There are leaks around the edge of the wall and floor and in the floor where it was cut to put in the floor drains. My husband wants to put an 1 1/2 inch cement cap on the old floor leaving a 4 inch trench around the edge. The trenches would need cleaning and I think a future buyer would pass on this solution. Also, we live in a flood plain area. What other options do we have?

 

For a real fix, you'd have to put in a french drain around the perimter of the basement, with a sump pump or two. Short of that, I'd recommend using hydraulic cement and/or this concrete caulk type stuff to seal and cracks or gaps (especially where you know water is leaking). You might even want to use the concrete caulk stuff (Sakrete makes it--I think it's called concrete crack filler) at the wall-floor joint all the way around the basement and around any cracks in the floor. Next, water proof the walls. Drylock is a good paint for this, but you'll need a lot of it! And don't forget to check the water flow around your house. Make sure gutters an downspouts are okay and that water is being sent as far from teh house as possible with no chance for flow-back.

 

Before you do any waterproofing on the inside, try to fix the problem at its source - on the outside. Check the slope of the ground on the outside of the leaking wall. The ground s/b sloping away from the house. Next, check the gutters & make sure the rainwater empties a good distance away from the house. Last. if you have any open window wells, try coverin them with a sheet of plexiglass to prevent water from accumulating there.

A problem with cementing the inside is that the water will always take the path of least resistance. It will find another way in.

 

I've posted this in a few places so sorry if it's a duplicate. But I just bought a house in June that was built in 1940. The basement walls leaked through cracks and right thru the concrete. I ran across Sani-Tred. I spent $900 to coat my entire inside walls of a 1600 sq ft basement. It's not Nov and it's rained several times. No water has gotten in. Not one drop.

Sani-Tred is like a paint but it's much thicker than what you're probably used to. It's a rubber based paint. It soakes into concrete and seals it completely. It is like having a rubber glove on the inside walls of your basement. It is very easy to paint, though a bit time consuming. Because it is so thick it takes approx 2 hours to paint one gallon of paint. 1600 sq ft and 2 coats plus filling in major cracks and the joint between the walls and the floor took me 25 hours or so.

I fully recommend Sanit-Tred. If you'd like to call me to discuss my numbers and email are below
(925) 313 9005 Ext 200 wk
707 557 0920 hm
jeff@htcresearch.com

Jeff

 

I know the Dry-Lok commercial shows the water magically leave the concrete block because of a paint coating on the inside. So you have a nice clean and dry wall, but what is happening outside? The real world water continues to penetrate the wall and remains during freeze-thaw cycles. Then you really have a problem. Waterproofing goes on the outside, where the problem is.