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I bought a house during a drought. Tonight, like we do in April, we got soaked. I can't remember the last time I saw rain fall that hard in NC. Well, my basement leaks. It's done it a few times during storms, but it's awful tonight. There's no water on the walls (concrete block from 1948). The only water is seeping in under the first row of blocks at the bottom of the wall. What can I do? I need a dry basement.
Perhaps gutters. Move the rain off the roof away from the house.
Better drainage around the foundation. Solution will depend upon soil. It may involve removing the fill against the foundation wall and putting in drain pipes and new backfill.
Perhaps gutters. Move the rain off the roof away from the house.
Better drainage around the foundation. Solution will depend upon soil. It may involve removing the fill against the foundation wall and putting in drain pipes and new backfill.
I figured as much. I'm thinking of french drains since I plan to regrade the yard this fall. Someone poured concrete around the house on the outside. It doesn't work obviously. At least it's all concrete and not wood.
Yeah, you have to get the water away from the house.....
First thing is to collect as much of the water and get it as far away from the house as possible. Allow as little to soak into the soil as possible.
You might try some Dry Lok. It is a cement like powder that can seal the joint at the junction of wall and slab and under some conditions it does stop a leak in that area.
Best way I found to apply it is get some in a smaller container like a tin can, pour that into a funnel and drag the tip of the funnel about 1/4" off the slab in the junction groove and put a bead of the powder there about like putting a huge welding bead. Go back over it with something like a piece of stiff plastic cut to the shape of the bead and dress it up to be uniform and even.
You do not want tons of the stuff, just enough to contact both the wall and slab area and form a barrier. Once placed, just let it be. It will suck up moisture and become rock hard.
I've used it on some pretty nasty leaks and if you can get enough of the water away from the foundation and drop the overall water level, the Dry Lok usually was effective in stopping the leak if it can be reduced to a weaping type leak.
Most of the home centers will carry Dry Lok. Get the powder form. They also make a paint, never had much success with it. Might be spelled different ways like Dri Loc or whatever. Not that expensive, applied the way I explained a gallon goes a long ways.
I had this happen one time in my own house. Never did this before. I found out that my gutters were clogged. Maybe something as simple as that. One of the ways to tell, were there salt deposits on the concrete wall when you bought the home? That would have been an indication of water intrusion earlier. What the other posters said is sound advise if something more.
I had this happen one time in my own house. Never did this before. I found out that my gutters were clogged. Maybe something as simple as that. One of the ways to tell, were there salt deposits on the concrete wall when you bought the home? That would have been an indication of water intrusion earlier. What the other posters said is sound advise if something more.
I have gutters and they are clean and clear. I don't have much in the way of eaves on this house though. So most of the rain ends up right along the bottom of the walls. The basement is painted white and I didn't notice any salt deposits. I asked the inspector about water, he said there was no evidence. There had been a few weeks without rain and 100 degree temperatures so the basement was dry.
I think I'm going to either do French drains, or have someone come in and apply hydraulic concrete to the walls. That's supposed to do what dry lock does, but it needs to be done by someone experienced from what I've read.
I once had a house that was part boat. The basement extended below the water table for part of the year. Based on EXTENSEIVE (sic) experience with leaky basement walls, I have the following advice.
First, verify the water table isn't above the lower part of the walls of the foundation. If it is, you'll have the challenges that I had. If not, going from easy to hard;
Dryloc or hydraulic cement on the interior. Don't expect much success unless the problem is minor.
Gutters with downspouts that extend at least twenty feet and drain away from the house.
Slope up the ground around the base of the house, lay a layer of builders plastic, and put sand and pavers on top.
Add a drain pipe at the bottom of the plastic and again, lead the water away from the house.
Dig out along the foundation walls and add two layers of mastic and a layer of builders plastic, and a drain just below the basement floor level. This might need a sump and trash pump to keep water from building up.
Put plastic on the interior walls of the basement, put peastone on the basement floor, cover it with builders sand and a layer of plastic and seal the wall plastic to the floor plastic, install a sump and pump at a low spot, then pour a thin concrete floor on top, only leaving access for the pump. Cover the walls with insulation, another vapor barrier, and a non-molding non-mildewing wall treatment, like the sheet rock used in bathrooms.
Raise the house.
Been there, had the same problem in two of our homes.
In one, regrading did absolutely nothing - in fact, we sit up on a hill and still had water coming in through the crack between the floor and the wall in our basement. We had a quote on having the exterior drainage system replaced - $23,000. I almost threw up. (And that didn't include replanting, landscaping and replacing our front cement stairs that would need to be removed.)
We met with quite a few basement waterproofers, and a few scam artists, and ended up hiring a company affiliated with Basement Systems. (Just google the name for their webpage.) We've used them to correct water issues on two homes and I can't say enough about them.
They do an interior french drain and now, we have dry basements.
We had one home corrected for a cost of about $1,000 - but that was a small area where the water was seeping in. The other home was about $9000 - but that was three walls of our basement, a new sump pump pit, battery back up sump, a new de-humidifier, underground downspouts - the works.
French drains around the foundation below the floor level. Place them inside or outside along with gutters and downspouts to direct the water away from the house. Use a sump pump if you cannot gravity drain to somewhere. if you are in a dry area collect the water for use in the garden.
Here in New England basements are considered wells that we try desperately to keep water out of.
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Yeah, you have to get the water away from the house.....
