I've got a foundation leak in the garage...water seeping through at floor on one side of garage (nothing coming down the wall). It's a single-story slab house built in 2002. There's a slight vertical crack in the bricks on the outside garage wall (going from the ground to about 7 feet high). How can I stop the leak? Do I need to repair the foundation? Or just patch the leak at the floor?

Another thing...this leak only occurs when it's raining...or snowing, etc.

The process is the same as we, especially LicensedWaterproofer, have discussed throughout this forum.

First, determine the cause of the leak. In your case, some testing with a garden hose should reveal the cause. Let the hose run full blast on the ground outside the place where the leak is seen. Be careful that no water from the hose gets on the wall above ground. If you get water inside within about 45 minutes, you know the leak is in the foundation.

If that test doesn't produce water in the garage, wait a day or so and then train the hose on the wall outside where it leaks, especially on that crack. If you get the water now, you know it's from an above-ground source.

If the foundation is the culprit, it should be excavated in the area of the leak and any cracks or other kinds of opening patched with hydraulic cement, then coated with a heavy coating of dampproofing compound, and a sheet of 6-mil polyethylene sheet (ovten called "Visqueen") applied to the wall, from the grade level all the way down and over the top of the footing. Then backfill the excavation with pea gravel.

If the wall above ground proves to be the problem, then whatever cracks or openings there may be should be patched. If it's that big crack, you might want to have a mason repair it by removing any cracked bricks and replacing them, and tuckpointing all the affected mortar joints.

A leak from the outside cannot be fixed on the inside.

It sounds like either the sill flashing behind the brick was never installed. Most likely with house on slab.
You first need to know that all brick leaks. If you train you hose on the wall even if there are no cracks in the wall you will see water running down on the other side after a while. Some bricks leak more the others, That depends on the quality of the brick used. If your living in a track home area, you can bet that they used the lowest quality brick they can get.

Check along the base of the bricks where they rest just above or below the floor level of the garage. Do you see any holes or spaces between the morter? If so are they plugged with mud or have you raised your landcaping to a level above this and blocked them?

During the construction phase of the house the mason should have provided a metal flashing to chase the water out from behind the brick to the exterior of the wall. These weep holes are placed at the base of this flashing to allow for any water that is caught to properly drain out. My bet is that the weep holes are not there or are plugged. I hardly ever see masons install this flashing properly when they even do it! The only proper fix is to remove the wall in small sections and install this missing flashing.

Do not even think of using spray systems that are supposed to seal brick. They simply do not work, and in fact brick does need to breath, if you seal it and water gets behind it cannot escape which will cause spalling of the surface.

How old is the house? If it is older and this is a recent issue, What did you do on the outside in the area of the leak before it started?

If the house is new, lets say up to five years or so, It may be a installation issue with the brick. If that is the case I would first check my warranty on the house to see if it is covered. I know in NJ you have up to 10 years on this for any water entry issues.
Then I would have a contractor come in and open a small area just near the base of the wall and carfully remove a small section of plywood to expose the back of the tar paper or flashing. They must know what their doing but once done you can see if they installed the flashing properly if at all. If it is missing, its a installation error and shoud have been caught by the inspection process. Teh brick shoud also have been installed with a space behind it from the surface of the wood wall. This helps the wall breath and dry out as well allow the brick to grow as it ages without damaging the wood supporting wall.

I find that quite often homeowners landscape incorrectly which causes about 80% of water intrusion issues into a home. Gutters clean? Are they piped away from the area? Most likely if the house is older you caused the leak if it just started. If the house is new it can be landcaping issues or faulty installation practice.

I have provided a link the brick industry web site. This page shows you what the inside of your wall should look like. It is very helpfull and you may get a better idea of what has happend to your wall with the informatin it provides.

Good luck!

http://www.bia.org/html/frmset_thnt.htm

Begging to differ with my colleague above, I must tell you that ALL bricks do NOT leak. Every brick made has a permeability rating, and those with the highest ratings do not leak. Other bricks lower on the scale may admit water, but they still don't leak, they act like sponges and soak up water to varying degrees. and this is often mistaken for leaks.

In residential work, builders often use "common" brick for veneers. This brick was never intended for exterior exposure. It is made to be built into the inner wythes of a brick wall where it will not be exposed to weather, and encased in bricks having a much higher "perm" rating on the exterior.

However, my colleague is correct that even a residential brick veneer should have base flashing and weep holes. If the masons are not careful, weep holes can easily be blocked up with stray mortar drippings, or as he points out, sometimes homeowners raise the grade at the wall to a level higher than the weep holes, or sometimes even builders deliver a house that way.

mharris, you say the house is a slab house, but then you say that you get snow where you live. Without knowing your region, comment cannot be made about the foundation. I am assuming the house has block or concrete foundations extending below frost level, and the garage floor slab is poured within but not on top of the foundations. However, resting a floor slab ON a foundation is a common error, and can result in cracking of the floor slab, but usually the crack occurs 2 or 3 feet in from the edge.

So far, the possible causes of the leak could be the crack in the wall, the permeability of the brick, the possible absence or deficiency in flashing or weep holes, or a crack in the foundation. The hose test will narrow down the possibilities.

In order to give you good advice, I would need to ask more questions. What is the grade level on the outside of the garage? Is it higher than the floor? The crack you speak of dose it matches up with the leak on the inside? You always should repair anything over patching. So, you need to repair any cracks and damage to your foundation.

Wow! Thanks to all of you for the great responses! I live in Wichita Falls, TX (right near the Oklahoma border (north, central TX). We rarely get snow or ice...but it's here now. I've noticed "weep holes" in-between the bricks all the way around the house. I'll need to check the garage wall outside the leak-area. The warranty doesn't cover the "garage" in this particular instance. The crack in the outside bricks is a very small opening (maybe 1/16"). It's a fairly new house (built in 2002). There are no cracks in the slab (as far as I can tell)...and there are no cracks in the driveway.

I'm not sure about the "flashing." There is a small section of landscaping outside the wall, though I don't think anything covers the weep holes. I'll need to inspect more closely...and probably dig-up some dirt outside the wall in order to look deeper. What if the slab is cracked below the bricks? I've filled the viewable crack in the bricks with liquid mortar repair (since it's only 1/16" wide crack).

I'm almost certain that the leak is coming through the ground...rather than running down the wall, etc. Rain gutters are clean and solid (no leaks). I have no way of looking inside the wall other than removing the dry-wall (wall board). I'd like to check the outside area first (but may need to wait until the weather warms up a little...it's now 22 degrees).

Thanks again! Mike

I stand corrected Mr Hetzel, And your right they absorb moisture and they do have diffrent perm ratings, but never seen a good quality brick used in residential property and did not want to confuse him to much. Another question I would have to the poster is. Was the building built on a wet or swampy area? I had from experience a townhouse development that had weeping water coming up from the ground. It turned out that the building was placed on a filled in swampy area and the weight of the slab as it compressed the ground caused the water to leak up into the floor. A professional waterproofing company came in and installed a drainage system which cured the problem. Now were all waiting for the slab to settle as the ground drys out and shrinks! Never a dull momment in the building industry.

Not living in a swampy area. Thanks again!

Mike