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Should I be worried about water leaking through the basement wall during storms?

Should I be worried about water leaking through the basement wall during storms?


  #1  
Old 03-02-18, 07:53 PM
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Should I be worried about water leaking through the basement wall during storms?

Seems like a stupid question, but please read till then end so you get the reason for my question. I have a 1940 built home in the suburbs of Boston and am in the middle of a basement renovation. We had a storm(4" in a day) passing through today(into tomorrow) and when I went to the basement, I noticed that one of the walls is leaking- I saw the water at the foot of the basement wall and on the floor. The gutter downspout is on the other side of the house(the gutter spans the entire length) and here the water is fed to an exterior drain tile that takes the water away from the house.
I have never seen this much water before(see pics) - a few damp spots, but never so much water(even in previous storms). The funny thing is the storm is still going strong, but the amount of water has lessened. I assume this is a combination of evaporation(day time) and maybe a shift in the winds?
Anyhow, this has me thinking about what to do next in the basement finishing project. In fact I was wondering how much I should be concerned about this. I know the risks of mold and damage in most finished basements, but I hope the materials I used in my basement project will negate a lot of those risks. Please let me know your thoughts.

Walls - Metal Studs, PT wood base plate, 3"(R21) Closed Cell Spray foam insulation, Purple board(dry wall), vinyl baseboard.
Floor - Dricore Subfloor, Shaws Florte LVT(completely waterproof including core).

Since this water seepage is not an issue everytime it rains(or if there is major thawing), Im hoping that this setup along with a dehumidifier would be ok.
Are there any small adjustments I could do to make it work like
- leave an inch gap between the floor and the walls(which may allow the dehumidifier to draw the water out faster.
- Add a small catch basin and grade the floor toward the catch basin.

Thank you in advance for your time and opinions.
 
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  #2  
Old 03-03-18, 06:35 AM
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I would not be finishing that basement with water coming in. I would address the water problem outside the basement. Is there a perimeter drain? Does the basement wall have a waterproof/damp proof coating? Is the house graded to have the surface water flowing away from the house? Do the downspouts lead the water away from the house?
 
  #3  
Old 03-03-18, 07:38 AM
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Dricore (or Subflor) is not waterproof. If it gets flooded you will need to tear it up and replace it.

If Dricore is submerged, some water will get between the chipboard and the plastic layer underneath and lodge in the ribs of the plastic layer and persist there for a long time and cause warping and swelling of the chipboard and develop mold.

I hope you moved the materials shown in your pictures to dry ground and stacked them in a manner that allows circulation and drying and also discourages sagging and warping. some of the materials would be best removed from their cardboard cartons and stood on end.

You got a lot of water coming in during part of one day probably because the wind blew rain against that side of the house causing a preponderance of water soaking in next to the foundation during that time period.

The usual rule is to leave an inch of air gap between the foundation wall and the finished wall's insulation. Unfortunately I did not do that for my basement project.
 
  #4  
Old 03-04-18, 03:19 PM
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ANY wtr leaking into a prudent man's home should be cause for concern ! ! ! ! ! ! altho it seems unlikely, any exterior redirection will not help,,, once wtr makes it way inside, those invisible streamways do not heal
 
 

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