. I'm painting the floor now with Zinsser odor blocking primer due to some cat accidents. As I was painting, I noticed the outer edge of concrete is breaking off. Any ideas of what I can do with this? We will be putting carpet down and not sure what to do if we can't cover it. Thanks!

 

[ajaynejr]

Are you sure you do not have ground water or storm water leaking or seeping into the basement?

Pour water on the floor in many different places (including next to the water heater and next to the washing machine) to see if every puddle gravitates towards the hole.

Then you can see if the hole is really useful for drainage.

Except that flooring or carpet directly on the floor will prevent use of the hole for drainage. In which case you can fill in the hole.

 

[Sparky617]

How big is the hole? Judging by your foot in the bottom left of the picture it looks to be at least 18" across. It almost looks like a sump pump well. can you open the cover?

 

[ajaynejr]

I missed the part about your feet. Scratch what I said before.

The hole should not be filled in and should not have hard to lift floor coverings over it.

While it would be nice if water spilled elsewhere on the floor gravitated towards the hole, it is not necessary or desirable to skim coat or otherwise modify the floor to achieve a slope towards the hole.