water in basement

Digging around the foundation and tarring it isn't the answer. Its installing drainage so that water pressure cant build up from the outside of the wall to the inside. If you cant dig up outside, then the best option is equalize the pressure by intentionally draining water thru the wall in a controlled manner. There are systems available where a gutter is installed inside the wall and holes are drilled in the wall to collect the water and route it to an interior sump.

If you want to try exterior sealing, bentonite clay injection along the outside of the foundation may work or you can try the more expensive water reactive foams. Generally unless you relieve the hydraulic pressure outside the wall, there is no system that is going to keep you dry. Most modern foundation water proofing systems use this method, they install a waterproof membrane on the foundation, then a drainage layer, then a second water proof layer. The intervening drainage layer drains either to daylight outside via a drain or to an interior sump.

HehHeh . . . on the real estate paperwork it said "damp basement in Spring" . . . by which the seller meant "there will be a flood of water so that you will need to insure your sump pump is in good working order."

peakbagger said:

Digging around the foundation and tarring it isn't the answer. Its installing drainage so that water pressure cant build up from the outside of the wall to the inside. If you cant dig up outside, then the best option is equalize the pressure by intentionally draining water thru the wall in a controlled manner. There are systems available where a gutter is installed inside the wall and holes are drilled in the wall to collect the water and route it to an interior sump.

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+1. Water in my basement got worse every year until I had interior weeping tile / membrane installed (it's a DIY if you can run a jackhammer, I couldn't so I hired it out). Old house with CMU foundation, when they drilled the lower blocks the water gushed out like a firehouse. Job was done @ 10 years ago and it's been bone dry since. No digging, tearing off decks, worrying about (or working around) utilities, crazy $$$ spend, etc. The original owners parged the inside of the walls which did little to help. You have to give the water a better / other path of least resistance.

Interior weeping tile with membrane and sump. It's what I had to do at my old war time house worked great best money I ever spent !

It seems what everyone is suggesting is a 'drain tile line and a sump pump'. That is pretty much standard construction in the area I live. Works great unless you have kids who toss an empty cardboard box, upside down, over the top of the sump pump float mechanism........... ask me how I know...........

If it was me, I'd rent some equipment and install some drainage. But that's the way I roll.

Keep in mind, large hydro static pressure can destroy your foundation. If its not just weeping water, and you're getting an oversaturation of the wall...you may have an issue you need to deal with from the outside.

Shari said:

It seems what everyone is suggesting is a 'drain tile line and a sump pump'. That is pretty much standard construction in the area I live. Works great unless you have kids who toss an empty cardboard box, upside down, over the top of the sump pump float mechanism........... as me how I know...........

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Ya standard to have weeper on outside with sump inside. Not an interior weeping tile aka French drain. Keep in mind op's house was built 1920 and like my old house probably didn't have any drain tile or had clay if it did which has probably broken down! For minimal disturbance if basement is unfinished interior is the way to go and costs substantially less, plus most contractors will give u a lifetime fully transferable warranty

Plus if you do only from outside no contractor I know would guarantee you won't still have leakage from the seam of the footing/floor/wall.

By the way, when I built my house a lot of the technology and knowledge wasn't really well known. My house has about 3 feet of normal soil and the rest is hard pan clay. Ground water tends to run along the top of the hard pan, the bottom five feet is basically in a "bathtub" so any ground water finds its way into the hole. I had the contractor install a foot of heavy crushed rock under the foundation and ran a perimeter drain to daylight which required a trench about 200 feet long. I also tarred the foundation and installed 1" of foam board up against the wall. This worked well until about 10 years later I installed a new well and ran a new well line in through the wall. I was in a rush when they backfilled and didn't do a good job of sealing the well lien and the conduits that came in through the wall. Since then in the spring the water leaks in through the hole I drilled through the wall. The actual well lines and conduit runs are also probably intercepting ground water and also sending it to my foundation drain.

I have tried a couple of methods of trying to plug the hole from the inside but to no avail. I also need to dig and seal it from the outside. My short term fix in place for about 10 years was to drill a hole into the floor near where the water leaks in. It works well but its annoying. I plan to dig up the front of my house next summer and upgrade the wall sealing and then install a new drainage membrane and tie it into the existing drain to daylight.

Some things that didn't seem to matter when my old house was built (mid 50's) - things like level, plumb, square, true, etc To add to the joy of dealing with all that, like peakbagger's house I'm in hard clay which kinda makes my basement a big square sump pit. I have about 6' of front yard, tiny lot, one side rides the property line, it would be a nightmare trying to dig it up. I saw the interior weepers + sump on the CHMC (Canada) website and started researching. Turns out lots of contractors were doing these fixes in the old houses. I'm glad I didn't attempt myself - they started with Hilti and similar hammers, gave up, and came back day 2 with the big guns. Floor was 9" thick in some spots and crazy hard. No idea why. Those guys earned their pay that week.

One thing to keep in mind is a decent size sump pit (think backup pump). I also had them put in a clean out in the tile in the corner opposite the pit location (probably overkill but if I ever have to run a hose in there to flush it out into the pit, might come in handy, didn't really add anything to the cost....).

I still have that image in my head of the "fountains" pouring out of the drilled blocks and into the weeping tile trench when they drilled it out.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do....

duramaxman05 said:

I am going to look into the membrane and tile for the inside. I will just put in a sump pump. As you guys said, it will be the cheapest way to fix it. I can get a mini excavator from work and dig around the house, but i would rather not. I think that would be a nightmare. The original part of the basement was formed with concrete forms either. It was poured against the dirt. Only i get so lucky on stuff

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Poured against dirt sounds like it was dugout after the fact too. I bet it sticks out and has knee walls too Sounds just like my old house

French drain and a sump pump. Maybe some regrading also.

Attack the source first. Gutters were a good start.
Make sure that surface grades around the house actually direct water away from the house.
+1 on the interior drain with sump pump suggestion if addressing the source isn't enough.

I have a foundation crack that would occasionally weap a little water. I dug that area down to the footing and slathered the crack with that black roofing patch goo. No water since. I have gutters and exterior foundation drains which flow all spring so those are a must.

Here is what i did. I don't know if its right, but it worked and its been working for 10 years now. We had water coming straight through the cinderblock wall. there is an existing sump pump pit in the basement. I went around the perimeter of the basement, drilled 1/2 in holes every few feet at the bottom and used hydraulic cement to stick a 1/2 pvc pipe in there. each pipe goes to a T and gets connected to the next pipe. i made the whole thing sloped towards the sump pit.

This went in stages. first after drilling the holes, the holes gushed so much water i caused my own flood for a few days so i did have a very wet basement. When the water pressure through the holes let up i was able to install the pipe. now if water gets into the center of the wall, it goes into the pipe and down the sump pit where it is pumped out, VS pushing itself through the wall. after the whole thing was done, i painted with ThoroSeal.

This has worked out extremely well, relieved pressure on the wall and stopped numerous water problems.

Everyone who has seen that setup over the last year like repairmen etc always ask "whats that" and when i tell them, they say holy cow that was a great idea.

Sounds like you have the same problem as I. My basement is over springs. When the spring rises form heavy rain, I get little water fountains coming up through the cracks which were caused by the hydraulic(spelling) pressure. The basement floor drain the prior owner ran was dead ended into the side of the crappy drain tile he did. That took no time to clog with dirt & rocks. I had a trench dug via excavator to below the floor level and daylight out a hill. No go. The water comes off a the base of a mountain also and runs underground damning up against the back wall of my basement. SUperior walls, no no worries of them getting filled, but no foundation other than small gravel as a base. E ran the drain out to daylight, and cut a hole in the floor and installed a sump pump which also daylight out the side of the hill. Sump pump handles 95% of the job well. During a severe heavy rain over days, the sump pump cannot keep up with the spring(s) and the basement will g4et about 1/2"to 3/4" or water before finding its way to the drain and draining out there. Better than the 5' of water i know this basement has seen. Of course never disclosed on the selling disclosure.

Had I know the back corner was the low spot and where the springs and damning occur I would have put the sump there. I may dig another sump for pump in the trouble corner. I am selling in a couple years and moving elsewhere. Most likely west, Washington being first choice. Not sure how selling will go with the basement problems.

duramaxman05 said:

I am going to look into the membrane and tile for the inside. I will just put in a sump pump. As you guys said, it will be the cheapest way to fix it. I can get a mini excavator from work and dig around the house, but i would rather not. I think that would be a nightmare. The original part of the basement was formed with concrete forms either. It was poured against the dirt. Only i get so lucky on stuff

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I'm a masonry contractor, and although I try not to do any basement repair anymore, I've done a ton o fthem through the last 20+ years.

Plan on cutting or breaking the floor out on any (all is better) wet wall, 12-16" away from the wall. Look for the best way to remove all the materail from the basement. This is generally the most labor intensive part, taking all the old crap up & out. (Just be warned, if you tear this floor out and get a heavy rain like you just experienced, all hell can break loose. It's not uncommon to hear of a wall colapse when part of the floor is removed, as the floor provides lateral support to the wall at the base, where the load is the highest.)

Once you get the floor broken out, you'll need to dig 10" plus wide next to the footing, and as deep as the bottom of footing. You'll also need to dig fro a decent sized sump crock. Again, a crappy, wet, sloppy job. You'll want to drill through the wall entirely every foot or so (assuming it''s a poured concrete wall) all the way to the exterior. Next you'll need to get some washed stone (I prefer 1" washed stone) in the trench, followed by a 3-4" perferated or PVC slotted pipe, followed by more stone to bottom of floor.

I highly recommend a "Toe drainage board" as well before pouring back. Make sure to let it stick 1-2" above the floor to catch any possible future leaks.

This is the manufacturer I always use, fair prices, extremely helpful, and will work with a DIY'er. They also have great tutorals and videos on their page:

https://www.mtidry.com/basement-moisture-existing-construction