# Garage foundation below grade



## freedummy (Aug 10, 2014)

Hey all,  
My garage is 30+ years old, we bought the property 4 years ago. I've got some water ingress during heavy storms along a wall that ends below grade. No more than a couple of gallons during a heavy blowing storm, but enough to ruin my evening and nice clean workshop. I renovated the inside of my garage when we bought the property, being unaware of the extent of the problem.   







I don't suspect the garage has sunk any, the pad is still one solid piece with no cracking, but being poured so low with no foundation wall, water runs in under the sill plate / baseplate. That baseplate is also pretty rotten in a few places, you'll see the stucco doesn't extend any further down than the baseplate in places, and leaves the bottom edge of the plywood sheeting completely exposed... And of course all of it has been underground for who knows how many years.


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## freedummy (Aug 10, 2014)

The older white quartz stucco was backfilled up to several inches when they covered over it with new stucco sometime around 2008.






But now, what do I do? I initially thought to install a french drain out into the alleyway, but my neighbor poured a concrete pad at the fence (below that storage bin) which prevents that...   










Plus, the asphalt on the other side is flush with the garage pad, so I couldn't drain up overtop of it anyway.






I had one suggestion to cut away and repair the rotting stucco, and pour a new foundation wall to above grade. Without installing a sump pump I don't know what to do about the drainage issue.....

Suggestions?


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## nealtw (Aug 11, 2014)

Welcome the site.
Why is your neighbours pad up against your garage,where is the prop. line?
You want to be carefull how much you dig beside the garage as you will be undermining the slab which is carrying the weight.
I think I would look at jacking up that side of the garage just enough to take the weight off and remove enough of the wall to install an eight inch high block wall and a new treated sill plate and if the concrete block can not be disturbed make a catch basin and devert the drain in thru the new block wall and out the front of the garage. The back of the garage should go up when you lift one side.


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## CallMeVilla (Aug 11, 2014)

First, the bottom edge of your stucco should have a weep screed to shed water off the wall and away from your foundation.  From what I can see, you don't have screed everywhere.  Too late to add it but you do have to clean up the bottom edge.  Second, I would have a chat with your neighbor about temporarily removing that concrete so you can install proper drainage.  French drain could work but your better bet is to pour concrete with a swale to direct water to a sump by the alley and install a sump pump.


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## stadry (Aug 11, 2014)

we regularly waterproof below-grade structures & even we can't get water to run uphill,,, you'll need to install a sump & pump then a discharge line to someplace where you can drain the water,,, after that, God takes over & He directs it to run downhill,,, good idea to keep soil away from stucco according to the bldg code


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## freedummy (Aug 12, 2014)

Hi again everyone,

Thanks for the responses, very much appreciated! I've put a temporary band aid solution on the problem right now, along with improving grade away from the garage while not overlapping the stucco and upgrading my gutters, to hopefully tide things over until I have the time and money to do things right. We've got a lot of thunderstorms in the immediate forecast so I had to make a snap decision...

Yeah, there is no weep screed anywhere on any of the stucco on our property, let alone proper clearance above soil or pavement. I wish I had known all this before we bought the property, or at least before I finished the interior of the garage. I've got ideas now for eventually jacking up the garage, replacing the bottom with concrete, new pressure treated sills, proper waterproofing, and either pouring that whole exterior side with concrete and a swale, or maybe petitioning the city to help me tie a french drain system into the storm drains. Swale seems more likely, however.

I will see what can be done about the bottom edge of my stucco when the time comes, as well. Thanks again everyone, I was awfully desperate in the face of a lack of information, but I'm feeling better now!


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