Garage slab joint leak

[brettismyname]

There is 3 feet of slab emerging behind my 80 year old garage. It has a

1/2" joint filled with tar (see photo). The joint runs under the back wall (cinder block) into the garage. I've dug out about half of the tar in the photo below. The leak appears to be at the top where the joint meets the masonry. At that point I can stick a screw driver most of the way through into the garage. The screw driver comes out with dirt on it. (The slab was covered with soil and dirt does come through with the leaking water). Any advice on how to seal this would be appreciated.

+-------------------------------------------------------------------+ |Filename: leaking concrete joint.jpg | |Download:

|+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

[hrhofmann]

=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 |

Run a garden hose gently against the upper back wall to simulate a rainstorm and see what happens. Filling the crack with more tar won't help if the rain gets into the crack further away from the garage and travels along the crack under the tar and then comes up inside the garage. Does the inside garage wall get damp or does water come up from the crack further inside the garage and then spread out?

[bob haller]

outdoor french drains are often ineffective unless they are below footer level......

so install shallow ones outdoors, regrade yard, repair gutters, move downspout drains far from house, then once that all fails jackhammer up interior floor and install interior french drains and a sump pump.

i did all of that spent 8 grand and all summer, i was the laborer:( on exterior work.....

the yard looked great, but the basement was still flooding:(

the interior french drain actually fixed it......

for 3500 bucks, no work other than to sign check, i just watchedb the pros do their thing, whole job took about 1.5 days

my exterior work took the entire summer of back breaing work including a new lawn...... sidewalks, plantings etc etc etc....