Basement Wall Cracks and Water Seepage - Questions about Repair
Hi all, First post here on the forum after a few weeks of lurkage. Recently purchased a house and, long story short, we've discovered that the previous owners concealed some water seepage/damage in a section of the finished basement. After the obligatory call to our lawyer, my wife and I are now at the point where we really just want to diagnose and treat the problem. The whole ordeal began when we noticed some seriously damp spots in the carpet after two days of intense rain. So damp that I thought maybe my wife had spilt something and attempted to clean it up with spot treatment. After we realized what we were dealing with, we tore the carpet up to reveal a terribly moist old tile floor below. Over the course of a few weeks, we met with 6 different basement waterproofing contractors who suggested all manner of french drains, sump pumps, internal drainage troughs, etc. Even one who suggested we should just tear the thing down and start over. Every one of these guys suspected hydrostatic pressure was forcing water up through the foundation, through the floor and into our carpet. After a few days in shock, we decided to check one last thing. We removed the sheetrock from the wall facing our deck/yard. What did we find? Some shoddy frame work, an old boarded up window, and two nasty cracks in the block: On the outside, this wall butts up to earth about half way up. On top of that, an old concrete patio slab meets the edge of the house. AND ON TOP OF THAT, the previous owners built a beautiful deck they probably never should have built. The top of the old window is right at the level of the current deck boards. This afternoon, I took a garden hose, turned it on, and let it run right against the side of the house where I guesstimated those cracks might start. Sure enough, about 20 seconds later, a few drops of water eased their way through the main crack in the middle, followed by a steady trickle. Whew. So, my question is...what the heck should we do to stop the water coming in? My first instinct is to deal with the cracks using some kind of epoxy/injection (Sika brand, maybe?). Then maybe get up under the deck and attempt to properly shield the the area along the house where the old concrete pad meets the brick. Apart from that, any suggestions or words of wisdom? Thanks (and sorry for the long-winded first post!) C. Internal trenches are joke and do noting except collect the leakage and drain it somewhere. If you have leaks caused by hydrostatic pressure, the only real solution is either interior or external drain tile leading to a sump to eliminate the water that is the cause for the pressure. The choice of internal or external drain tile (followed by sealing cracks) depends on the amount of interior finishes that will be disturbed or the amount of patios, steps, attached garages, sidewalks and landscaping that will be involved. Normally, in an established home internal systems are cheaper and easier and easier to recover from after a little mess getting materials in and out. Don't be fooled by the footprint of your home because in addition to flowing down, water easily flows horizontally eventually and also upward depending on the soil. Just plugging joints/cracks with epoxy is just an expensive band-aid that does not get to the real cause, since pressure, which is normally the main cause of leaks. When you are in a basement, you are only seeing where the water is showing up. It is very costly and messy to convert a basement into an inside-out swimming pool as long as there is pressure on the walls that also causes cracks. You need to collect the water and eliminate the pressure. Dick I can't see what you have outside but the best solution is to move the water away from the outside of the wall in the first place - how much work that's going to be for you I cannot say. Thanks for the quick replies, gentlemen. The internal drain tile system seems to be the acknowledged solution (according to this forum and sometimes-reliable dad sources.) Is the choice of sump pump or gravity drain dependent on the footprint of the house, or how much water is coming in, or both? Anything else we should be wary of? This our first foray into basement water issues. Thanks again. C. The choice of a sump pump or draining by gravity depends on your home site and if there is a way to drain well away from the house. With a daylight gravity drain, you still have to get outside the basement wall. A sump pit and pump situation offers a pumped system to the exterior that can even be drained into a smaller diameter pvc pipe and can even use bubbler/pop-up to spread the water out when away from the house. A sump pump system offers the advantage of being able to draw the water level down around the house down on a long term basis. Dick C. Continue to pursue the legal side, any $$ you get will help in the end. they should have reported the issue in their disclousure statement. You did not mention any other areas in the basement with water problems. If this is the only problem area, then I would beleive it is due to the outside above ground issues. First the vast majority of basement water issues are due to poor outside drainage with the ground sloping towards the house along with short or no gutter downspouts. Make sure the gound slopes away from your house for 3 - 5' and the slope is at least 3 - 5. ALso extend all gutter downspouts 5' away from the foundation. Even better if you have some slope in your yard can trench a gutter using drain pipe away from the house 20 - 30'. For the problem area, go under the deck look at the concrete pad, take a level determine if it slopes away from the house. Even if it is level has dirt around the outside edges then it is acting like a big water collector sending it down along the small area between th house pad. If it does not slope away by several inches, then you should consider removing the concrete replacing with dirt of course sloped away from the house. As a temporary test, get some thick plastic tarp, using the deck edge fix it against the house slope away for the entire width of the deck. Use caulk against the house edge to seal it good. Its under the deck so it should not be a problem to leave for the winter. If that solves your problem over the winter, then you know for sure it is a slope issue against that area of the house. You might be able to use the deck to conceal a long-term fix. My first house was an 80 year old house in Michigan that seeped water along every wall of the foundation. The elderly lady before us had beautiful flower beds around the entire house, but they were all 2 - 3 below the lawn level. Our first year we hauled in 10 yards of topsoil placed it along the foundation. Some ares we raised 10, but overall we raised an area 5 - 8' along the entire house foundation about 5. We also extended all downspouts 5' trenched two about 25' into the middle of the yard. Solved 75% of the problem. The only persistent area we never fixed was the driveway along the side of the house that while level, still funneled water down next to the house on heavy rains snow melts. Good Luck. Mike Every home, even those with a shallow Michigan basement have a wide area around the home that consists of relatively loose soil that is never compacted as much as the native soil. If you are lucky, you down spouts will be long enough to get beyond the soil water collection zone depending on the native soil. My Michigan home had cracks in the old walls that you could see light through and they went down to the footings. When we bought it, it had virtually no appreciable downspout extensions. Because of the surrounding soil the basement was bone dry for about 60 years (or more) as far as I could determine from the wood posts. The surrounding soil was sugar sand and the water table was constant at about 1 foot below the slab. The rule of thumb folklore items are just a beginning guide for extensions and vary wildly depending on the site (slope and soil type). Another home was on a steep slope with dense, naturally compacted silt-clay soil and my car with warm tires would slide down the steep driveway into street in the winter. The excavation limits of the basement were about 2' beyond the outside basement walls and had 6' extensions to carry the water away, which they did do. Unfortunately, the garage footings (4' above the basement footings) intercepted an old drainage area and the water from that was funneled 50' to the lower basement area, which was always wet until I installed interior pvc perforated drains during a 4 week-end project. - there is no good canned solution, but only a guide or something to try. A drain tile system (interior, exterior or both) will work even if the extensions are only a foot or two short or if they are long enough. Dick A French drain would be your best solution. But looking at the pictures, It looks like your foundation needs to be underpinned or stabilize the footing to avoid further sinkage and more damage to the foundation walls. Just getting rid of water and water proofing the foundation wall still does not address why the foundation wall cracked so bad and how can we address it. Best bet is a structual engineer or Professional Foundation Repair company. Hope its not that bad, Cheers! Vic
Related Posts:
Best way to stop seepage on basement floor
best way to stop seepage on basement floorI have some small seepage problems, but see zero visable cracks. Currently my floor is covered with linolium stick down tiles and under the two layers of...
Basement perimeter drain
Basement Perimeter DrainHi, Iam a newbie here. I just bought a 3 year old house in North NJ. I have noticed lots of effervesence on the cinder blocks about 7 ft. high from basement floor (unfinish...
Adding a basement bathroom i hope
adding a basement bathroom - I hope. ;)Hi all! I've really been enjoying reading your forums today. Lots of helpful advice! I bought my house 3 years ago and have been becoming more and more of a...
Dehumidifier in basement or crawlspace
Dehumidifier in Basement or CrawlspaceWe have a home with 2 basement rooms and adjoining crawlspace. There is no direct access between the 2 but we have excess humidity in the basement areas which...
Basement wall 2x4 or 2x2
Basement Wall - 2x4 or 2x2?If I do choose to actually remodel the basement I was talking about earlier, should I use a 2x4 or 2x2? The foundation walls are in excellent shape, and from what I coul...
