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In one corner of my basement workshop, the spot where the concrete wall and floor meet is leaking. You can see how it has rotted away some of the wood flooring. Whenever it rains (or when I spray the side of the house with a hose to test) the area leaks. I originally tried Liquid Nails Concrete Caulk, but it still leaked and it was suggested to me that was a temporary solution. So then I pulled and scrapped that all out and tried some hydraulic cement. You can see in the photos how the water is leaking around the patched area (I could only do so much in three minutes before it set), but more worryingly is that the water is bleeding through the hydraulic cement.   I was going to extend the hydraulic cement all the way along the wall, but if it's bleeding through it should I even continue with it? Should I layer more on? Or is there a better product I should use? My goal is to correct the leak and re-drywall the area. I believe my main problem is that during the heat waves of the last few years, the soil around the area up top has dried and separated from the foundation and left gaps for water to get in. My plan is to pack a couple more inches of dirt in that area outside the house, but I was hoping to come up with a solution inside that would at least stop the leak so I don't have water actively leaking in while I get the dirt logistics figured out. Any suggestions?
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Sep 5, 2014 18:26
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What does the grading on the other side of that wall look like? Also, what concrete basement has a wood floor???
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Sep 5, 2014 19:43
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I've attached a quick drawing of what the basic setup looks like. The grading is flat and goes out to the front yard. The actual floor of that room is dirt with gravel rocks and a concrete platform lining three of the walls. The previous owner put in the wood floor to make it a uniform height wall to wall. I don't remember why there was gravel rock in there to begin with. It's kinda strange.
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Sep 5, 2014 20:22
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Violator posted:I've attached a quick drawing of what the basic setup looks like. The grading is flat and goes out to the front yard. I had the exact same problem when I renovated my house a year ago. I did what you did with the hydraulic cement, but used MUCH more of it and put a very thick layer on. It dries fast as you know, so you must only mix a little at a time. Go slow - it will take a while.You have to put it on HEAVY. Then I covered the hydraulic cement with a "ledge" of concrete, 4 inches out from the wall and 4 inches tall, Similar to how your photo shows an existing ledge which is covered by the wooden floor. I then had the floor and the ledge finished with ceramic tile. I however have an existing concrete floor - no gravel. I left it this way for nearly a year to monitor if water would eventually come through. We had a lot of snow this winter and I am happy to report it showed zero signs of water leaking through. Since I have not seen any water I had the wall studded, insulated, drywalled. The ledge was the perfect base for the 2x4 studs, and the sheetrock covered the front of the ledge completely hiding it. I put a base moulding and now you would never know that there is a ledge behind that wall. Best of luck! edit: When I first put the hydraulic cement, it looked like how you did it and water did come through it in spots...that is when I went back and put even more on very heavily. The water stopped. Some Guy From NY fucked around with this message at 21:49 on Sep 5, 2014 |
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Sep 5, 2014 21:46
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The best way to keep water out of your basement is to keep water away from the house. If you have already checked the easy stuff like gutters, your next move is to check the grade of the landscaping along the house. If it slopes toward the house, you need to correct the flow of water. To do so you have two options (1) regrade, which is expensive or a lot of work, or (2) put in yard drainage to move the water back out as it approaches the house. If neither of those work, your best bet is probably a professional, but chances are, changing the grade will be the option that gives you the best results.
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Sep 5, 2014 23:25
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If Holmes on Homes taught me anything is that you probably should just start outside and check the foundation drainage because that is most likely the source of problem. No amount of inside work is likely to stop it unless its something stupid like a literal hole in the wall.
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Oct 2, 2014 21:03
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Use xypex, it's perfect for sealing concrete.
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Oct 4, 2014 20:15
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Do you have a sump pit/pump in the basement? How old is the house (foundation in particular)?
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Oct 6, 2014 20:32
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adorai posted:The best way to keep water out of your basement is to keep water away from the house. If you have already checked the easy stuff like gutters, your next move is to check the grade of the landscaping along the house. If it slopes toward the house, you need to correct the flow of water. To do so you have two options (1) regrade, which is expensive or a lot of work, or (2) put in yard drainage to move the water back out as it approaches the house. If neither of those work, your best bet is probably a professional, but chances are, changing the grade will be the option that gives you the best results. This. Are your gutters and downspouts properly directing water away from your house? If there is a downspout on that corner of the house, can you extend it to dump further away? Does the ground slope away from your house, so that water does not flow against the basement wall and pool there? If the answer is yes and you still have leakage issues, consider a sump (if you don't have one) or exposing the exterior of the basement wall and waterproofing it. You can dump whatever you want inside the basement, but it won't change the fact that water is getting inside the wall where it can freeze, expand, and destroy the structural integrity of the concrete.
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Oct 7, 2014 22:22
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As others have said, the water is running down the outside wall of the foundation and seeping in at the base. Your problem and solution lie outside, not inside.
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Oct 9, 2014 01:00
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cowofwar posted:As others have said, the water is running down the outside wall of the foundation and seeping in at the base. Your problem and solution lie outside, not inside. They lie kinda inside if there is no sump and you can tie a pit and pump into the weeping tile. But since the OP hasn't bothered to answer any questions after not providing nearly enough details this may be a lost cause.
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Oct 9, 2014 01:47
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Motronic posted:They lie kinda inside if there is no sump and you can tie a pit and pump into the weeping tile. OP drowned a long time ago.
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Oct 9, 2014 20:55
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Hey guys. Sorry for the lack of replies, I forgot to check the thread after the initial responses.  Putting a focus on fixing the outside and the root of the problem sounds like a good plan. With more info, you'll probably see the exact issue that I overlooked since I was so focused on patching it inside.adorai posted:The best way to keep water out of your basement is to keep water away from the house. If you have already checked the easy stuff like gutters, your next move is to check the grade of the landscaping along the house. If it slopes toward the house, you need to correct the flow of water. To do so you have two options (1) regrade, which is expensive or a lot of work, or (2) put in yard drainage to move the water back out as it approaches the house. If neither of those work, your best bet is probably a professional, but chances are, changing the grade will be the option that gives you the best results. I hadn't really thought of it, but maybe adding a gutter would help? You can see in the attached photo that the gray wall with siding doesn't have a gutter. I didn't think this was a problem since the brick wall with the problem was covered by the roof. But maybe the runoff from that wall is contributing to the general too much water in the area? I was also thinking about removing the mulch from the area and packing in more dirt to reach up to at least the brick on the wall. Sloping it away like you suggest sounds like a good idea. Motronic posted:Do you have a sump pit/pump in the basement? How old is the house (foundation in particular)? No pump or pit. The house was built in the 1970s. Coasterphreak posted:This. Are your gutters and downspouts properly directing water away from your house? If there is a downspout on that corner of the house, can you extend it to dump further away? Does the ground slope away from your house, so that water does not flow against the basement wall and pool there? There is a gutter at the corner and it used to drain into the ground in the area. You can see in the photo the black plastic pipe. It extends underground and goes for about 30 feet in the mulched area along the sidewalk. I figured that was my problem so a few months ago I started redirecting it out into the yard. But that hasn't helped. I'm still going to find a way to redirect the water from the area in the future with a more permanent solution. So, I'm thinking my plan is: 1. Install new gutter on siding wall 2. Remove old black drain pipe completely and fill area with dirt 3. Redirect gutter into the yard away from the house with a more permanent solution 4. Add more dirt that slopes away from house 5. Patch concrete on the inside I'm hoping to avoid digging that area out because it seems like it would be a real bear. If you guys need any more info or if I missed anything, just let me know.
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Oct 11, 2014 15:46
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1) You don't have a gutter on the right side of your pic, which might not be terrible, we can't see the rest of the roof and how it pitches. 2) the black drain pipe may lead into existing yard drainage pipes. They might be clogged. I would try to locate the other end of the black pipe and see if you can snake all the way through. It might end in a dry well, which might be difficult to locate, but would probably be at a low point of your yard.
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Oct 11, 2014 17:14
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Violator posted:Hey guys. Sorry for the lack of replies, I forgot to check the thread after the initial responses. Take a shovel and dig a loving 9' to see what's going on.
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Oct 11, 2014 19:36
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adorai posted:1) You don't have a gutter on the right side of your pic, which might not be terrible, we can't see the rest of the roof and how it pitches. Here's the roof. It should pitch away from the wall so I figured it didn't need a gutter.  Here's the path of the drain pipe. It's one of those plastic perforated ones. It terminates at the end of the garage about 25 feet away. The water just sits in it until it drains into the soil.  Sir Cornelius posted:Take a shovel and dig a loving 9' to see what's going on. drat.
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Oct 11, 2014 19:57
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Just went out there with a buddy and a metal rod and found the ground around that corner next to the brick wall is basically loose mush. I could push down pretty easily several feet into it, so it looks like I'm going to dig that all out and fill it with new dirt and rock. Then I'll get some 2x4s and a level and check my grading and then layer on several inches of new dirt and make sure it pitches away from the house. This makes for a good excuse to re-landscape the area anyway. I'll also (a) check the gutters to make sure there's no water splashing over/around that gutter that is already there and (b) see if I can run another drain line into the yard to disperse the water away from the house. My buddy suggestion putting an additional perforated drain pipe next to the foundation several feet down to collect water and move it away from the house. Would that be suggested as well? Violator fucked around with this message at 21:18 on Oct 11, 2014 |
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Oct 11, 2014 21:16
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Violator posted:My buddy suggestion putting an additional perforated drain pipe next to the foundation several feet down to collect water and move it away from the house. Would that be suggested as well?
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Oct 11, 2014 22:22
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adorai posted:google "French drain". "Weeping tile" is what is called for here to fix it right. Likely tied into a sump pit in the basement (unless there is somewhere to gravity drain it to in the yard).
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Oct 11, 2014 22:23
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Motronic posted:"Weeping tile" is what is called for here to fix it right. Likely tied into a sump pit in the basement (unless there is somewhere to gravity drain it to in the yard). No one here seems to understand this problem besides me since I had the EXACT same scenario just a year and a half ago. It is not enough water coming through to justify a sump pump. It is only extremely small puddles and dampness. Just enough to make mildew and mold. He needs to divert the water from the outside like he suggested, he needs to get the drain pipe to extend further away from the house. I think he should use concrete sloped away from the house..not just more soil to divert the water away from the wall. The french drain would also help. For the inside, as I stated and what I know worked for me in this exact situation...he needs to use a much thicker layer of hydraulic cement along where the wall and floor meet, and then cover it with a little ledge of concrete extending 4 inches away from the wall and 4 inches up. This is of course not the "best" fix...the correct way would to be to excavate the foundation from the outside and repair it that way...which could be very costly.
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Oct 12, 2014 17:28
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Some Guy From NY posted:No one here seems to understand this problem besides me since I had the EXACT same scenario just a year and a half ago. I understand the situation perfectly well. Your temporary repair (hydraulic cement applied inside, and seemingly without even properly cutting a "V" channel into the crack for adequate bonding) is just that; temporary. Whether it will work for him or not and for how long is completely unknown. What we do know is that there is an excessive amount of water sitting against the foundation of this house that has already resulted in physical damage great enough to allow water in. It appears to be causing problems down low near the the footings. We also know this house was built in the 70s, which means it should already have a weeping tile, and from that can assume it has become clogged and can no longer do it's job properly or that conditions have changed drastically (grading, failed gutters, etc). If I'm going to give someone advice it's going to be the way to resolve the problem for good. In this case that is to find the weeping tile, repair or replace it, and if excavation is necessary you may as well put in a sump pit in case it's needed in the future. Any section that is excavated can be treated with a waterproof membrane and Sonoshield (or other vertical drain material) while it's accessible. No excavation may even be necessary: it's possible that a clean out can be found (or made) and the tile can be inspected and snaked out without digging down to it. Then, as you mentioned, grading should be scrutinized to make sure it's correct and gutters properly fitted/clean with downspouts directed far enough away from the foundation in places where the water will continue to drain further away. Then the foundation damage can be repaired. And if it were me I'd rip out the perforated pipe being used as a downspout extension and put in solid (based on the pictures showing it running along the side of the house). Is it a lot of work? Yes. But it's also what keeps your foundation from crumbling, which is a whole lot more work and expense to repair. But if the OP is lucky, this can be simply snaked out and everything will work as designed again. Possibly even better if a sump pit or gravity drain is added/improved.
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Oct 12, 2014 18:08
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