Leaky Basement

[SQLit]

"Kurt L"

Digging and drainage outside is the only sure method of stopping the water that I am aware of.

Trying to plug a hole from out side the boat is usually unsuccessful.

[Kurt L]

Thanks to all in advance to those who reply

OK here's the scenario

- Living in a semi-detached home.

- Been here for 4 years.

- last year decided to frame a bedroom in the basement to the sharing wall of my neighbor for my oldest sun.

- I never had anything in that part of the basement so I never noticed any problems

- After completing the room with Drywall I noticed the rug was wet in the sharing corner . CRAPPPPPP

- Went outside and got down on my hands and knees and noticed a hair line crack in the exterior concrete wall.

- So I began the dig and noticed the hair line got bigger.

- I dug down 5 feet but never made it to the footing because the hair line crack had disappeared.

- washed the entire cracked area and patched the entire crack well below where I seen the crack disappear. OR so I thought.

- Now with a big rain the carpeting is wet again. It's not really a huge wet area nor does water come flowing in or anything But it's really annoying This is also stopping me from completing a floating floor in that area of the basement

Next project

- I said replacing a bit of drywall is easier than the dig.

- after tearing out the drywall I noticed the same crack coming from the same place as the exterior.

- Problem is the water coming in from way down below where I patched from outside.

- My question is. Is there anything I can do to deal with this from the inside rather than making the dig again? Again the water is not coming in in huge quanities Maybe a cupful after a big rain storm or when it rains for 2 to 3 days at a time.

Again thanks for the reply

Kurt

[Ben]

"Kurt L"

As what others have said, the first thing is to make sure the slope is away from the basement.

Also, it is always best to fix from outside. However, in my new home we had two cracks that were sealed from the inside by injection completely through the crack to the outside. It has been over 5 years with no leak. I have also ensured a good slope.

The product used by the professional company appears to be the same as:

Hope this helps...

Ben

[Joseph Meehan]

You missed step one on any wet basement. Keep the water away from the foundation. You did not say, but the first step is to make sure the grade of the soil slopes away from the foundation in all directions and that no water is directed near the foundation from things like gutters.

If that does not get it, you will need to remove it from the outside, that is you will end up digging.

Working from the inside just won't do it.

BTW have you checked the local building and safety codes? Adding a bedroom to a basement is likely to call for special egress codes that are not required for an unfinished basement.

[Kurt L.]

Yeah I know you are all right about fixing the leak from the outside. However I have no time to do that right now. I will take care of that in the Spring.

I should also say that there are no gutters there. There is a huge overhang from the roof. So no direct rain can fall in that area withoput it being heavy winds.

I have at least a 10 inch slope as well.

I will check out the liquid concrete Liquid Concrete repair. Sounds like a quick fix right now and is what I need in order to finish my basement.

Thanks for the ideas and replies

Ben wrote:

[Art]

A water proofing pro I know recommends Dam It. They have a fast and slow set. Use the slow. Fast is to fix a hole while water is gushing in. It worked well for our job but we also fixed the outside problems. In another job where we couldn't fix the outside problems right away it held for about a year before we saw moisture again.

"Kurt L." wrote in

[Ben]

If you use the LCR approach, in my opinion, it should be an excellent fix. When I had an outside company do this same technique the warranty was for 10 years.

Ben