# Basement Seepage



## mgatto1 (Sep 7, 2015)

Hi everyone - I am new here!

I moved into my home one year ago; I live in Northern New Jersey.  My basement is fairly large. There is one spot on the floor right at the wall/floor seam. This is the ONLY spot where it gets wet. It is right underneath where the front steps are. This pic was taken today and it hasn't (really) rained in a few weeks. I don't think there is any plumbing in this area; the water main is quite a ways (at least 25 feet) to the to the right; and the entry point for the water main is about one foot from the floor. I have an underground sprinkler system; but I don't believe there are any lines anywhere near the wet spot. I raised the pitch in front of the house near that side of the steps and water hasn't pooled up there in at least 10 months. Any thoughts on what might be going on?

Thanks!

Mike


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## nealtw (Sep 7, 2015)

Welcome to the site.
The watrerproofing on the outside of the block has failed and the perimeter drain is not moving the water away from the wall.


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## buffalo (Sep 8, 2015)

Looks like my basement block. The discoloration I'd guess is from multipule wet dry phases. I had interior drain tile installed by the previous owner before purchase , so no more water on the floor.... but it's evident water still enters the block from the exterior . Personally I think block is a bad choice for basements. Just to many possiable leak points. From my research the only real fix is excavation and sealing the exterior side. Although most company's who install interior tile will try to sell you on it. 
   Main problem I have now is the humidity level down there. Forget about finishing the basement here. You may not be as bad , but I'm in buffalo ny and it hasn't rained here much this summer. If your in the same boat as far as weather , it may be much worse with wetter weather.


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## mgatto1 (Sep 8, 2015)

Thanks for the responses! I would like to clean it up and fix this one spot from the outside. Is there anyway to clean the efflorescence and water stains on the block? I thought about dying it a dark grey; I say dye because I think it's better to keep it porous; I don't want to paint it because I've seen where that will usually fail in time; especially lower on the wall. One other thing, I have a sump pit - no pump installed - I looked in the pit and it's dry - I'm wondering if the previous owner realized the perimeter drain failed and took the pump out; just gave up. I don't know. Any suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks again! :beer:


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## slownsteady (Sep 8, 2015)

Welcome almost-neighbor. Yeah, it would be a tough call to dig up a whole side of your house for that little leak, but exterior waterproofing is the only solution that makes sense. Who really wants a little canal along the wall in the basement??   In you case, I think I would live with it for now. See how your house handles the rest of the seasons and different circumstances. Maybe try to shoot some sealer deep into that crack, but the water may be traveling to that spot from another point in the wall. You could also try some hydraulic cement in that seam right above the leak, but it is still a longshot. You mentioned a sprinkler system; you could keep that off for a few days and see how it affects the leak. Who knows? Maybe the ground is over-saturated.


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## nealtw (Sep 9, 2015)

slownsteady said:


> Welcome almost-neighbor. Yeah, it would be a tough call to dig up a whole side of your house for that little leak, but exterior waterproofing is the only solution that makes sense. Who really wants a little canal along the wall in the basement??   In you case, I think I would live with it for now. See how your house handles the rest of the seasons and different circumstances. Maybe try to shoot some sealer deep into that crack, but the water may be traveling to that spot from another point in the wall. You could also try some hydraulic cement in that seam right above the leak, but it is still a longshot. You mentioned a sprinkler system; you could keep that off for a few days and see how it affects the leak. Who knows? Maybe the ground is over-saturated.



If I may correct you with one word  (nope)

There is no telling how much water is in the wall now or where it is getting in.
Even if the leak is right there, plugging the inside will only stop the water from coming in and the wall will fill up to the ground water level on the outside or when it finds anther spot to get in.

You can dink around with all kinds of fixes, the last of which is either, dig up the outside waterproof the wall and correct any drainage problems. Or duig a trench around the inside for drainage and drill holes in every bottom block so water has an escape root. Then hang a waterproofing curtain on the inside of the whole wall and replace the concrete.
The down side of the second plan is the floor is helping hold back all the load from outside so this work is best done when the water table is low.
The curtain in the photo is also the best for the outside waterproofing.


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## buffalo (Sep 9, 2015)

mgatto1 said:


> Thanks for the responses! I would like to clean it up and fix this one spot from the outside. Is there anyway to clean the efflorescence and water stains on the block? I thought about dying it a dark grey; I say dye because I think it's better to keep it porous; I don't want to paint it because I've seen where that will usually fail in time; especially lower on the wall. One other thing, I have a sump pit - no pump installed - I looked in the pit and it's dry - I'm wondering if the previous owner realized the perimeter drain failed and took the pump out; just gave up. I don't know. Any suggestions would be helpful.
> 
> Thanks again! :beer:



On a Comercial job I was on I saw the painter apply some kind of coating to block that was water tight. It wasn't paint and I plan on doing it someday but I don't know of hand what exactly it was. He applied it with a sprayer and it dried very quick. I believe he told me the block must be dry to apply though. I'm going to do this on the inside eventually , as I have a plan to keep water away on the outside. Sorry , not much help but just so you know there are options out there.


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## slownsteady (Sep 9, 2015)

buffalo said:


> On a Comercial job I was on I saw the painter apply some kind of coating to block that was water tight. It wasn't paint and I plan on doing it someday but I don't know of hand what exactly it was. He applied it with a sprayer and it dried very quick. I believe he told me the block must be dry to apply though. I'm going to do this on the inside eventually , as I have a plan to keep water away on the outside. Sorry , not much help but just so you know there are options out there.



The trick here is knowing that the stuff worked when it had to. A painter can apply anything, and it may look good at the time, but without a report on whether the stuff worked, there is no answer.


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## buffalo (Sep 11, 2015)

slownsteady said:


> The trick here is knowing that the stuff worked when it had to. A painter can apply anything, and it may look good at the time, but without a report on whether the stuff worked, there is no answer.



Agreed , I'd find a product that is like I described , then Google some feedback.


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## nealtw (Sep 11, 2015)

You do have to be carefull. Let's say you are successfull plugging every hole on the inside and the wall is holding back the water. Great, Except most foundation walls were designed to be a foundation wall not a retaining wall. So now yopu have to ask, how much mud and water can the wall hold back, will the water fill up the outside to the point at which it might freeze. And what yopu might say to the wife when eight ft of foundation is laying on the basement floor.


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## mgatto1 (Nov 21, 2015)

Hi all!

Well, the moisture started to spread and actually pool up a bit; so I hired someone to:
-Open up approx. 4 ft of concrete
-Drill depressurization holes in affected areas
-Install Poly Mira drainage board in affected area
-Re-cement floor closed
-Seal Poly Mira Drainage board for radon

This seems to have worked - just waiting to see if the water finds a new way in. 

When talking to the contractor, he mentioned that I have a drainage system under the floor; it was added when the home was built in 1990. Any water should be routing to the sump pit; I looked in the sump pit and it looked dry. It also had about 6 inches of dirt and crayons, and pen caps etc. I cleaned it out and the pics show what it looks like now. I will be covering it back up - my question is why are there no inlets in the pit; how is the water supposed to get in? It looks like a caulk/concrete (grey) type of material was poured in as well. Any thoughts? Is it an option to have the original system cleaned out to allow any groundwater to route into the pit?

Thanks everyone!!

Mike


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## nealtw (Nov 22, 2015)

How deep is the sump?


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## mgatto1 (Nov 22, 2015)

nealtw said:


> How deep is the sump?



From the floor to the bottom, ~25". That's to the point where that grey stuff starts. Not sure how deep that grey stuff is; it's sort of soft; I could scoop it out; any idea of what it might be?

I did some research and the brownish stuff I called 'dirt' actually looked like what is called silt; I could be wrong though.


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## slownsteady (Nov 22, 2015)

It could be a thick clay suspended in water, or it may be something organic growing in the stagnant moist environment of the drain. Of course I'm just guessing. you could scoop a bit out of there and get it checked, it's unlikely that it it is very hazardous.
Curious; if you put a small amount of water on top, does it sit there, or slowly seep through the gunk?
If it is soft enough, you could break it up and flush it down. Then treat with bleach or peroxide.


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## mgatto1 (Nov 22, 2015)

I just attempted to scrape some out. It's actually not totally soft. Rather it's a mix of soft parts and some are very hard; like someone poured concrete in there. Is there any reason someone would do this? I am thinking I want to chip all of it out to the bottom of the liner.


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## nealtw (Nov 22, 2015)

I am not sure what to make of this  sump. I would have thought there would be holes in the sides for water to go into it and maybe drain out the bottom. But if there are no side holes maybe it was designed for water to come up from below and be pumped out.
When the contractor said you had a drain on the inside, did he check how well that was working before he closed it up, what did he think of the sump.


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## slownsteady (Nov 23, 2015)

If water was coming in that way instead of going out, someone might have decided to plug it.


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## mgatto1 (Nov 23, 2015)

"When the contractor said you had a drain on the inside, did he check how well that was working before he closed it up, what did he think of the sump."

He didn't fully assess the system; he only mentioned that it was apparent that water wasn't getting to the sump effectively. We didn't look into the pit at that time; the pit cover was sealed shut up until that day;it was partially sealed in concrete that overlapped around the lid's edge; I chiseled that away a few days ago to get a closer look. When I removed the layer of dirt/silt, I discovered the concrete. It does look like the previous owner poured concrete in there. See new pics - upon a closer look, there are small 'weep' holes in the liner. The pit is damp but no water accumulation.

At this point, I'm not sure what to do - chisel it out? Or if the pit was ruined by the previous owner, have someone try to fix it; or just fill it with concrete?


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## nealtw (Nov 23, 2015)

I don't see much loss by trying to did out the center drain. And if that opens up to a drain, dril some hole in the sides to let water in. If the center won't drain the water out, this is where you would put a pump to pump it up and out of the. house


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## slownsteady (Nov 25, 2015)

May be easier to put in a new one. I doubt anyone would have spent that much effort to seal it if it wasn't causing trouble to start with.


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