Waterproofr--at least one of the articles you posted came from Saint Louis. I don't supposed you're from Saint Louis are you? I've got Wood's Basement Systems coming next Wednesday, but I know they're going to suggest some huge drain tile solution when I don't really need it. I only have water coming through ONE spot, right where the water main comes in the foundation. It only drips during heavy rain. I am looking for a company who will just do what is necessary to repair it, which it seems is to dig down from the outside to the hole and patch it up from there. Please, anyone recommend a trustworthy company who would do this. Thanks!

Mr B,

sorry don`t know anyone there, doesn`t mean you won`t find 1+..take some time,maybe call some 'builder supply co`s' and see if they know of company(s) who frequent their place and know they`re honest.

since its a small kinda job, maybe you and/or couple buddies could do it, know it gets done right and save some cash,i could help talk ya through it if you like,explain what ya need etc

so you know,for a job like that,hand-dug to footing,waterproofed and backfilled correctly,depending on depth to footing would be between $800-950 ish...the deeper the costlier.

if your about 6' deep,it would be dug out in 45-60 minutes and take about 3-4 hours total.

Now i don`t knock anyone else if they were to charge a bit more, say maybe 1,000-1,100,but to us anything more than those numbers is gouging

Thanks for the information. I think I'm just going to hope it doesn't rain too much in the next couple of months and tackle this job myself in the spring. Am I right that this is the thing to do to fix the leak? Do you think if done right it will solve the problem?

from what you described in the 2 posts, sure appears/sounds like you have gap/opening where water line enters through wall...it IS the wall right? if its a block wall there may be a crack,loose parging in same/nearby area

have done tons of these types,whether a water,gas,sprinkler etc line...all A-ok when their done right.

some, as 'Somer' stated, will try epoxy etc,apparently that didn`t work for them.Epoxy you could try on poured wall only if thats what one wants to do

Alright. This makes me feel better. Wow will it be a mess when I start digging, though. Yest it is through the wall--poured foundation. What tools should I use to do the best job digging? Post-hole digger? Just put a tarp down to catch all the dirt? When you say epoxy are you talking about trying to patch it from the inside? Is that even worth trying, especially since you can tell someone's tried that before and it obviously didn't work.

i would not recommend epoxy but there will always be some who`ll want it, try it.whatever they want,its their house.If a get a call from someone who asks/wants an injection i give them the facts and wish them good luck, some will last a bit and some won`t, thats the truth.

Not going to sell a 50% succes rate,cross yer fingers fix,i just won`t do it. Others can all the injections,i don`t want em, obviously not about money for me/us, if it were i`d...be doing injections,inside sytems etc.

a mess? depends how ya do it.
for instance, if you choose to put same soil back in then i wouldn`t place it anywhere near the hole/ditch.Place it on driveway slab on on plywood a ways away from the hole,always best to play safe and,it`ll be neater/cleaner and easier to shovel off cement/plywood versus grass/tarp.

i wouldn`t put same soil in but again, your house.as we dig down each w`barrow goes out to street, after waterproofing that part of wall, backfill w/gravel-peastone with a lil top soil if ya choose.

to dig, use digging shovel not a flat shovel or rat wall shovel.a flat shovel will come in handy when backfilling,shoveling gravel off street or dirt off drive.

if you run into some CRAP,bricks/blocks/wood etc then you`ll have to kinda dig around `em a bit,loosen em up and toss em out.That CRAP ya don`t want against the wall(if your backfill`g w/same soil)

You're right. I want to fix it right. I'll just try my best to keep it dry till spring then do this. I'll haul away the dirt or use it somewhere else in the yard because I do want to backfill with stone. Thanks so much for the advice.

Well I found a guy on Craigslist. He's got 20 plus years of basement leak repair. He says he does this job all the time and will do it for $350. I figured it's worth it to save me the time. He's going to backfill with gravel and he's going to patch the whole with hydraulic cement and tar and put a membrane on it. He's going to put plastic on the top of the gravel and then fill the top foot or so with soil. Is there anything I should look for to make sure he does a good job? I'm going to be able to inspect the job before he backfills. Don't you think for $350 I should go ahead and get it done as long as they do a good job?