After a very hard rain(Tropical Storm Ernesto just passed though), water is coming into the house and wetting the carpet. The walls are not wet and our roof is new. We think that the water is coming from around where the block sits on the foundation. Has anyone else had this problem? If so what sealer did you use or what did you do to fix the problem?
Thanks for any help.
Sounds like you have a cement block house with slab floor that is at or below the ouside ground level. If so , yes water will soak through the blocks. You need to seal the outside a bit above and below ground. I would use asphalt, hot if possible.. Even that may not prove sucessfull, if it is a slab floor, water could be coming up from under the slab. Especially where the slab joins the ouside foundation. Also slab floors are great to have termite infestation. The slab can and usually do crack under a interior wall and gives them an entrance and you don't know it till they have ate half the wall up. Yes the slab is suppose to have a plastic barrier beneath it, but that depends on how good the builder was and if it was actually put down. I know because I lived for 40 years in Florida and ever slab floored house I knew of had a termite problem. Especially so if the ground level was in a damp area, which most of Florida is. Sorry if I sound disappoining but the truth is the truth. Jack
Is there standing water on the outside? If so, some sort of perimeter drain is a good idea, if not, is there now water trapped inside the block? You should start deciding on a solution until you're doing more than guessing at how the water's getting in.
Step one is to get the water away from the house. As someone noted it sounds like the block is resting on some sort of footer. Adding a water proof barrier at that point from below grade on the footer to above grade on the block is good.
Note: Concrete block is NOT waterproof. You will get moisture into and through it when you get a good rain and lots of wind driving it into the block. You can opt for some sort of waterproofing over ALL the exposed block. I suggest checking around locally as to what works well where you are.
How windy was it? Here in Florida, there were many homes which suffered water damage because the rain blew THROUGH concrete block/stucco exterior walls. Older homes, with more coats of paint, had less of this kind of problem.
Rain can certainly blow under doors and around poorly sealed windows.
Get out the shop vac (heavy duty) and the fans. Run AC or dehumidifier to get carpet dry before it mildews or damages subfloor.
The wind barely blew, but it rained rained and more rain. I think we got a good 2 inches. We are going to Flex Bon Paints tomorrow and checking on a sealer. Hopefully this will help.
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