# Newer Home with Water on Basement Walls



## flipside82 (Jan 24, 2017)

Hi there... I'm new to the forum and looking for some help. I have a 2 year old home and I am in the process of finishing the basement. While I was pulling wire for electrical, I noticed water in two corners of the basement on the cement walls. The basement is poured concrete with one daylight wall. The corners that I noticed the water on the outside of the house have a retaining wall made with large rocks that were uncovered during excavation. All other parts of the basement walls are dry. The basement was studded about a 1/2" away from the concrete walls and then the cavities filled with unfaced fiberglass insulation with no vapor barrier. I think the water is coming in because there isn't much soil up against the house in those corners because of the rock retaining walls. What options do I have to prevent water from coming in and causing mold or other damage? Thanks.


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## nealtw (Jan 24, 2017)

New home warranted?


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## flipside82 (Jan 24, 2017)

Home had a limited warranty that included the first year for repairs. We did not purchase an extended warranty at the time of building the house.


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## nealtw (Jan 24, 2017)

What state are you in?
Can you post some pictures of the rock wall.


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## flipside82 (Jan 24, 2017)

I'm in Michigan. I will post pics tomorrow of the exterior wall where the rock retaining walls are and also the inside walls. Too dark to take any now.


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## nealtw (Jan 24, 2017)

I found this   http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclope...michigan-your-rights-against-the-builder.html

There should be waterproofing on the outside of the wall where ever the dirt is against the outside. They likely built the wall as an after thought and assumed the water would round out between the rocks.


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## flipside82 (Jan 24, 2017)

I do know they put on some damp-proofing/water proofing on the exterior cement walls. I don't know if it was sprayed on or rolled on, but it is on the exterior cement walls. I can see the cement wall between the retaining rock wall and there is no soil in there, just space.


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## nealtw (Jan 24, 2017)

Is there a chance the water is coming up between the slab and the wall,


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## joecaption (Jan 24, 2017)

Need those pictures so we can seen what your seeing.
There's thousands of post on this one subject on any DIY web site.
Tried using the search funtion at the top of the page?
No 2" foam against the foundation before building the walls?
Using unfaced insulation with no vapor barrier is a sure way to have issues with moisture.
Cold foundation walls, warm moist air in the basement 100% sure way to have condensation.


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## flipside82 (Jan 24, 2017)

Will definitely get the pics posted tomorrow. Yeah, I've been doing a lot of searching and have read quite a bit about proper insulation for a basement. I'm just looking for options while waiting to hear back from our builder. I don't think it's coming up from the slab, but not for sure.


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## nealtw (Jan 24, 2017)

Joe made a good point, behind the insulation you have a big chunk of cold concrete, with out the vapour barrier  any air flow at all and you have moist air in contact with the cold, condensation.

How wet does it look.

What they built is how we finish basements here, with barrier and drywall Outlets and light switch boxes are wrapped in plastic too.


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## flipside82 (Jan 25, 2017)

It looks pretty wet. In spots you could visibly see water drops on the wall. Since taking the insulation down last night it doesn't appear to be as wet as when I first took it down. It is still damp and we aren't getting rain at this time. I have included a couple photos of the outside and inside parts where the walls are wet. Thanks again for all the responses.


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## nealtw (Jan 25, 2017)

Water will take the easy route, even if you had a crack there water would take the easy route down not in.
The dirt full height further back does give you some insulation so it looks like condensation.  Lack of vapour barrier.


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## flipside82 (Jan 25, 2017)

Thanks nealtw... I was kind of thinking the same thing. I appreciate your help. Now to figure out how to get a vapor barrier behind that stud wall.


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## nealtw (Jan 25, 2017)

When it looks dry re do the insulation the vapour barrier goes over the studs just like that white plastic in the picture
http://www.stanleytools.com/en-us/p...plers-tackers/heavyduty-hammer-tacker/pht150c
https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p....etres-wide-and-50-metres-long.1000181212.html
Tape the joints
Sometimes you can by plastic boxes to wrap the outlet boxes or do this
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eT0wI7ElbU[/ame]


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