Minor water leak at block/slab joint in basement

[Dan]

I have a basement with 8" block walls & a slab floor. I had some trouble over the years with water during heavy rains; never standing water but enough so that there'd be a little stream across the floor to the floor drain by the laundry tubs. Recently I put the gutters in order & had the area next to the outside house walls graded away from the foundation. This has taken care of about 90% of the problem; in fact for about 4 months there was NOTHING, even in REALLY heavy downpours. Now I'm getting small damp spots in a few areas right where the block meets the slab. Nothing "flowing", just damp along the wall, extending out maybe 6" at the most. I'm thinking caulk/cement/something applied to the block/slab joint in these areas will take care of it, but I'm not sure what to use. Silicone? Hydraulic cement? What would be best?

TIA

Dan

[Alan]

I could be wrong, but doubt that silicone or hydraulic cement on the inside would seal it very well. The best solution would mean digging down to the footings on the outside and sealing it there. This may seem like too much trouble for just damp spots. When it is impossible or impractical to do it from the outside, another solution is to put weeping tile on the inside under the floor going into a sump pit and putting a membrane on the inside a couple of blocks high so that any water that does come in is directed by the membrane down into the weeping tile. This also sounds like overkill for your damp spots unless the problem gets worse.