Hi, I’m new here and thought this would be an interesting site I will probably utilize quite often.
I bought my house a couple of years ago and now the man of the house has moved out. I know very little about basic maintenace of the house but I will be learning, believe me.
First on the agenda is the outdoor drain in my back yard. I have noticed that it doesn’t seem to be sealed right. When it rains or when I run the hose in the yard, it seeps through the corner wall of my basement, causing other problems. The ex had sealed the drain somehow and it worked for a while. He left before fixing it again. It just appears that the water runs down the outside of the drain as well as the inside. The cement surrounding the grate for the drain was cracked and therefore not keeping the water in the drain as it’s designed to do.
What would be the best way to fix this. We have seen the drain itself is intact. The grate is removable around the top of the drain, we just need to recement the area surrounding the drain site.
Replies
Welcome to Breaktime.
I am not sure that I would call this site interesting, but there are a lot of "interesting" people here, sepcially one guy here will tell you to fix it using special "piffin screws".
Could you give some more details about the drain. What it is made from, what size it is, location, etc?
Even better if you can take some digital pictures (about 50k-100k) and then upload them.
Oh, I dont know how to explain it...it's just a big brown drain with a grate on it, cement around it....It might take me a while to get the pictures, I'm new at that sort of thing. I'll try, though.
here's my best guess.
The water that enters that drain line has to go somewhere. I build in a rural area and we lead that line out to daylight when the terrain slopes. Gravity works that way.
But in the cities, they are often led into a storm drain.
Wherever it was intended to lead the water once up[on a time, it isn't doing so well now. maybe it was poorly laid in or more likely, it has since become cluttered and partly clogged with debris. one in front of my garge door gets that way every couple of years because we have a deck over it and my wife likes to feed the birds. no amount of arm twisting or logical explanations can get her to move that little old display.
So guess where the shells and hulls go. And the uneaten seeds. And guess what happens to those seeds when they get wet. They swell up.
Roots can also clog a drain line.
So it might be roto rooter time for you. Give the water a drainage path to follow easily and it won't feel like working so hard to find a way into your basement.
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Thank you for the insight. It's definately something to be aware of, but that is not the problem. The cement is not sturdy around the top of the drain and thus not sealed approrpriately right, therefore allowing water down the sides where it doesn't belong.
Givern that you have a cement drain and a cement yard, and the only observable crack where water runs is there at the drain scupper, I would suggest that you find some masonry epoxy to seal it up. i would only try this if you are certain that is the problem, because it is very expensive to account for it being very good. if this si only a maybe thing, try to get some USG waterplug or a comparable product. Wear rubber gloves and eye protection when you mix any of the above, read the lable and follow instructions.
Good luck
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
THANK YOU that was very helpful. I will look into that. That will last a long time right? Once I can fix the leak problem, then I can get into fixing my basement. Boy that will be a load of fun. LOL.
I have seen similar drains in commercial work, do the same thing. The leak occurs at the drain bell and concrete surface. Sometimes, just a small crack around the drain bell is enough to send water to the floor below or whatever is beneath the drain.
If the culprit crack is small a urethane caulk and backer rod can be used to seal it. If it is large, piffens, suggestion about hydrolic ceemnt is a good temp fix.
Be sure to clean all the loose cement and gunk out of the crack before either rememidie is applied.
Welcome to Breaktime University.
Dave
Thank you, that is EXACTLY what is is, except it's not so much a crack as in it's just crumbly around the area...thanks...I will note those options done and see if I can get my dad to help me with the hard work...hehe
Had another thought after my post.
Now that you have mentioned the crumbly part.
Dig out and chisel the bad concrete back to good stuff. Don't be afraid to take out to much. When you and your Dad get it all cleaned out, look at the drain bell (the part that the grate sits in). Often time after prolonged leakage around the outside of the bell, there wiil be some subsurface errosion. If the pipe is bedded in gravel, as it should be, the errosion may not be significant. If it is only supported by dirt , it could be a lot. Correct the erroded area before making the concrete repair. Make sure the pipe and drain bell are supported firmly. Freeze/thaw cycles and expansion/contraction of the two different material (concrete and cast iron) are allowing the water to get in and start destroying the concrete. The gravel supporting the pipe and bell can act as an expansion area to reduce the amount of forces acting on the concrete. Kind of like a cushion. Control those forces and your fix will be more permenant.
It is possible that the drain is not the culprit. If there is a path for water other than the drain, it needs to be filled in. I have fixed more than one drain to only find that the barn door was somewhere else.
Basically the path for the water is AT the drain..it's at the corner of my house in my cement backyard, where the drain for the roof comes out at as well.....It's the only place the water comes in my basement--at that corner wall. I know for a fact it's the cement surrounding the drain because as I said before it was fixed for a short time and the problem stopped.