Leaky Basement Repair Advice

[corvette63]

I live in Maryland and we have had a record amount of rainfall. For the last 13 years my basement has been bone dry. In fact I have never seen water in the sump pump.

Unfortunatly I am now getting water in the stairwell entrance to the basement. I traced the source to two spots where the block wall meets the concrete pad. The entrance to the stairwell is perpendecular to the basement wall and the water is coming in along the wall furthest from the house. I can wipe the area dry and then observe water coming in in two spots.

The rest of the basement is bone dry. The well does not have a drain. Since I have water coming in, I am assuming that this section of the stairwell is not tied into the drain tile around the foundation as I would expect the drain tile to keep the water from coming in.

I am trying to figure out a solution. Initially I was hoping that the water level would drop and I would be able to clean the spots well and apply a caulk - can someone recommend a caulk or other product.

If that did not work, I was considering installing a seperate sump for this area or tieing the stairwell into the drain tile of the house. This would require breaking up the floor of the stairwell and tieing into the foundation draintile. My only concern is making the problem worse in some way.

Any help or ideas would be appreciated. I am also planning on attacking the obvious such as ensuring the gutters are clean and that water drains away from the house.

 

[techmaximus]

The killer Gs for basements:
1) Ground Water
2) Grade
3) Gutters

Rarely are residential basements built water tight. It's best to keep water from ever reaching the walls in the first place.


Techmaximus

 

[jjeng2]

I would not seal the interior of the walls with caulk or any other method. That will not stop water from getting inside the block and now it will have no way out. At least now you have quasi weep holes. Most water in basements comes from simple little things like downspouts not properly discharging or poor grading. Before you embark on any repair methodology, try the simple things first. Since you think the problem is only in the stairwell area, using a fix that would require excavating the exterior may be feasible since the limited area will keep the costs down.

 

[poppasonny]

At the location of water penetration, create weep holes approx 12" o/c in the block at the intersection of the wall and footing.

If there is stone beneath the bottom of the slab and top of the footing,thats' a good thing.

If not, create small channels such that water seeping out from the block weep holes can find it's way into the stone beyond the edge of the footing and beneath the slab.

The water should then find it's way to the existing sump pump via the stone beneath the slab.

Good luck

 

[corvette63]

Thank you for the reply. I cleaned my gutters and did some regrading this evening.

I understand the suggestion to create weep holes in the block at 12" o.c.. Need some clarity on the second part. Are you saying drill holes in the slab beyond the footing to try to direct the water back into the ground and to house sump?

 

[poppasonny]

If the slab sits directly on the top of the footing, the drainage from the weep holes has no where to go other than possibly seeping up to the floor slab.

Therefore, for a slab bottom directly on top of the footing, you have to create a channel between the top of footing and bottom of slab in order to get the water out of the weep holes into the stone below the slab. This can be accoplinshed by tubes/pipes from the weep holes to the stone beyond the top of the footing before you grout over the opening in the slab that was made in order to provide the weep holes.

Again, good luck, and respond if you have more questions.

 

[jjeng2]

You need to do more than just clean the gutters. If the downspouts discharge at grade make sure they have extensions on them that take them 5-6 feet away from the house. If they discharge below grade, you may have a broken drain tile.