I have a client who wants to do something about water entering her basement through the walls. I recommended a full perimeter drain around the house, but that’s financially out of the question for her at the moment ($5-7k). Are there any effective coatings to apply to the inside of the basement? The walls are a mix of fieldstone and brick, all of which has been mortared over. The floor is poured, but I really doubt it has a vapor barrier under the slab. I am aware two products, Drylok (UGL) and Xypex HD-150. Are these effective? For that matter, are there ANY effective products out there? I have also seen interior perimeter drains (In FHB or JLC– can’t remember which mag), but I seem to remember that the material for the drain was proprietary.
Thanks for your help.
Adam
Replies
Until she can afford to fix the problem, address whatever surface drainage issues she may have as best you can (gutters, grading near the house, etc.). If there isn't one already, dig a decent sump and install a good pump. Interior coatings do little to nothing at best. No matter what you trowel on the inside, it will still leak if there is water pushing on the outside of the foundation.
Those products help somewhat sometimes with small cracks and holes in re-inforced concrete, but for a masonry wall like this, it would be mostly a waste of time, slowing but never stopping the water intrusion.
It would be like putting a band aid on an amputated finger
She NEEDs the drainage plane on the outside of the house to do any good.
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Seal-O-Flex is the only manufacturer that recommends their product for the negative (inner) side of a basement wall. I have used it ONCE on a good client's house with leaking poured walls and floor, and it's worked perfectly for over three years - before that, that basement had water in it most of the time - now, never.
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Forrest
Adam,
Piffin and Henry are right. Brick and fieldstone can't be waterproofed from the inside and the first line of defense against basement water is the grade and downspouts.
In a well designed basement waterproofing SYSTEM, the perimeter drain is the just-in-case last resort.
The menu of options I would offer your client, from mandatory minimum to best is:
In time the added insulation will pay for itself and the rest of the work in reduced heating costs for the basement.
SamT
Most of the other posts are right. You can't seal water from the inside, it must be stopped where it begins; outside. Luck
First off, it's not totally clear whether you're describing a problem of "dampness" or actual liquid water entering.
Second, any coating applied to the inside of those walls will trap water and cause the mortar to flake off the stone.
For liquid water there are "Beaver" style systems that involve fastening a hollow plastic "baseboard" to the floor/wall junction, and then draining that to a sump. Not great, but sometimes moderately effective.
General dampness is an issue for this basement as is water penetration during heavy precip events. i have also considered vapor barrier membranes (Tu-tuf is one name that sticks in my head) with a sump well beneath the membrane at the low point, but I have yet to arrive at the ideal solution to integrate the membranes into a functional basement space.Adam
Well, first take care of the grading issues as described. Doing so will often eliminate about 80% of the problem.
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