Leaky Basement -- Cinderblock walls

Waste of time. First check gutters and slope of land away from house. If they are ok you need a french drain, gravel and damp-proofing around the outside of the house.

Won't work -- I wouldn't even bother.

There are plenty of discussions in the archives of this group on waterproofing -- hit google and do a search on the group for keywords like "waterproofing" and "basement".

There are a limited number of options for leaking basements:

2) Install drain tiles around the floor and sump pump in a well to ease hydrostatic pressure from beneath the basement floor.

4) Paint the walls with a sealer such as Drylok, Aqualok, or Sanitred.

You'll also want to check the lay-of-the-land about the house -- see if water is running towards the house (such as from a hill) and maybe even redirect the downspouts. You can also add drywells to area around the house, a dry creek, landscape with terracing and drainage behind the walls, etc. Thes may help but if the leakage is pretty bad then you're likely not going to stop it altogether by these measures.

success

If the water is coming in at the joint of the wall with the floor I'd recommend hydraulic cement followed by a waterproofing paint. You might also try to find the source of the water and divert it. A "French drain" worked for me on a sloping grade; I created a 18" wide, four foot deep trench and filled it with gravel about a foot out from the foundation. Presto, no more water.

I would begin with looking for the source of the water, rather than treating it as an "also". As you suggest, Roof run off and the general grading around the house should direct the water away from the house. A check of the water table by speaking to neighbors would help.

Tom Baker

Of course you have to figure out where the leak is originating and what's feeding it. I kind of figured that was obvious.

You know, I've found the neighbors are of little use to me on that one. The houses here are constructed very differently and actually have different positions in the hill and such. It's surprising just how little these homes have in common with each other beyond the proximity of the lots and most of these are 50' lots right on top of each other. This is probably due to the age of most homes here (typically 90-125 years old -- not much recent development) -- I'd imagine there would be much more use of neighboring layouts in more recently constructed communities and sub-divisions though.

You might as well take the $40 and flush it down the toilet. Not trying to be nasty. It is the truth.

I've used Sani-Tred a few times

My basement was one of my experiences. As their website tells yo "sealing spots" does not waterproof the basement. If you stop it fro coming in one spot, it has no choice but to come in the next least rou of resistance.

Everyone talks about gutters, downspouts, landscaping, drain tiles sump pumps, sump pits, battery backups, dehumidifiers, sheet materials etc... None of which are necessary and how is pumping wate ?waterproofing?. If that were the case how do you waterproof a aquarium with a pump? If you stop it from coming in what else is ther to be concerned with?

Some skeptics say "great pressure will push your walls in". My god m house never collapsed before ... are you saying that my home was neve designed to be waterproof? Not true. If exterior water is a concer drain it away from the home, don't bring it in the house and think yo are going to pump the water table down. That's like intentionall punching a hole in a boat just to pump the water back out. It makes n sense.

I?ve tried the local Drylok. It?s crap. I would never apply it to m walls or anything important for that matter. I applied it to som cardboard, let it dry, and watched it crack up when you ever s slightly flex the board. I wouldn?t trust it. I also called their tec support. I asked them if Drylok is ?waterproof? they said NO. They sai that it will not stop ?moisture? from coming through it! Hmm waterproofer? NO.

In the end I use Sani-Tred and it?s been 100% dry as a bone for over years now. I?ve applied tile, built stud walls, laid carpet and n problems

-- Tren

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