Hi all, We have encountered some water leak through the top of basement wall lately. We have identified that a crack developed outside where the brick veneer and the concret ledge meets. A waterproofing company has come out twice to apply some hydralic cerment there, but did not stop the leak. We were puzzled that when they did the apllication, there was no clean up etc before the cerment was apllied. Now we decide to try DIY. Would like to seek your expert oppinion on how to proceed... Thanks a bunch.
You might have MORE-than-one OPENING....along and-or ABOVE that area on the outside,we see it pretty often.
There can/may be other-gaps/crevices etc at-along-above the top of basement wall on the outside and so you/THEY need to find them and then seal `em all CORRECTLY.
Water/rain can get in...can first-enter through any of the following and then can be seen inside the basement up high. You might have to click pic links TWO times to view http://www2.snapfish.com/slide...122238283_111847456/ See lil vertical crack? Well,if somebody puts some hydraulic cement/whatever on this and if there are OTHER cracks and they don`t identify them and don`t repair them THEN,water is still going to enter same area.
If someone waterproofs the cracks/corner in basement wall below grade and DOESN`T see/fix other POSSIBLE openings along/above ground then water can still enter those.
http://www2.snapfish.com/slide...122238283_111847456/ There can be an opening(s) around/under windows/doors etc.Somebody raised grade here but didn`t see/know the CREVICE you see in pic.Say yet again,raising,sloping the grade/mudjacking slabs etc doesn`t detect/find these kinds of possible exterior openings and water,insects,radon etc can certainly enter through them
Here,UNDER grade/ground level but at TOP of basement wall.Raising the grade,pouring new slabs,mudjacking etc does not seal THESE openings THUS will not keep water that gets UNDER any concrete etc from very possibly entering through ANY of these exterior openings http://www2.snapfish.com/slide...122238283_111847456/ ....click OTHER pics in this set
Can`t post all the various possible types of exterior openings but here,in this pic for instance,one could have waterproofed the cracks in wall but IF they left the OTHER joints/gaps OPEN then...water can still enter inside basement in same area http://www2.snapfish.com/slide...122238283_111847456/
On poured walls there can be gaps at-along top of wall....in more than area! So with a poured wall,IF there are numerous gaps at-along top of wall (which might be just below driveway/patio etc) then...fixing one gap/area doesn`t fix the others and so what can happen if there ARE other gaps is water can/will still enter through other POSSIBLE undetected,unidentified gaps/openings,even though 1-2 gaps/areas was fixed.THAT WATER still can get in other possible openings and then it can run on-top of the basement wall and enter INSIDE wherever it wants/can,up high.
http://www2.snapfish.com/slide...122238283_111847456/ Lady bought this house,was told no leaks etc.The dumb ***tt CONTRACTOR who tarred along the driveway/house THOUGHT he could keep water from getting UNDER driveway by tarring,NOPE! Who winds up paying for this kind of incompetent,cheap-o crap? Yeah,the BUYERS.Any home inspector,city inspector,home improvement radio talk show HOST etc etc etc who thinks most leaky basements can fixed by raising the grade,100 mile long downspout extensions,tarring aling drive etc is simply wrong,yup.A few might get LUCKY....for awhile.It may not rain much for awhile or may not rain hard/long THUS they THINK they solved the problem(s).....NONSENSE! They didn`t find/identify/detect THE problem thus they certainly didn`t FIX whatever the actual problem turns out to be (crack,above grade openings,blockage in lateral line etc etc).....raising the grade,tarring,long extensions does NOT FIX any of the ways water is/does get in basement,on floor....never has!!! lololol
http://www2.snapfish.com/slide...122238283_111847456/ If....there was a crack in this basement wall and someone fixed it correctly BUT there was ALSO one or more OTHER openings above the same area then water can still enter and be seen inside up high on poured wall,possibly a block or brick wall too.The water might even be seen coming out/through a previously waterproofed vertical crack BECAUSE...the crack EXTENDS UP to TOP of wall,the LEDGE! Well, can`t seal/waterproof the ledge/where bricks lay ON and so IF there are other above grade openings then water is still gonna enter those and then fall-drop onto the ledge and then possibly be seen entering through a crack,but the REMAINING problem/opening(s) are sometimes ABOVE ground,above the top of wall
Posts: 84 | Location: MI | Registered: 31 July 2009
Hi LicensedWaterproofRR, Thanks for the detailed reply. Yes, it is a poured basement wall. This is about half feet below grade and the previous home owner told us that they had never had any leaks in the past 15 years...We are pretty sure that the opening is right along where the brick and ledge meets. We dug a hole outside where the problem area is, did a garden hose test, when water level was below that line, no leaks whatsoever. When water rises above that line, instant leak can be seen from inside. What is the CORRECT way to seal that crack? Will hydraulic cerment work? Just as you mentioned, the waterproof guy alos applied a layer of tar there but failed.
say again,its possible/there could be more than problem,more than exterior opening/crack/open joint etc.
NOT saying you do have more than one,just saying IF you do and you don`t rule this possibility out then you could still leak.fixing one crack/opening doesn`t fix any other potential-possible exterior opening.
if the problem,the crack and-or other opening is below grade then yep,you can use hydrualic cement in-over it and then could also apply a thick mastic and visqueen over it.Again,IF one has multiple openings/gaps etc along ledge of a poured basement wall they can sometimes be a little tricky! 'Sometimes' the entire-ledge needs to be sealed correctly.
Case in point,a homeowner had leak/water coming out of chimney chute door only,POURED basement wall,wanted estimate.
Her brother and a friend had previously dug down 3' on outside of chimney and applied damproofing to top 3' of chimney walls and put same soil back in,thought it solved her leak,it did not.On next decent rain water again came out her chimney chute door,she calls.
She explains what her brother did,i say lets run a water test against exterior chimney walls and lets see if water enters. It does,so there is a crack(s) etc further down in exterior chimney wall.
Explained to her this can be fixed/waterproofed,no problem BUT...having already eyeballed many open mortar joints and small cracks in bricks in chimney ABOVE ground she also needs some tuckpointing.If she has us waterproof the below grade chimney walls and does NOT get the tuckpointing done correctly then she`s going to get water out that chimney chute door again but its entering through those above grade open joints etc.
Also fully explained to her there could be/might be OTHER openings/gaps along the brick LEDGE which is below grade,they raised the dumb grade and didn`t seal brick/joints/ledge thats now below ground and WATER can/could be getting in HERE as well as open joints in chimney above ground.Say again,waterproofing the chimney walls below ground doesn`t seal/fix any-other possible openings in the chimney above ground or fix any possible openings/gaps along underground LEDGE to the left and right of the chimney.
She 'seems' to understand this and says she go ahead and waterproof chimney walls.i say,yet again...IF there are some other gaps below grade along ledge to the left `n right of chimney then you may want to have us/whoever dig down 2' to get below the ledge and waterproof any possible other openings.Tell her i can run a water test to left and right of chimney/along ledge and see if there are other-openings.She says no,has to go to work etc.(would have cost $150 more and IF it needs to be done in future it would then cost more....about $475 to do entire ledge which is about 30'long.
Ok so we waterproof the below grade chimney walls only and she does get someone to tuckpoint open joints etc in chimney above grade although sloppy az rookish job....next rain she leaks again. lol Warned her! Sure did.
She calls,i go over and run a water test only where we worked/waterproofed chimney walls,run water for almost 1 hour and full blast.NOT a drop enters,zip. So THAT particular problem has been fixed.Then i run water against chimney bricks/joints above ground,all the way to top,no water enters.By the way, this is free/don`t charge anyone,just trying to help her/show here-others where their REMAINING problems are.
Now i run water 10-12' AWAY from chimney,against ledge....on both sides....within 5-10 minutes she leaks,lolol.
Turns out she had a 3 part problem,below grade crack in chimney,open joints etc above ground in chimney AND,the one that wasn`t yet identified or fixed...openings along underground ledge on both sides of chimney and WARNED her it was possible! And as i say,was willing to run water and find out but she was in hurry to get to work,oh well.
Well now she`s a bit frustrated and calls big brother who b__ches me out for no reason at all,yeah,just sticking up fer lil sister,understandable but hey,lets tell big bro the full-complete story,tell him i did indeed bring up the potential-possible other problem and was willing to take time and identify it BEFORE doing any work.Nah,that doesn`t matter now,not to her. lolol
Ok long enough,eventually she did call and have us do the ledge and all`s well.There were multiple openings/gaps/cracks in bricks and joints below ground in-along ledge,yup yup. Got milk?
Posts: 84 | Location: MI | Registered: 31 July 2009
