water in some walls of my foundation


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Old 07-30-12, 10:06 AM
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water in some walls of my foundation

I've got a mid 60s house with block foundation. Mainly in one corner of the basement (the sump corner), the walls are always wet from the floor to about 3 feet up. Actually, during the set season I can actually hear water running inside the block. I had to seal a couple areas with hydraulic cement because water was running down the wall.

This causes mold which I can't get rid of and also it has pulled the drylok off the wall. Its been this way since we've lived there about 3 years.

Anyhow, I know I need to seal this up from the outside and before I pay --what I imagine would be a fortune-- to have the outside excavated and the wall sealed, I've recently read a little about Bentonite Clay injection. Does anyone here have experience with this or can advise me on whether its a good repair or not?

Also, you should know that my rain spouts are piped to the street and, the grade appears sufficient at this corner of the house. I think my house sits on a spring though because when I busted up the powder room floor in the basement last year to plumb a shower drain, there was standing water however when my neighbor did his, (exact same house) there was no water under his basement floor.

Thoughts?
 
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Old 07-30-12, 11:00 AM
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Are you extra super duper sure the grading is sufficient? I live on a hill and two houses up the hill from me (so in theory less water) the guy there has a lot more water in his walls than I do--in fact I have none--and I attribute this entirely to his grading, which is much worse than mine and water goes right up to his foundation. In my case though it's all running away from it.
 
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Old 07-30-12, 03:52 PM
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@Skoorb

Ok, I'm feeling a good bit embarrassed but, maybe the grade right there is well, negative. Ok, I honestly thought it was good though. I will fix it.

That having been said, I believe we DO have a high water table here, our court is sort of at the bottom of the neighborhood and, during the heavy rains of fall, parts of our back yard become ponds.

Is correcting the grade right there going to have a significant effect? I'm not trying to be a smart ass, I guess I just never imagined that the solution to my problem could be that simple. Its hard to believe.
 
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Old 07-30-12, 05:16 PM
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As Skoorb said, the grade is where it is at. Water will settle to the bottom of anything. If you give it the opportunity, it will take it. Changing the grade, and doing something with your pools, I believe, will show promise.
 
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Old 07-30-12, 06:27 PM
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I wonder if you're the guy at the end of my subdivision He is at the bottom of a hill and all of the neighborhood water hits his yard, apparently with nowhere to go. He also has a pond in his yard!

I could not speculate as to whether fixing your grade would resolve this or not but certainly correcting grade is the first thing a person should look at when they have water in their basement. Even if you do have a high water table, would this not manifest on all your walls?

Just two days ago I was talking to another neighbor and he said when his house was finished the grading was terrible, sending water into his house walls and the inspector actually wouldn't let him build a deck until he got it regraded. He did and said the water in the basement is much better now.

Waterproofing or resisting water into the basement walls from the outside is tricky and if your grading is better you mitigate a lot of that effort. Others could surely speak to this as well--and pics never hurt!
 
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Old 08-01-12, 04:49 PM
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Going to try to find time this weekend. I'll take a few before and afters
 
 

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