I live in NJ and the recent Noreaster left an impression that I don't want to repeat.

I have a block basement that is usually dry, except for when a Noreaster blows through. On two occassions now small puddles of water formed in 2 corners and along two opposite walls of the basement. In addition a small hole (about 1/2") located near the edge of a wall began to bubble with water. The longer the storm, the more this water bubbled up and flooded the basement.

Luckily, after experiencing this once before we were prepared for this and put the shop vac into use quickly. We avoided any damage. But, along this same wall I've noticed some efflorescence and I suspect I have a water pressure problem starting there and I want to address it sooner then later.

I have had several waterproofing estimates and I'm now more lost then ever. All have suggested inside perimeter drains; some suggested using corrugated pipe, others pvc and the one that most has my interest is a patented product called "waterguard" that sits on the footer rather then below it. The main draw for me is it doesn't sit in the mud and run the risk of clogging.

I can't weed thru the bs, what's the recommended way to fix my hydrostatic pressure problem?

If you want to mask the symptom, go with an inside water diverting system. However, the disease will remain.

If you want to cure your problem and have no water, insects, vermin, radon gas, or mold in your basement, you will have to work outside. The methods of testing and waterproofing are posted in this thread a few times by LicensedWaterproofer and I suggest you follow them.

If you need more details, let me know, and I'll do my best.

Logically waterproofing outside seemed right to me too but I had 8 waterproofers come out and not one suggested doing that. Even when I asked if we should waterproof the outside of the house I was told the problem wouldn't be resolved because the water was bubbling up from the floor and waterproofing outside wouldn't address the floor slab.

My house is a 50 year old rancher in a development. I thought perhaps they can't excavate here. (I'm also not really sure how anyone would waterproof the outside because there's concrete patios and a driveway in the way.) I also don't have the finances for such a major undertaking. We're already looking at $8000 for this to be done on the inside of the basement. I hate to imagine what the cost would be if it was on the outside.

What do I do now? Who does outside waterproofing?

What you got from the "waterproffing" scam artists was their usual sales pitch. In the first place, the cost of outside work is often less, and frequently far less, than any inside system. They use tricks such as they did with you to sell the only system they install, whether you need it or not. I would strongly suggest that you carefully check these companies with Better Business Bureau and whatever Consumer Protection Agency there might be in your area. Also ask for references, then ignore what they give you and ask for ten more.

Outside work can and is done even when there is a patio or driveway right against the house. They need to remove and replace less than 2 feet of them. If you have cracks in your basement walls, you only need to repair where there are cracks. If you do have a very high water table, then a carefully-constructed french drain might be the solution. But the first thing you have to do is define the problem! You can't prescribe a medicine until you've found the disease.

What kind of soil do you have? How does your property slope? Are there any municipal storm drains adjacent to your property? Do your neighbors have similar problems? Are their houses higher, lower, or roughly on the same level as yours? How much water would you get, if you didn't shop-vac it away?

If the water appears in the places you mention, maybe you have cracks at or near those locations. Or maybe the dampproofing that was applied to the outside fo the wall has failed for some reason. Where in New Jersey do you live?

I must say I'm learning more in these few paragraphs then I have in the past 3 weeks of interviewing waterproofers!

I live in Cherry Hill, NJ. We do have a high water table here and wet basements are common. I spoke with my neighbors that have the same style house as mine and a few have "french drains" installed in their basements and now have dry basements but after doing waterproofing research I'm paranoid that these systems will clog.

There are cracks in my basement floor near the wall edges and water came in at those points. It didn't run down the walls. I do have a few lateral cracks in the wall joints but water didn't come out of those areas or near those areas. Based upon the water seeping up thru the cracks all the waterproofers have said I have a hydrostatic pressure problem and prescribed the interior floor drain system.

The interior drain systems might keep water off your basement floor, but they won't stop water from entering your house, and therefore will not stop insects and vermin or radon gas either, and they will do nothing about possible mold issues. The water belongs outside your house.

A properly constructed french drain might solve your problem. It is kept from clogging by the inclusion of geotextile filter fabric surrounding the pipe, pea gravel backfill around the pipe and up to within 6 to 8 inches from finished grade, and another layer of filter fabric atop the gravel before soil is placed. The french drain piping can be connected to a municipal storm drain if possible and if permitted, or run to a drywell, which in an area of high water table would probably be futile, or run to a sump pit and pump, and pumped out somewhere where the water won't come back to haunt you or create problems for your neighbors.

The "waterproofers" (who actually waterproof nothing) will tell you that your foundation was waterproofed when it was built, and it didn't work then and it won't work now. Sound familiar? They use a clever distortion here. Houses are typically dampproofed, not waterproofed. The dampproofing can fail and allow water to be absorbed by a block wall. It can fail because it was applied too thin, because of tree roots, or because of improper backfill when the house was built, such as rocks, stumps and construction debris. The same last two things can also cause cracks, as can soil pressure or hydrostatic pressure.

Again I repeat, before you jump to conclusions, define the problem! Maybe all you need is a sump pit and pump. Maybe all you need is a couple of foundation repairs and a bit of waterproofing where the repairs are made. Maybe you need a french drain outside your foundation. At this point, we don't know because no diagnostics have been done.

I know from working on these systems and fixing other waterproofing companies installs is that the only way to properly fix the issue is to fix the outside of the house. An interior water removal system will remove the water until the power goes out. Which happens during the same storm that is causing the water in the first place. I can speak with experiance that all of the warranties I have seen from these water proofing companies is that they will warrant no water within a few feet of the repair, and not in the center of the slab. To do this you would have to install a complete water barrier system over the complete slab. Much to costly and I do not know of anybody doing this.
Read the warranty carefully before you sign up with these guys.Many of them are using scare tactics to convince you to use them. If you wait a while they will come back and offer you a deal for a few thousand less because they had a job cancel in your area and they want to keep the guys busy. Check your outside grading and gutters and leaders. Many times that will correct water entry without the added expense of the inground system.
But take Richards advice difine the problem first. Then take actions to correct it.

Hey WBH,

I live in NJ and I'm facing some of the same problems you are. The water table in my neighborhood was so high after the storm, water seemed to literally push through the concrete blocks in the wall about waist height. I occasionally have water bubble up through the middle of the floor too. It really has to rain hard for that to happen though.

I've also been having a hard time finding somebody who really understands how to waterproof in NJ (without ripping you off). If you find somebody, please post their info!

My house is also 50 years old and I'm going to take a multifaceted approach. I'm going to waterproof from the outside by digging a trench next to the outside of the foundation wherever water streams in through cracks. I think LWP posted this link a while back that shows pictures of a company doing this. He also explains it in his thread.

Check it out: http://www.downriverwaterproofing.com/DRW/photos.htm

These pictures really helped me understand...

Also, I plan on installing a sump pump and basin. It's really going to be there as a last resort if we ever get another storm like that to save my Furnace and water heater. I'm also hoping it will address the problem of hydrostatic pressure pushing water up through the floor. I'm shopping for a sump basin that has a nice lid which prevents water from evaporating, radon from escaping, and has a valve that allows water to flow down into the sump incase of a pipe bursting in the basement or whatever. My neigbor recently got a quote to install one from a plumber for $700.

Also, I found that hydraulic cement worked wonders when the storm and the leaking were in full swing. It's the only thing that stopped the active leak that was coming from a crack in the wall.

If you have the time, read through LicensedWaterproofer's thread about waterproofing. LWP, Richard and others have posted a lot of good information that really helped me to understand what I was up against.

I hope that helps a bit.

B

Oh yeah, I almost forgot...The sump pump that i want to install is going to have a battery backup. I figure when there's a bad rainstorm, a power outage frequently follows....

B