Waterproofing the basement

[Mormon Red Death]

I have a leak in one corner of my basement. When it rains heavily is the only time it leaks (water pools on the outside.)

Anyone have any good resources I can read up on how to fix and get rid of this situation and waterproof? My basement has an interior water drainage system (french drains and sump pump.

I live in Michigan so it does rain heavily 10-15 times a year and the water that comes through is noticeable but not a river.

[NorthwestUteFan]

JL, Wally, and others probably have better info on this matter. I am a mechanical engineer and not a civil engineer so take what I say with a grain of salt.

1- Recontour your landscaping to redirect the water away from your foundation. This is the easiest way. If it is there it WILL give you problems, and even if it doesn't come into your house it may cause problems with your foundation and footings. Do not allow water to pool! Continually pump it away from the house during storms if necessary.

2- in New England many of my neighbors had issues with basement flooding. Some of them had basement dewatering systems with sump wells and pumps, trenches, french drains embedded in the concrete, etc. My house was built with the basement floor at 7' above the nominal water table, and it had french drains built in beneath the footings which ran to a storm drain in the street. Even in the relatively dry summer, water constantly ran into the storm drain. We even got evacuated under risk of a flood when my twins were 4 months old because a dam upstream was weakened.

Here in Washington very few of my neighbors and acquaintances have basements. It is due more to the makeup of the underlying sediment than anything else. Those I know with basements are always worried when it rains hard (note we get 3-7 HEAVY rains a year, and 100+ days of 'trace of rain' days).

3- IF the water table rises through a storm, you WILL get water in your basement. No amount of preparation can fix that.

Good luck! And periodically make sure your pumps are operational.

[Mormon Red Death]

JL, Wally, and others probably have better info on this matter. I am a mechanical engineer and not a civil engineer so take what I say with a grain of salt.

1- Recontour your landscaping to redirect the water away from your foundation. This is the easiest way. If it is there it WILL give you problems, and even if it doesn't come into your house it may cause problems with your foundation and footings. Do not allow water to pool! Continually pump it away from the house during storms if necessary.

2- in New England many of my neighbors had issues with basement flooding. Some of them had basement dewatering systems with sump wells and pumps, trenches, french drains embedded in the concrete, etc. My house was built with the basement floor at 7' above the nominal water table, and it had french drains built in beneath the footings which ran to a storm drain in the street. Even in the relatively dry summer, water constantly ran into the storm drain. We even got evacuated under risk of a flood when my twins were 4 months old because a dam upstream was weakened.

Here in Washington very few of my neighbors and acquaintances have basements. It is due more to the makeup of the underlying sediment than anything else. Those I know with basements are always worried when it rains hard (note we get 3-7 HEAVY rains a year, and 100+ days of 'trace of rain' days).

3- IF the water table rises through a storm, you WILL get water in your basement. No amount of preparation can fix that.

Good luck! And periodically make sure your pumps are operational.

thanks for the suggestions.

[wally]

I have a leak in one corner of my basement. When it rains heavily is the only time it leaks (water pools on the outside.)

Anyone have any good resources I can read up on how to fix and get rid of this situation and waterproof? My basement has an interior water drainage system (french drains and sump pump.

I live in Michigan so it does rain heavily 10-15 times a year and the water that comes through is noticeable but not a river.

Have you located an specific point where the water enters or do you just find a recurring puddle after precipitation?

Does it occur after or during each and every heavy rain, or only after several days of rain regardless of intensity?

[Mormon Red Death]

Have you located an specific point where the water enters or do you just find a recurring puddle after precipitation?

Does it occur after or during each and every heavy rain, or only after several days of rain regardless of intensity?

The puddling happens on the outside of the house and puddles during heavy rain and if we got several days of rain. I know the spot. Is it really just as easy as getting water away from that spot? I would just put concrete 1' by 8 '

[NorthwestUteFan]

I had a big reply typed up but the kids made my computer reboot.

Is the water coming from a downspout or off the roof? I would look at those spots. If it is simply running across the ground you will need to re-contour the ground in that spot to fill in the low area, and angle it slightly away from the house.

Is this area covered in grass, flower bed, or concrete? If it is dirt or grass you just need build it up with a bit of dirt.

Water is insidious and relentless. Keeping puddling water away from the house is priority #1.

[pellegrino]

The puddling happens on the outside of the house and puddles during heavy rain and if we got several days of rain. I know the spot. Is it really just as easy as getting water away from that spot? I would just put concrete 1' by 8 '

unless the concrete is graded properly it won't solve the problem. you probably just need to build up the ground where it's puddling. At worst you'd need to regrade that area completely. concrete is not only unsightly but an unnecessary expense.

[Mormon Red Death]

I had a big reply typed up but the kids made my computer reboot.

Is the water coming from a downspout or off the roof? I would look at those spots. If it is simply running across the ground you will need to re-contour the ground in that spot to fill in the low area, and angle it slightly away from the house.

Is this area covered in grass, flower bed, or concrete? If it is dirt or grass you just need build it up with a bit of dirt.

Water is insidious and relentless. Keeping puddling water away from the house is priority #1.

I will take some pictures tonight and explain.

[oxcoug]

In quick scans of the CUF homepage offering I have now twice thought this thread said "waterboarding [in] the basement."

Finderson might offer a theory as to why I default to that reading.

[wally]

The puddling happens on the outside of the house and puddles during heavy rain and if we got several days of rain. I know the spot. Is it really just as easy as getting water away from that spot? I would just put concrete 1' by 8 '

Most of the leaky basements I have encountered are a result the water table surrounding your home rising and the resultant hydrostatic pressure forces the water through joints between your basement floor slab, footings and foundation walls.

Normally the joints between these concrete elements of your foundation system are poured with rubber waterstops (strips of rubber) embedded between them, but these always degrade over time. So if a person lives in an older home it is likely that the rubber has become less elastic and that there are leaks.

Once groundwater finds a path through the soil and a leak occurs, the path is likely permanently there, and the leak will reoccur every time the water table rises in that general area. The soil immediately around your house is most susceptible to this because the excavation that took place to build your house.

Here is a website that describes it:

This soil looser and more absorbent of water than the hard-packed, unexcavated earth around it will ever be. As water builds up in this soil, this loose soil creates a sort of clay bowl, which fills up with water immediately around your foundation. http://www.homeconsumerguides.com/waterproofing/

The in addition to the loose-packed soil around the house, most floor slabs are poured on a bed of gravel, which is very porous (the gravel is easier to level for constructing a basement floor). Hydrostatic pressure can push water up through the gravel, between joints or cracks in the floor slab and into your house.

Here is a diagram (from the above website) of a typical basement showing the excavated soil :



The cheapest and easiest thing to do first is to put extensions on your downspouts, particularly if there are some located close to your problem area. from your rain gutters. Note how in the short downspouts in the diagram above spill water out onto the looser soil.

The next, more drastic measure, as NWUF indicated is to construct a french drain



or some other drain system, around house, creating a path of lesser resistance for the rainwater to travel away from your basement.

Another alternative, also as NWUF indicated is to construct a sump pump IN your house, but this would be a last resort. Unless there is som slick system for installing sump pumps in existing homes that I am unaware of, I think that this would be difficult and expensive for you.

Good luck.

[NorthwestUteFan]

Unless there is som slick system for installing sump pumps in existing homes that I am unaware of, I think that this would be difficult and expensive for you.

Good luck.

I knew several people with solutions such as this. Slick, easy to install, very effective, though I am unsure of the cost (prob several thousand at least). Think of it as a rain gutter or french drain for the corners of the basement. All the excess water runs to a pump:

http://www.bdws.com/wet-basement-solutions

MRD, is your french drain/sump system beneath the slab or embedded within? Do your basement walls look like this, or does the water come in from one single location?:



As wally says, try to route as much water as possible as far away from the foundation as possible. But if the overall water table simply rises with big rains you are going to get water in the basement.

[wally]

I knew several people with solutions such as this. Slick, easy to install, very effective, though I am unsure of the cost (prob several thousand at least). Think of it as a rain gutter or french drain for the corners of the basement. All the excess water runs to a pump:

Cool! Never seen that before.

[Mormon Red Death]

Here is the location where it pools



Here are other shots of the side of my house.





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