new driveway leaking in basement


  #1  
Old 09-26-05, 05:28 PM
Tinner7
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new driveway leaking in basement

I just had my driveway repoured with concrete, when they did it, they raised the grade about 3" to give me better run off to the road. Well now when it rains real good and hard, my basement leaks!! I have traced this to where my side door is, before the new driveway, the door was up about 2" from the drive, where as now, its almost level. I was told I should look into a polyprethane self leveling caulk to seal the entire side of my house where the drive is. This sounds good, since the entire back side of my house has a poured slab next to the house and I am getting some moisture from that wall too. Any ideas what type of prep work I will need to do before I start caulking?
 
  #2  
Old 09-26-05, 07:50 PM
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: USA
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new driveway leaking in basement

It is strange that your contractor did not put any joint material between the slab and the house. If this is fresh concrete, you will get shrinkage as the concrete cures. This will pull it away from the house. there is also the possibility of the concrete settling slightly if the base compacts.

Get the joint as clean as possible - scrub, water and even air if possible. If you have dirt and dust, the caulk will stick it first.

If the crack is wide, I would put a backer rod (closed cell foam) in the opening, the same as you would with traditional caulk (unless your specific installation instruction recommend not using a backer rod). Follow the instructions for the caulk. I have seen some of these jobs come out well and the others looked terrible because the applicator "played with" the calk too much. I don't know how well they performed.

Dick
 
 

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