Basement water and footing drains

[dave11]

Over the past few years, I've noticed a tiny trickle of water develop in one corner of my basement after heavy rains. It seeps up between the basement slab and block wall, and runs in a tiny stream to the nearest floor drain. After very prolonged rains, water will sometimes seep through the exterior bricks of the basement fireplace (which is on a wall adjoining the floor leak), and drip down onto the unused firebox in the basement.

I assumed this was due to some drainage issue on that side of the house, but I've had two excavator companies out, and they do not see any problem with surface slope or drainage to explain water accumulating along that foundation wall. They suggested perhaps it is just a high water table (?)

I'm having a hard time deciding what to do in this situation. The drains along the footing are nearly 70 years old, and maybe they are blocked or broken, but is it right that the only way to know is to dig them up? I called a couple drain/camera companies, and they say they have no way to access them with cameras,

Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[AlbergSteve]

Ideally you would seal the outside of the foundation but that's probably not feasible. We've been using Xypex products in construction for decades and it can be applied to the interior face of concrete walls just as effectively. I currently have my basement stripped out ready for renovation and have applied Xypex concentrate to stop water ingress between the floor slab and wall joint and I haven't seen a drop of water since. Before I frame the basement I'm going to "paint" all the concrete walls with it. Just mix with water to a thick slurry and brush on.

https://www.xypex.com/products/coating-products


If you have large holes or cracks with active running water you can seal them with Xypex patch and plug within minutes. We've sealed elevator pits four feet below water table/drain tile with water running into the pit under hydraulic pressure with this stuff.

(broken link removed to https://xypex.com/products/details/xypex-patch%27n-plug)

 

[zrock]

How close to the house are the eves drains? Personally if it was me i would dig up those areas and check the drain. More than likely its broken or plugged up 70 years is a long time for clay tile.. Patching the inside walls is just a bandaid the water is still getting in just now its sitting in the blocks/concrete

 

[AlbergSteve]

Yep, a $200 dollar patch. It could be a $20,000 fix.

 

[zrock]

Or more if the concrete starts to brake down to the fact it has water in it...

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

 

[Hogwildz]

Interior paint on sealers do not fix the problem. And if there is any hydrostatic pressure, paint will not stop that. Chances are the water table is rising outside the walls and finding the week spots to get in. I have same problem here. The only reliable repair is dig outside and fix or add drain tile, or cut the concrete around the perimeter of the inner flooring and add drain tile with a sump pit & pump inside. Exterior is best option, if, there are not obstacles such as additions, porches etc.

 

[TCaldwell]

After being in the dirt business for 30+ years, often what you believe to be there isn’t what you find. If there is a drain there at all, often it’s been misplaced and found on top of the footing , rather than along side or below it, inadequate stone with tar paper or hay placed over it.
Also often times, gutter drains will be tied into footing drains for convenience, basically introducing more water and contaminants to the very area your trying to drain.
First I’d try to locate the footing drain discharge pipe leaving the house, it’s possible that it’s plugged or crushed.
While technology has influenced drainage products and sealers like xypex, drylock, the best way if possible is sealing and draining from the outside. Espically if you intend to finish the basement. If that’s not a option then drilling holes in the block , jackhammer a channel that goes to a depth the slab or preferably to the bottom of the footing, pipe and stone it to a sump pump.

 

[peakbagger]

IMO The right way to do it is from the outside with a backhoe assuming there is a perimeter drain system in place and that it drains to daylight or at least to a proven drainage path. If there is not one, then one must be installed. There are some very nice basement drainage systems available but developers tend to put in what is cheapest as a typical house buyer would far rather have granite counters than pay extra for a proper long term basement drainage system. Note I am not advocating a "waterproofing only system" as waterproofing only rarely lasts for the long term. These systems especially with block walls should be called water drainage systems.They normally consist of a waterprooof barrier coating or sheet product applied directly to the exterior wall and then a drainage material that can hold up to soil pressure that is then covered with a fine filtration fabric material. This multi layer system then ties into either a perimeter drain that drains to daylight or proven drainage system or to an interior sump pump. The multi layer system is sealed at the top near ground line and then the ground is graded away from the foundation to direct any surface water way from the foundation. There is also attention paid to gutters to direct roof water away from the foundation. Frequently in cold climates many folks either do not maintain gutters or tear them off due to ice jamming and that can splash a lot of water back on the foundation. Sadly the newer style systems usually only get installed after the fact or in areas where the soils are so bad the developer doesn't have a choice.

The interior coating systems rarely work in the long term. If its localized problem it may redirect the water from the outside to some other location but its not a long term fix. There are a bunch of similar systems that drill holes through the walls or blocks and redirect the water to an interior channel and then to a sump. They usually work and come with a guarantee. They sometimes have the problem that fines from the soil can plug up the drains through the walls but its usually takes several years and by that time the contractor has made his money and is on to something else.

On quite a few homes with perimeter drains the drain to daylight can be problem. The homeowner does not know any better and covers over the end of the pipe or the area it gets drained to gets backed up due to other development or road work.In some cases the pipes were not sloped or bedded well and they get slow spots that slowly fill in with sediment. In some older areas the drains are tied to combined sanitary/storm sewers or to the trenches that contain the combined sewers. Ground water infiltration into sanitary sewer systems is a big issue in many urban areas and the fix is that utilities are lining the combined sewers and excluding any ground water drains. I was there when my drain was installed and made sure it had a good slope and the last 20 feet was perforated and bedded in crushed stone before discharging into crushed stone. I keep the vegetation free from rooting into the crushed rock at the discharge.

 

[paulnlee]

After living here for over 20 years we started getting water seeping thru the floor and when it really rained peeing thru the walls. Had a company from PA come in and dug the north& east sides and put in drain and sump pump. The amazing thing was when they broke thru the floor it was like the Delaware river. I couldn't believe it. I regret not doing the entire perimeter instead of two sides because I still get seeping now from the other sides after another 10 years.