I have a customer with an issue that I have been trying to remedy for a while now.
A few months ago their basement flooded and they removed all carpet etc.
That was where I came in, demoed bottom of drywall etc for a dryout period.
I ended up installing some drainage tile and a few other modifications and have successfully stopped any problems of water intrusion from the exterior.
About ten years ago they had an addition put on with a basement – the existing house is crawl. Somehow the add’n GC undermined the footers and poured wall down to the basement level.
At one point of the foundation( a 270 degree corner) (used to be outside corner of crawl) there is either a crack or a cold joint which seeps ( not drips ) moisture. It is very calcified and appears to have been doing this for a loooong time. This area was “patched” by the add’n GC at the time of construction and I don’t have a real good view or access ( I am assuming cold joint).
There is a finished bathroom 3″ off of this affected area and a 2X4 firred wall (drywall removed) on the other half of the corner for access.
I have drilled holes to try to drain whatever is behind the wall and nothing comes out.
Yesterday I dug a 4 foot hole in the crawl ( to check for an abandon tile or to see what I could find) the crawl and hole were dry to the bottom. ( This put me about 6″ below where the seeping starts, and 16″ above the basement floor ). Today the hole was full of 4″ of water.
It would be almost impossible to dig further to install a sump down as far as it would have to be to collect water from the floor level.
It seems to just be hydro pressure building and passing through the”crack”.
I would like to try to “superpatch” the area but I would love to hear any suggestions on what material to attempt. ( the area is ALWAYS surface-wet)
I’m not real happy with trying to patch this but all means of mechanically handling this situation seem impossible.
This corner is located in the center of the footprint of the house – I’ve never seen anything like this. The rest of the basement is bone dry.
I apologize for not having pics
Remodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City
Replies
jeff, we had some goodly amount of rain last nite. Could there be a section of old drain tile that the addn. contractor compromised and now is acting as a route for water to come in?
wouldn't be the first time someone cut a tile, forgot about it and the downspout or other water collector stayed attached. You could take a chance and disconnect any spouting that goes in the ground and try running it away from the foundation (above the surface). Wait for rain or run the hose in the gutter.
A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
Thought about that. checked everything out.
The wierd thing is that it's smack dab in the middle of the house now (far away from any perimeter), and I wouldn't assume a tile inside the crawl on a 40's house.
That's one of the reasons that I dug the hole - to make sure that there wasn't something there that shouldn't be - there wasn't.
Have any good references for water guys ? -- never had to use one, yet. This is the first one to have me beat - almost.
It also doesn't seem to care about precipitation. It is just always "wet".Remodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City
I'm sorry, I misunderstood.........thinking this was on the side where the addition was built. You mention a bathroom close by. Maybe? Try some dye?
Good water guy? can't say as I have that in my memory bank. A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
It kind of is at the addition. See attach.
Definitely not plumbing.
Thank you.Remodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City
I wonder if there's a pl;ace where you could dig deeper a few feet further back for a sump pump then.Regardless ofg the name brand, a hydraulic cement patches prettywell if you can get it into a clean hole. It expands as it cures, and it cures darn fast - ten or fifteen minutes.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Problem is that the original contractor patched it when it was more accessible and now I don't have room to remove his but can reach in enough to overcoat it. I don't know the integrity of the waterplug without a detent to key into.
I guess I'm not out anything to overcoat it all with Thoroseal.
I don't know if Thoroseal will hold back the hydrostatic pressure or not - there may only be one way to find out.
I would love to do a sump but that entails digging a 6 1/2 ' deep hole in a 2' deep crawl with no way to get rid of the dirt ( without blowing out quite a few brick / block ) and all of this in some of Ohio's best clay.
Thank you.Remodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City
LOL, pull a Tom Sawyer...Put up a sign, Ohio's finest clay, 20% discount if you dig it yourself. Actually, it would be doable if the funds are there. High pressure washer hose, and a mud sucker combined to do some hydraulic mining! Course, you would come out looking like a mud wrestling champion, but like I said, if the funds are there...
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
If for some reason waterplug doesn't do it, I'd give an old gutter drain a possibility. We aren't notorious for live springs around here. Constant damp with standing water after a rain would seem to suggest to me the damp could come from regular watering of flowers and roof drain. To get the depth, a stiff (ceiling wire) lowered down a drain till it stops. Put a bend in it and lower it down again, turning till the bend hits the horizontal pipe. Assuming there is an underground drain.
Or, don't forget the ingenious plumbing of a laundry sink in those 30's to 60's houses around here.
If I wasn't watching baseball, more goofy observations from history.
Best of luck.
A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
Replied to Piffin, but didn't want to leave you out if you have any concern.
Thanks - I think I still owe you one at Dale's for the last help - make it two.
I got some pics today but it is such a f'ed up scenario the pics don't make no sence - I'll try to label them or something and post.Remodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City
Damn brother, we will soon be able to make a night of it at Dales.
This give and take feedback is sometimes what it takes to solve a problem.
again, best of luck.A great place for Information, Comraderie, and a sucker punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
Waterplug.
I think by USG but I'd have to run out to the shop in the rain to see
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
Thoro products - stay dry.
Thanx.Remodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City
I patch obvious holes with the Waterplug, then paint overall with Thoroseal.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Thanks for the input.
After a long web search, I went with your suggestion.
Today I chipped of all of the old sh!t, opened the area ( it was a cold joint of two different pours) with diamonds, and retreated with waterplug.
I am going to see what happens tomorrow or the next day.
Here's the next question - If it stays dry enough - should I just Thoroseal the area for extra protection or is there another technological marvel that will let me sleep?Remodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City
Hard to say without being there. These things are always a judgement call, but best to err on the side of caution - now that you have done the hard work of digging it out and cleaning it up - not too much sense to wait another year to do more.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Is it practical to tile as low as you can go and drain that to daylight? Even if you can't get below the basement footer it would help relieve some of the pressure.
If the wall's smooth enough I think you should put a membrane on it, after patching obvious cracks with hydraulic cement.
Edited 8/29/2006 11:03 pm by DanH
It wouldn't be practical to lay a tile although I did do that in other areas already to do the same thing you are thinking of - to at least lighten the load.
It would be somewhat practical to set a sump and get it the hell out of there - ( practical but not easy / economical ) - if that's what it comes down to, I'll do it.
I can't do a membrane until I can get it dry enough - and I can't - it's not a big leak, just always wet. - They didn't even really know there was a problem until the carpet was pulled due to a somewhat connected but seperate issue.
I just won't put it back together until I feel it's fixed - or satisfactorily a non-issue. Remodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City
Curing basement water problems from the interior is like curing diarrhea with toilet paper.
Well, JHOLE's needing to fix a ruptured appendix via orthoscopic surgery to the knee. He knows the problem, he's just trying to figure out his options.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
Both sides of the wall are interior, should I drain Lake Erie and hope for the best?
If it was easy I wouldn't have bothered you with it.
C'mon, be a player and help a guy out.
I appreciate the the interest - put your thinking cap on - I'll take all the help I can get.Remodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City
Unless you have a spring under the house the water is coming from somewhere.
The trick is redirecting it. Plugging the leaking holes will only show you which is the next likely to leak. Water finds the course of least resistance. Your job is to provide it.
Good luck.
I agree.
The quickest thing to try is to patch the area that I know is affected, and I was just trying to find the best material that could to give me the surest chance of success.
If the logistics of this were not so bad I would not think of patching as a solution.
If I can install a patch with higher resistance than the hydro pressure, and, the poured wall has a higher resistance than the hydro pressure then the water will hopefully leach off to a less resistant area - water table, tile, sump, other earth.
If this works then I have done my job of servicing my customer at the most efficient way. If it doesn't then I will move on to a more aggressive mechanical fix. Either way the right thing to do was to "patch" the cold joint in the foundation, with the highest quality material / labor and make sure that I fix the problem while controlling the HO costs and making sure that I get paid - That is my job.
Hopefully today I will get over there to see if " waterplug " helped. From there I will plan my next move.
ThanxRemodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City
Late to the thread.
peanut gallery comments
if you have access to the entire crack there are epoxies for sealing cracks, there are companies that do it for a living, I used the company Crack-X. given the time you have spent not likely cheap fix. a floor to ceiling job about $600, but guarentied.
don't know what kind of epoxies they used (2 different kinds were used)
bobl Volo, non valeo
Baloney detecter WFR