Home › Forums › WSB Reader Recommendations › leak detection/water in basement – help!
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March 10, 2011 at 3:37 pm #598256
hoffanimalParticipantFirst ants, now water. I’ve got water in the basement again. We have never had it in 12 years here and now twice in 3 months. I need help figuring out where my leak is and how to fix it. Recommendations welcome!
March 10, 2011 at 3:47 pm #719958
redblackParticipantwhat kind of flooring? are the walls firred out and sheetrocked?
another maybe relevant question: does your house or did your house have oil heat? if there was a tank buried in the yard, they had to run oil lines inside to the furnace or boiler, and they usually punched a hole in the foundation wall to do it. when the tank is decommissioned, they sometimes forget to plug that hole.
March 10, 2011 at 3:59 pm #719959
hoffanimalParticipanttile over cement. Basment is partially finished. we do currently have oil heat althought the tank is on the opposite side of where the leak is occuring.
March 10, 2011 at 4:08 pm #719960
redblackParticipantis the leak presenting itself in the finished part? a big consideration in identifying a leak is how much material you’d have to remove to get to and examine the foundation wall.
are walls – finished or otherwise – obviously wet, or is it just the floor?
is it possible that the leak is occurring farther away, but “presents itself” at another location?
or do you know exactly where the leak occurs inside, but can’t get to it from the outside?
March 10, 2011 at 4:16 pm #719961
hoffanimalParticipantLeak is in an unfinished closet and appears to be seeping in from the floor or bottom of the wall. Our basment was dug out after the house was built but don’t know if that is a factor; we have very thick foundation walls. The leak is somewhat near our backyard. I redirected a downspout away from the area in the yard that I htought was the problem (we had pooling next to the foundation during the las heavy rain before Christmas and don’t now).
March 10, 2011 at 4:38 pm #719962
redblackParticipantthat’s a tough spot, and if the basement was added later, they might have completed floor and wall construction it two phases: slab poured first, then the walls on top, creating a seam. no way to tell at this point, though.
you could try hydraulic cement. it sets in wet conditions – even under water – and expands to fill cracks. it’s a cheap possible fix if you can get it into that crack. and if it doesn’t fix the problem, it might give you more clues (like if the water is migrating along the bottom of the wall from someplace else and showing up in that closet simply because that’s where you notice it.)
it’s available at true value in the paint/waterproofing aisle, or at home depot in the building materials/concrete mix aisle.
be aware that hydraulic cement cures really quickly, so mix small amounts at a time. you’ll want a small bucket from the paint supply aisle and a margin (rectangular and narrow) trowel from the masonry tools area to mix it and apply it.
if that doesn’t work and you have to go pro, a seam/crack might be an easy job for permadry waterproofing. i’ve never had to use them (knock on wood) but they get stellar reviews from our neighbors:
https://westseattleblog.com/forum/topic/very-flooded-basement#post-111503
March 10, 2011 at 5:15 pm #719963
hoffanimalParticipantThank you much redblack! I’ve got a contractor friend who is going to take a look at it but the hydraulic cement sounds like a good first try at the problem.
March 10, 2011 at 10:00 pm #719964
tom kelleyParticipantGood move redirecting the down spout. When it rains this afternoon see if the gutters are overflowing, an indication that the down spout might be clogged up at the gutter. The fact that you have a twelve year history of no leaks suggests something happened recently. I had a similar problem that was remedied by cleaning the clogged downspout, a cheap DIY place to start.
An exterminator told me that my ant problem was related to my moisture issue. In his opinion any efforts to get rid of the ants would be a waste of time until the infested area was dry
March 10, 2011 at 10:36 pm #719965
KimberleyParticipantDid you get rid of the ants hoffanimal? If so, what did it finally take? We’ve had them on/off for the last few months on our 3rd floor and just when we think they’re gone they come back.
March 10, 2011 at 10:41 pm #719966
redblackParticipantone other thing to eliminate: are you sure it’s coming from outside the house?
March 10, 2011 at 10:45 pm #719967
WWMomParticipantHi There, Not sure if you need something of this nature, but when we had water in our basement (substantial) we hired Prema Dry Waterproofing and they were amazing. They offer a lifetime guarantee and although our work was substanital – putting in french drains and an additional sump pump – we have been dry ever since 2006. And, I always got top notch customer service. Example – when the original sump pump failed on a Sunday morning (I was alone at home with my young daughter) I called Perma Dry in a panic and got their answering service. But, within 5 minutes, I got a call back and was told someone would be out to my house ASAP. That someone turned out to be the owner of the company (on a Sunday am) and I was so grateful. He was able to do a temporary fix for me and then we replaced the old sump pump the following week. I cannot say enough good things about Perma Dry.
March 11, 2011 at 12:34 am #719968
hoffanimalParticipantKimberly, the ants have taken a back seat because for now they are in remission. Not best approach but thems the facts. Plan is to follow up with some of the excellent recommendations.
Re the water in my basement. I did some more sleuthing and talked with my contractor friend. He noticed that it looks like my basement wall/floor wher it leaks has been sealed before (before i bought the house) and said the lifespan on that job has probably run its course (not helped by heavy rains). He suggests I run my downspout directly into a drain to take that out of the equation. His ultimate recommendation is a sump pump. I’ll have to cut/drill to put that in. May research and try myslef as my friend said it is a pretty expensive job to do properly. Interested to know if others have done this or paid to have it done and what it cost.
March 11, 2011 at 5:38 am #719969
redblackParticipanthoff: your choices are: patch again; sump pump; or attack the foundation wall from the outside (and put in new perimeter drains.)
sump pumps essentially lower the water table below the level of the slab – and the leak. water seeks the path of least resistance, which will be into your pump well. so it doesn’t address the crack/seam/leak directly.
i’ve seen it done many times; but no, i haven’t done it. i’m not interested in turning my basement into a water feature.
the city doesn’t allow new construction to drop downspouts into the side sewer; but if your house was originally designed that way, you should be “grandfathered” in. ;)
March 11, 2011 at 7:02 pm #719970
hoffanimalParticipantre the the water feature. That’s funny, maybe I can build a fountain and charge admission to offset my costs. I have an existing downspout drain to tie into so hope I am legit.
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