basement interior walls moisture problem
in April i noticed cracks in my basement interior wall. it is finished with plaster. i went out of town for a month and when i came back there were cracks on the other side of the wall, where the stairs go to the basement.
now there are cracks in the bedroom ceiling. the bedroom has been finished from the beginning. in the dropped ceiling are heating ducts and plumbing pipes. in the regular ceiling in the middle of the room there are cracks now too, getting bigger.
i don’t know where to start looking for the source of the problem.
two plumbers had no idea either, other than start opening the walls.
one plumber thought it could also be a waste line….
i thought there was thermoheating equipment that dedected water in walls but i have not been able to find someone here in Washington, DC. there was one guy in Florida but he did not respond to my phonecalls or emails.
Replies
How old is the place? How big are the cracks? Where are the cracks, precisely? What is the structure of the walls -- is this drywall over studs or plaster on masonry or what?
Has it been unusually wet/dry for the past few months? Have you looked for cracks upstairs? When you were out of town, where did you leave the thermostat set?
Do the cracks seem to correspond to the location of plumbing? By "cracks" do you mean splits in the plaster/drywall where the two sides have pulled apart, or is the surface disintegrating somehow? Is there any staining near the "cracks"?
How old is the place? How big are the cracks? Where are the cracks, precisely? What is the structure of the walls -- is this drywall over studs or plaster on masonry or what?
the house was built in '39.
the walls are plaster over ? i don't know. i suspect studs.
the cracks are various sizes....effervescent crystallizing on them.
Has it been unusually wet/dry for the past few months? Have you looked for cracks upstairs? When you were out of town, where did you leave the thermostat set?
yes, we had a lot of water in DC
the thermostat was on regular heat as i had my roomate in the house.
the cracks on the staircase side are half-way up the wall.
in the bedroom the started on the westwall, then went to the ceiling.
there are none on the outside wall (east).
Normally when it rains a lot, and the ground is saturated, i get water in the basement living room (also originally finished) which is stepped down. there is a sump-pump which starts once there is water in the room. it was never properly installed by the previous owner. but there was no problem this spring with water in that room.
Do the cracks seem to correspond to the location of plumbing? By "cracks" do you mean splits in the plaster/drywall where the two sides have pulled apart, or is the surface disintegrating somehow? Is there any staining near the "cracks"?
there are three pipes going into the east wall near the ceiling. one is marked "basement bathroom cold water." where the other pipes go i don't know.
the cracks have pulled apart.
i just posted pictures of the cracks on my page.
Do you have a link to this page?
Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
click on this website the Gallery tab, and you will see the pictures at "Basement Leakage".
i had an an inspection firm do a thermographic inspection this morning.
results:
entire west wall of basement bedroom is wet;
soffit part of ceiling is wet, probably has standing water;
southwall near ceiling is wet;
diagnosis:
probably water pipe (one of three) going through ceiling soffit has a leak; cut hole in ceiling and start looking for leak;
can't really pinpoint area. Thermographic camera shows water in ceiling soffit. damage is spreading.
suggestion: replace all plaster that is now wet, in addition to replacing pipe that is leaking.
UGH.
Question: of the three water pipes going into the area, two of them have shut-off valves; i have never shut them off in twenty years, so i think they are frozen. the plumber suggests that i replace them. do i need to do that? do they go bad? i was thinking of adding a shut-off valve to the third pipe that does not have one now.
if all three shut-off valves are shut off, at least i could stop any water from flowing into the walls.
Edited 7/7/2009 10:06 am ET by AnimaMundi
First things first -- tear out the plaster and fix the leak. The plaster (at least the worst of it) will have to come out no matter what you do.While the plumber is there (fixing the leak) talk to him about replacing/installing shutoff valves. The ideal shutoff valve these days is a 1/4-turn ball valve -- reliable and least likely to become "frozen" from disuse.
As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz
thanks for your writings.
waiting for the plumber to have time to come and work...
https://www.finehomebuilding.com/item/8456/basement-leakage
As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz