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Has anyone had any success in waterproofing an existing basement? Water seeps in cracks in the cement floor and also along the joint between the floor and cinderblock wall. Digging outside of walls seems prohibitive. Gutters do exist and work ok. Heard of two ideas: (1) dig a channel along inside of wall and lead it to a sump pump (2) install some sort of coving, drill holes to outside of wall to allow water into coving and lead it to a sump pump. Preferences? Experience?
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Need to know where the water is coming from. If its coming out of the ground (i.e high water table) you have a serious fight ahead. If it only happens when in rains and is clearly from water running down the outside of the foundation and then seeping in, you need to get that water away from the house before it has a chance to get down there. Improve grading around the building, put in a surface drain around the perimeter etc. Your gutters may work fine but where does the water from the downspouts go, does it get far enough away from the house?
... Once you add up all these things you may have done as well to dig up around it and put a good footing drain in.
Good luck!
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Ain't no such thing as "waterproofing" a basement. What you do is manage the water that is there. So, hotsawdust isn't soggy. Get out the shovel or backhoe, find the source of the water and channel it away from the house. If that is impossible, then channel into a sump pump in the basement. Anything else is just a waste of money, time and frustration.
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How come no body ever thought of this. The Basement De-Watering System works GREAT in my house! It may not stop the water but I have a dry floor and my wife has finely shut-up. Keeping her quiet was worth $900.
Check'em out. Maybe it's for you maybe not.
http://www.bdws.com
Dry as a Bone.
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Bob,
The system you've described is available from other sources, e.g., Beaver, including a DIY version from Lowe's (SquidGee). Basically, you're drilling weep holes at the base of the wall and then using a channel to direct the incoming water to a sump. I guess it's as good as any last resort solution, though I'd prefer outside solutions first. By the way, I once had ants entering my basement in a previous house, and they were coming in at the junction of the wall and floor. That's pretty far down, but it makes one more hesitant to drill holes in the wall.
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I would never even consider purchasing this product after reading your endorsement which is so degrading to your wife. I wonder if she'd pay $900 and live with 2 feet of water in her basement before living with you!
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We sure are in an age of obtuse language. A sump pump being called a "Basement Dewatering System". Humph! I suppose the price goes up $100per letter too!
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Mr. Coker neglected to mention in his posting that he is a salesman for this system. He did spam my email about it however.
By the way my basement is dry now that the grading and drainage is done. Anyone else with basement drying products to sell can look elsewhere.
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Has anyone had any success in waterproofing an existing basement? Water seeps in cracks in the cement floor and also along the joint between the floor and cinderblock wall. Digging outside of walls seems prohibitive. Gutters do exist and work ok. Heard of two ideas: (1) dig a channel along inside of wall and lead it to a sump pump (2) install some sort of coving, drill holes to outside of wall to allow water into coving and lead it to a sump pump. Preferences? Experience?