I have a basement that has about 2 feet showing above ground. The house is of the 1950’s period. You can see a line that runs around the basement about 2-4 feets below ground (it does not run in an even straight line). Someone told me that they used to pour concrete in two batches and that this line is where one pouring ended and the other started.
I have been getting slow leakage of water at several places along this line during rain storms. What can I do. I have used some silicone caulk and that worked for a couple of weeks but the water found it’s way beneath that.
For the person who suggested a goat to get rid of the elm tree suckers under my porch, let’s not go for ducks in the basement. Portland has these city regulations….
Thanks.
Replies
Caulk aint gonna cut it, pal.
This is excess ground water and there are several fixes: (1) I would excavate along the perimeter and install a perimeter waterproofing membrane like Mer-Crete or Laticrete or the Thoroughseal membrane product. (2) Excavate along the perimeter and install a french drain that drains to daylight; (3) Excavate along the perimeter and install a water shield, like some 10 mil poly and crushed rock to push that water away in rain storms away from the house.
Boris
"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1927
Nothing you can do on the inside will be a long term solution. You MIGHT get away with making sure the lawn slopes away from the house and the roof runoff is directed well away from the house, but Boris is probably right, any long term fix is going to require excavation.
The fixes #1 & 3 proposed by Boris would only be doiung the job half way. If you waterproof down below the crack, the water will just find a way in a little further down. Better to install the french drain and do it right. Or do a combination of the french drain and waterproof to a level slightly lower.
One way that would work (I have done this successfully, but it is a lot of work) is to chip out 2 inches or so wide and deep along the crack during the dry season, then grout (100% cement and water, zero sand or lime) the the groove. This assumes you have a tight bond below that crack as you may not have as noted in the previous post
Edited 5/11/2002 12:18:49 AM ET by JUNKHOUND
Hydraulic cement will work slightly better than caulk. But it's not a long term solution - It's only covering up the symptoms, not fixing the problem.
Are ya goinna be there the rest of your life, or is this just a temporary home? If you plan to stay in it a long time, the amount of money you spend excavating and fixing the problem will seem smaller a few years down the road.
BTW - Waddaya got against ducks? A cousin of mine has a very wet basement, with the 10" of rain we've gotten over the past week or so. She let her Son turn his pet turtle loose down there............(-:
The world's full of apathy, but I don't care
Boss, have you seen the new epoxy injection systems? I have heard that they work , and a check with the BBB of two companies in my area reveals no unresolved complaints in the last four years. Might work in thsi case. Might also be as expensive as the excavation since they get $300.00 for a 7' slab to wall top crack.
Never heard of epoxy injections. Is that anything like a boob job ???
If you can read this, there should've been a signature line here.
"Never heard of epoxy injections. Is that anything like a boob job ???"
In some cases, if that's the first thing tried, yep, but the job is being done to reduce the size of the boob's wallet.
You convinced me to try a french drain. The ground slopes gently down from the back of the property towards the house. Have begun the digging, about 4 foot from the basement wall, (with a sidewalk and small strip of dirt between where the exterior wall of the duplex and the drain will be). However, ran into a problem. This is a duplex, built in about 1954. Lining up with about where the bathroom is, in the path where we are digging we found a pig iron pipe, about 4-5 inches in diameter. The top of the pipes were about 3 inches below the ground. One had a circular flat cover that lifted off (well tipped off when the shovel hit it. The other did not have a cover. Both have a bunch of dirt in them. I don't yet know how far down they go into the soil or to what they were connected. However, we obviously will not be able to lay the pipes with holes down this trench. So i guess we will move out another foot...any thoughts. Hurry--my digging crew is at work. And thanks again. Manda
Put the ducks outside where they belong!
Before trying all that fancy expensive sh...., stuff: do you have good guuters, downspouts and 10' downspout extensions? DOes the soil slope away from the house? Those two things will often sufficiently control water so it doesn't get to or through the foundation.
On a 30' x 40' house, in a 1" rain, you'll get about 840 gallons coming off of the roof. If you have 4 downspouts, that's about 210 gals per downspout. That's about 7 full trashcans of water being dumped at each corner of the house. Contemplate the karma...!