Leak in basement.

Hello Everyone,

New to the forums... New to home ownership...

Moved into the house a few weeks ago, and yesterday we had a good amount of rain and I noticed a very small leak and dampness on the floor. The crack is almost at the very bottom about 1inch from the floor.

What would be the best and cost effective way to fix this crack ?

 

I'm getting my basement finished and I have a similar problem except the area is just damp rather than wet. It has a brownish stain and runs about 8 inches along the joint where the concrete wall and floor meet. There's also a round hole in the concrete wall with what appears to be water stains.

I moved in last April so I'm not sure how far back the problem goes or if the previous homeowner has resolved it. But I plan to drywall the area so I would be interested to hear from others.

My contractor says there are waterproofing compounds that can be applied to the inside wall of the basement. I'm not sure how effective they are in stopping leaks like yours or even mine.

The best solution, but also more expensive would be to stop the leak at it's source. This means excavating the outside of the wall to install waterproofing membrane, etc.