Addressing Water in BAsement

1720 Views 12 Replies 6 Participants Last post by 95025, Aug 31, 2011

joetab24

Discussion Starter · Jul 10, 2009

What are some ways to deal with this? This is the only spot in the basement where water comes in, at floor level near the back corner.
I will add some pics of outside tomorrow. Thanks for taking a look.

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Holt

· #2 · Jul 11, 2009

Kinda hard to tell where it coming from, Most obvioius thing to me is the plumbing. make sure it not leaking. It looks fairly new. Is there and cracks in the wall near there? I cant really see in that picture.

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joetab24

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jul 11, 2009

Thanks for the reply.

I know it looks like it might be coming from the pipes, but its not. I don't think there are any obvious cracks, although I will have to take a closer look and some pics. After a decent rain, the water seems to seep in where the floor and wall meet.

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stadry

· #4 · Jul 11, 2009

that's called a ' cove ',,, the better builders install good waterstop while other's use less expensive & some don't at all

go figger,,, if you're lucky, injection w/hydrophyllic polyurethane will stop it from the inside - call a pro ! ! ! otherwise, the only way to stop it is excavate outside,,, that's it ! ! !

wish there was better news but there ain't ! ! ! :huh:

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joetab24

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jul 11, 2009

Here is an up close of the wall where I believe the water is coming in...and as mentioned above, I will probably need to call a pro. Any idea what it might cost to fix this?

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stadry

· #6 · Jul 12, 2009

IF you can find a local listing for ' concrete repair ' in the yp's/google/etc, i'd suggest going that route,,, calling a waterproofing company'll probably result in the salesman ( inspector ) pushing for a french drain which won't stop the wtr - just manage the leak,,, we have a min of $500 for 1st 2.5 hrs INCLUDING equip & 5gal of injectible stuff bang ports included.

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rahfiki

· #7 · Jul 12, 2009

Try simple solutions first.

Hi, here is my 2 cents worth.

Not sure where you are from, but where I am from water runs downhill:laughing:

I would start looking outside first. Before you start digging and messing around, look at the foundation and most importantly the dirt around it.

Is the dirt sloping back to the house all around the house? or is it sloping away from the house all around it. You want it sloping away from the house all around it for at least 4-6' out. Otherwise water pools and goes down along the foundation and believe me it will find a way in eventually. Dont just look in the corner where the water is also, it could be pooling outside anywhere and run down to that corner.

Another easy thing to check first is your down spouts...make sure they run 10 ' away from the house, and that your eavestroughing is not plugged or leaking.

First thing is to get rid of the water problem outside your house, then if you still have problems....then the digging starts.

IF you do the digging first....and dont get rid of the water outside the house, you may seal one crack where it gets in, but it will find another.

Think of your basement like a boat on the water...it is displacing water so if there is a tiny hole anywhere it will find its way in. That is kind of like what your basement does...specially with ground level water rising up and finding its way in......that is another possiblity. More than likely it is surface water finding its way in.

Hope that helps for a starter...

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stadry

· #8 · Jul 12, 2009

36 yrs i've been ' waterproofing ' bsmts & repairing crk'd conc :thumbsup: holy ****, i never even THOUGHT about water runnin' downhill.

whatever this jabonnie posts is positive but it won't stop the water from running into your very fine bsmt,,, i would've thought most were bright enough to be able to figure out his suggestions on their own but evidently not,,, so i'm a :jester:

while his post is well worth heeding, it won't solve your problem but do 'em all 1st if it makes you feel good,,, just as people post on twitter/facebook/etc they'll be on vacation then wonder why their house's robbed, anyone who'd got downspouts next to the fnd wall deserves leaks.

if you eventually want to dig, have at it but you'll NEVER recover the cost of waterproofing the walls when you sell your home,,, then what about the water that'll possible come UP thru the bsmt floor after you've invested $ 40 - 60 K,,, after all, it is yours ! ! !

maybe the next poster'll suggest an umbrella :laughing:

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joetab24

Discussion Starter · #9 · Aug 27, 2011

After making sure the gutters are clean, adding an extension to the downspout, I am reasonably sure the issue is the grading of the driveway.

I am wondering if, instead of having the driveway regraded completely, I might focus on the area within the black line. Maybe build it up and create a slope. Water seems to pool in this section and it is near this spot that the water is coming in, albeit at floor level in the basement.

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Gary in WA

· #10 · Aug 30, 2011

I suppose you could try to fix it that way, remember though, the rain off the siding wall above drips down inside your new perimeter curb, concrete slabs are porous letting water in and through them, capillary action of the water under the slab will still enter the basement there due to ? (less dense soil, air pocket cavities, etc.) who knows without excavating and a proper fix......

Gary

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joetab24

Discussion Starter · #11 · Aug 31, 2011

thanks for the reply,,,

If I were going to do this the "right way", am I correct that the driveway would need to be dug up? and accessing the area under the house seems difficult.
I guess difficult for me, but not for a pro.

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stadry

· #12 · Aug 31, 2011

iirc, aci says con c is wtrproof once the compressive design strength is 5,500psi - the main culprit is the soft soils next to your foundation walls ( 70% avg density compared to 100% original grade ) the other culprit, of course, is rain :huh:

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95025

· #13 · Aug 31, 2011

joetab24 said:
After making sure the gutters are clean, adding an extension to the downspout, I am reasonably sure the issue is the grading of the driveway.

I am wondering if, instead of having the driveway regraded completely, I might focus on the area within the black line. Maybe build it up and create a slope. Water seems to pool in this section and it is near this spot that the water is coming in, albeit at floor level in the basement.

I think you basically answered your own question.

You have to get the water AWAY from the house. That includes making sure your gutters are functional and clean, draining the downspout so that it goes away from the house, etc.

If the surface of your driveway has water running TOWARD the house rather than AWAY from it, you've got a problem. The RIGHT way to solve the problem is to replace the driveway. But since you probably don't have the bucks to do that, you'll need to figure out a way to get the water to run down the driveway and away from the house.

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