Originally posted by LicensedWaterproofR: Dave, lol all i see is some 'chips' of what looks to be/was paint come off.
Yoy have cracks and maybe other exterior openings, seen that.
Now, do you have a problem under floor, i dunno. You could try snaking strom trap clean out if ya have or s n a k e pit til(s) if ya have or (i didn`t go back and look at sump) if ya have no openig at-near top of pit wall, create some.
...ok, just looked at sump-pit again.all `ROCK. So...."IF" there is, i said if...there is some water building up under conc floor, in one or more areas under floor,it..this water, doesn`t look like it has entry into pit,know what i mean? So, it 'could' accumualte `n back up and rise up through an opening in floor. Buta gain, you DO have exterior problems that should be corrected,sooner the better....we could talk for days and never get any further until some corrective actions are taken.
Call former owner/seller, see what they say, ask em about sump, ask em about bsmt leaks, ask em about any problem along this interior wall
It definitely is not paint chipping. I an see where you might see that. If you look at this pic, I have highlighted where it seems to be cracked, The floor is at different levels albeit like 1/8 of an inch. http://img127.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1000691qj6ng8.jpg
I agree I have an exterior wall issue and was just loking ro get some differing opinions. Iwhen I have people come over, I want to know what I am talking about and not have people try and talk over my head and pull one over on me.
Would putting hydraulic cement over the "cracks" in the above picture help any? I know that it's not stopping water from coming in from the outside but will putting the cement there be better than doing nothing to it?
Also, I have some cracking parging that I can see when i go outside of my home. There ia a couple feet of the foundation not below grade. I chipped away some of the cracking parging outside and it revealed crumbling mortar where the parging wasa cracked. I filled it with hydraulic cement
Was that the corrent thing to do? I have a good bit of cracking parging that I can see on the outside of my house, Should I chip all the cracks in the parging away and fill with hydraulc cement?
right won`t 'solve' any potential problem under floor but, see no harm in using it, least it`ll keep a few insects from entering.
yeah, saw that parging problem above grade. sometimes....some of it is loose, other times once ya start chipping/whacking away in one area, more may crack,fall off etc.Pain in azz, sometimes.
sometimes you`ll need to dig down a bit as parging may get loose close to ground level.
so yes, it`s ALL important, every crack/opening.Problem w/hydraulic cement is if used above grade, its rather ugly,not a pretty gray.Depending on much,how many areas, how bad ya may be able to do smaller stuff yourself, if yer just looking to keep water/insects out,sure.
But if yer not so good at this kinda chtt then, may wanna seek a good mason etc. Someone who has seen this kinda stuff and repaired it over `n over `n over. You`ll prolly get a few goofy bids,most always happens.
Thanks for all the info. Would you suggest that I have all 4 exterior walls ug up and waterproofed or just the "problem" walls?
Do you know of any exterior waterproofers in Central/South Central PA?
Dave, that i can`t answer...for YOUR benefit! I haven`t seen your problems up close.
Don`t know any there,gotta be a few,somebody! just might take a lil longer finding them.
Ya know, i`ve spoke w/ this guy John McEwen, he used to own-run this company in Canada. He said he knows one(1) guy in PA that appaently is like him,us,SDW,Integrity etc....good outside guy,John said he is FED UP with all the chtt as well but i didn`t get/remeber name or number.
However, you can try calling John at number he has on that site...click 'contact us'..number is near bottom. John sure seemed like real good guy and is also TRYING to make some changes. here it is, on bottom http://www.e-o-f.com/contact.html
Now John and myself do disagree on couple smaller things but overall,EXTERIOR, we are on target.
again, guy-company is in Pennsylvania, where i dunno. John has guy name `n ph number.You might have to LEAVE your ph number etc,thats what i did, he got back to me within 2 or so days. http://www.e-o-f.com/about.html
love it, notice...'rules that should have been enforced by Municipal BLDG Dept, but were not.RULES that continue to be IGNORED'
And Dave, you can/could always call, run whatever be me if you like, or call the other guys here, they are very helpful too.
Daveyd, It looks like that is the pipe your downspout was originally connected to. One of the first things that people do when they notice water in the basement is to disconnect their downspouts and splash them into the yard. This rarely helps because the downspout tile is solid and it's sole purpose is to take your roof water and run it to your lateral line. The tile that waterproofs sits much lower. Not really knowing where every thing is discharging, directly to the storm system, combined with the sanitary, or to the sump and discarged, or to daylight, it's hard to offer advice. However I think you should try the easy and inexpensive things first. Possibly a plumber could snake to the lateral by way of the downspout lines. At least if you clear them you could reconnect your downspouts.
Originally posted by wtrprfr1: Daveyd, It looks like that is the pipe your downspout was originally connected to. One of the first things that people do when they notice water in the basement is to disconnect their downspouts and splash them into the yard. This rarely helps because the downspout tile is solid and it's sole purpose is to take your roof water and run it to your lateral line. The tile that waterproofs sits much lower. Not really knowing where every thing is discharging, directly to the storm system, combined with the sanitary, or to the sump and discarged, or to daylight, it's hard to offer advice. However I think you should try the easy and inexpensive things first. Possibly a plumber could snake to the lateral by way of the downspout lines. At least if you clear them you could reconnect your downspouts.
That's what I kinda figured the pipe was for at one time due to the location of it. It is completely filled with dirt now and I have no idea where it ends up.
Is there something I can do about that huge crack that looks like it sits between the house foundation and concrete slab as indicated in the picture? It's the vertical "gap" to the right of the pipe. It's at least 1.5-2" wide
Dig the crack until you get to the end of it. Chip out any loose cement or mortar. Fill with hydraulic cement. Seal with a waterproofing, not damproofing material.
Originally posted by wtrprfr1: Dig the crack until you get to the end of it. Chip out any loose cement or mortar. Fill with hydraulic cement. Seal with a waterproofing, not damproofing material.
Where can I purchase waterproofing material and what specifically do I purchase?
Originally posted by wtrprfr1: Dig the crack until you get to the end of it. Chip out any loose cement or mortar. Fill with hydraulic cement. Seal with a waterproofing, not damproofing material.
Where can I purchase waterproofing material and what specifically do I purchase?
OK, I just had 2 different Outside waterproofing companies come out and try and help me with my situation.
They both basically said the same thing. It ould cost a considerable amount to do any waterproofing on the back wall due to the fact there is an attached addition with a deck and an attached garage.
The footer on the addition and garage only goes 5' deep whereas the footer for the basement goes 8'+ deep. If there is damage or water is getting in under the garage and/or addition there is no way to stop it from coming in from there.
They said they could dig up and waterproof the back wall to where the actual basement wall meets the addition but that might not stop any water from entering the basement by the garage steps.
I believe LicensedWaterproofR has said that he can and does waterproof basement walls when there is an attached garage, BUT I see a couple of things in the photo that are suspect.
First, I see the downspout connected to a pipe that is inderground. Do you know where this pipe runs to, and where it discharges? Sometimes, misguided builders connect the downspouts to the perforated pipe footing drain, and this can have the effect of actually "pumping" water into the basement.
Second, if the garage and addition footings are three feet higher than the basement footings, that means that each of them is creating lateral pressure on the basement foundation wall, which it may (probably) not have been designed to resist. It is very possible that the forces created by these higher footings have cracked the basement walls on the outside, but not necessarily on the inside, and this may be the source of your water. Have you run a hose test to see where the water comes from?
Architect (NY) and Home Designer (PA)
Posts: 2492 | Location: Tobyhanna, PA | Registered: 24 October 2005
Basically the downspout in thr front is connected via PVC pipe underground and runs to the back of the house where it is met up with the underground PVC pipe of the downspout that you see on the back of the house on the left. That pipe is about 20-25' from the house and drains to a "grill" that is located even with the ground (if that makes sense)
When I moved in 3 yrs ago, i dug up the original pipe and it was all broken up so I replaced it.
The one outside guy took a "probe", basically a long pole, and was able to hit the footer about 5' down by the addition and the garage. My basement has 8' celings so obviously the footer is lower than 5'
I have not been able to do a water test. If you look at the pic where the garage is labeled there is a white door. Opening that door goes into the garage where immediately to the left are concrete steps that go to the basement. At the bottom of those steps is where it leaks.
If I understand corrcetly, the stairs begin in the garage, and end in the original basement. The question is, how far into the basement do they end, and is that leaking spot by any coincidence about in line with the wall of the addition? If it is, it supports my suspicion that the addition footing may have caused a crack in the outside of the basement wall.
Is the addition on a slab, or over a crawl space? Either way, it may be possible to excavate in the corner where the addition meets the house, and tunnel under to repair the basement wall, but that won't guarantee that the problem won't come back, unless the addition footing is relocated down at the level of the basement footing.
However, no such decison should be made until a hose test is performed, to locate the source of the water. Water may appear inside in one place but be entering outside at another place.
Architect (NY) and Home Designer (PA)
Posts: 2492 | Location: Tobyhanna, PA | Registered: 24 October 2005
