Another wet basement q.

Howdy. Eventually I am going to "re" finish a third of my basement with new walls (sheetrock), drop ceiling, bar, and carpeting. When we get substantial rain (damn town never ifxed the curb they removed and a river flows toward the house), I get some small water leakage into the room I want to finish. It appears to come from the spot where my oil heat plumbing is embedded in the cement to the oil burner ALSO in the corner where my gutter pipe ends outside. I know I need to fix the water runoff situation outside BUT, is there any product I can put on the cement walls and flooring to seal the room better PRIOR to do doing any work? Peace: e3 - spamman

 

You have to fix the out side for sure get the downspouts drain away from the home. Look and see if you can find what is called
Thorseal brand its for water proofing walls .Comes in some colors and has a sand finish. We still put up on the wall after that a 4mil poly and let the bottom plate set on it also. Id use indoor outdoor carpeting ED

 

Any waterproofing done inside is temporary at best. Are you going to tear down the drywall and reseal in 5 years?

 

"Temporary at best" is absolutely right. Even if you successfully seal the wall from the inside, water has already penetrated through the basement wall......it's only a matter of time before it finds the path of least resistance & makes its way back inside. Don't bother wasting your money, time, & energy trying to patch from the inside. Concentrate on the outside, keeping the water away from the house.

 

My outdoor issues:

1) Rain from outdoors travels down street, and then down my driveway and front walk to the house. I need a berm or other way to keep water going down the street.

2) My current drainage from the roof gutters is not great. I will run it through PVC and away from the foundation to a lower graded porous ground approx. 6 feet away.

3) Cost to dig up the foundation and have weather sealing done must be wicked high. Any quotes for a cape style house?

Now If I fix the top 2 items should I still have a big problem in 5 years with my sheetrock. Even if I seal the inside foundation and plastic sheet prior to insulation and sheetrock?

Peace: e3 - spamman

 

If fixing the top 2 on your list does indeed eliminate the source of the leaks, then you won't need the sealer.

If they don't stop the leaking but merely slows it down, sealing will work for a few years. Then you'll have moisture problems again. A sealer is not permanent, no matter how much we wish it to be so.

And yes, sealing the outside is expensive. I'd fix the berm and gutters and see if your problems goes away. You'll have to wait for some heavy rains to be sure.

 

Make sure the township is aware of the drainage problem - sounds like they may need to install a storm sewer just before the ater hits your house. You might have to complain alot, but so what. They should fix this.