ideas for water proof

[leza wang]

I live in toronto/ontario/canada. i have water leakage in my basement especially in winter. the side of my house is mud and on top of it they put concorete blockes. the grade is good (slop is good) and the water wont stay anywhere, keep moving . i see some cracks or open space between the basement window and the group from the outside and i think that allow some water to go thro.

The other side of the house is fine no water leakage and the ground is mud.

I have 3 questions

1) the crak between the basement windows and the groud, how to fill it? with cement or something else? what do you recomend?

2) about both sides of the house (one is mud and the second one is concorete blocks), do you think it is good idea to pure old car oil on it (so it becaome water proof soil ?) i thought of getting old car oil and just pure it in the groud?

3) OR is it better idea, to put a neylon first and then pure sand on top of it and grade the sand good so the slop will granttee the water move and then put another concerte blokcs on top of both to give anothe protection?

Thanks a lot.

[clare]

get spray urethane foam and fill the gap. Make sure it is URETHANE, NOT LATEX!!!!!

DO NOT put engine oil in the ground. You are setting youself up for HUGE FINES from the department of the environment and or the city of Toronto.

Ket a good slope on the ground and make sure your eves troughs are working properly. Best way is remove the blocks and dig out about a foot of soil, 3 feet out and fill with CLAY, well compacted, then put the soil and blocks back on top. Give the clay a good 3" to 4" slope away from the house (minimum) over that 2 feet., and make sure the soil and blocks have the same slope.

[bob haller]

think interior french drain with a sump pump if necessary.

its impossible to seal water out, far better to redirect it

[hrhofmann]

How can you have mud holding up one side of the house??

[aemeijers]

1. BS. I have seen hundreds of bone-dry basements in areas with high water tables and slopes leading (almost) to the house, so it is clearly possible. But it is best to do to do it as house is built- retrofit solutions can get a lot harder. But having said that, part of proper building is managing subsurface and surface water as you backfill the foundation hole and landscape the yard. So, yes, you do want to redirect the water, but do so OUTSIDE the wall. I don't care if you have the best interior drains in the world, if the concrete in the wall is wet, even if only at the bottom, it is less than an ideal condition. And if you have subsurface water rising from below, again, that should have been addressed as house was built, either by raising the house, forgoing a basement for a slab or crawl house, or putting a drainage grid under the floor slab.
2. But in the instant case, OP is clearly in well over their head, and needs professional eyes on the scene to provide advice. We all can make all the SWAGs we want, but without seeing the foundation inside and out, we are just guessing. It could be minor, or the house could be a pack the bags and walk away situation. Same masonry contractor I recommended that OP consult in the stucco thread can also likely provide advice about the basement.

[clare]

And MUCH better (and usually simpler) to redirect it OUTSIDE the house.

[bob haller]

Been there done that:(

Spent 8 grand in excevating my moms home with flooding basement after rain.

So I did it RIGHT, footer drain around house, regraded entire lawn, new quality downspout underground drain lines tto daylight over 60 feet from home, all new sidewalks and steps, replaced part of the driveway too. over 1K in gravel all around foundation and had walls coated with waterproofing on outside.

gave the home great curb appeal, unfortunately it didnt fix the water problem, 6 months later it was back the basement flooded.

had a interior french drain installed, $3,500 no fuss no bother and THAT fixed the water problem:)

You cant make any basement into a bathtub:(

You can redirect the water away from your basement.:)

Later I found out all homes in that area had wet basements, before the homes were built it was a farm, a steram ran right under my moms house..

Fact was the stream still did only it was forced underground after the builder filled it in