87GT Posted June 25, 2014 Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 Two things I have learned to hate since i've owned my house, water, and trees. My basement flooded a few years ago because my sewer drain pipe collapsed. Thank you clay pipes and tree roots. Even before then the basement walls are damp and sometimes drips water. Running a dehumidifier constantly seems to help. Now the past few days with all this rain I have water coming in at a faster rate. I have an addition on the back of my house. This room is as long as my house. Underneath this room is a crawl space with a dirt floor. I figured there should be at least gravel down here? The walls of the crawl space have been leaking water enough that it is puddling on the dirt. A few places on one wall have a hole where water drips out. I need to buy a wetvac now and remove this muddy water. It has never been this bad. My question is what can I do to fix this without breaking my bank? I don't think buying gallons of drylock are going to help. Should I mix concrete and put a nice layer over the walls in here? I am going to extend my downspouts so they are at least a few feet away from my house. I thought about getting a ton of dirt and make a grade away from my house. That seems to make sense that it will push some of the water away. Weep holes is probably what I really need to do but I don't know much about installing those. Only other thing I can think of is digging a trench around my house all the way to the bottom of the foundation and fixing the outside wall. I am sure that will cost more than I can afford. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sully Posted June 25, 2014 Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 It will have to be fixed from the outside. The block on the outside will need to be tarred and sealed and drainage pipes will need to be installed around the perimeter. It's not cheap by any means. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87GT Posted June 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 It will have to be fixed from the outside. The block on the outside will need to be tarred and sealed and drainage pipes will need to be installed around the perimeter. It's not cheap by any means. Are you talking about a french drain around the outside of the house? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big A Posted June 25, 2014 Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 You need to address the water coming in and come up with a solution to remove it. Sealing the inside walls might "fix" it short term but I assure it will happen happen again as your not removing the water and it is still sitting against/ in your foundation walls. I am redoing the perimeter drains on the inside of my basement now and I'm dry. Bust the floor out, dig to the footer, drill new weep holes, replace clay drain tile with new PVC perforated pipe and sleeve, fill with gravel, replace concrete. Cheap materials just very labor intensive. After this i plan on digging up the outside, purge the walls, seal, replace drain tile, than backfill like Sully suggested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdhill Posted June 25, 2014 Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 if you haven't done this...make sure there are gutters and unblocked downspouts...run the downspouts to splash blocks or extensions that are 2-3 feet away from the foundation; eliminate the in ground lines...every home inspector says to build the dirt against the foundation so it slopes away from the house...many homes have crushed drain lines due to trees...expensive to replace...bottom line is no reason to have a wet basement...simple steps will fix it without breaking the bank...contractors will try and sell you all types of solutions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdhill Posted June 25, 2014 Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 always a good idea to run a dehumidifer at least 3 seasons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sully Posted June 25, 2014 Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 Are you talking about a french drain around the outside of the house? I'm not certain that 'french drain' is the proper terminology for this type of drainage, but basically, it's the same idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybe Posted June 25, 2014 Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 every home inspector says to build the dirt against the foundation so it slopes away from the house This worked well at my place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wnaplay1647545503 Posted June 25, 2014 Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 Slope the water away, quick and easiest. The po of our home stated he heard the sump pump run furing heavy rains. After sloping away from the hkuse the first week we bought it, in 11 years our sump pump has never once kicked on and never shows a drop of water in the housing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trouble Maker Posted June 25, 2014 Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 Eliminate the in ground lines... With my house the downspouts go into PVC into the ground and out the the curb, is this what you mean by in ground lines? I would think if installed correctly, this would be much better as it gets the water very far away from the house. I also wonder if this is part of why water comes into our house where it comes is. It's especially 'bad' at 1 corner, right around where the line comes from the back of the house downspout and connects to the front, which is also right where the front downspout is. I know the install was shitty. I had to dig up part of the line due to massive amounts of tree roots. The PVC lines were just slid into each other... the wrong way... and one of them was severely pinched versus being expanded. This caused a place where water would necessarily flow out of the pipe. Kind of wondering if I should dig all of them up at some point and do a 'correct' install. I feel like I'm probably going to fight an uphill battle with the roots at every joint every year or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagner Posted June 25, 2014 Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 If you end up needing a repair or want someone to look at it let me know. I have a friend who builds and repairs foundations. He has helped me and another CR person (Lt1rick). He will be blunt with you and has no desire to give you the basement doctor fingerbang. I will say there are no cheap solutions to these types of issues. My home inspector missed some issues and now I get to be fucked, its a great feeling... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87GT Posted June 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 With my house the downspouts go into PVC into the ground and out the the curb, is this what you mean by in ground lines? This is what I think a french drain is? Someone can correct me if I am wrong. You basically have some kind of pipe either inside your house below the basement floor, or outside the house buried under gravel, soil, and sod. It moves the water from downspouts and/or water flowing under your foundation out a pipe away from the house. You either have a pump to push the water out or gravity. They are supposed to put some kind of mesh material between the gravel layers if outside to keep the drain pipe from getting clogged. But being under so much pressure, tree roots, and time will cause it to be clogged. I think if you were to do a great install you would set up access ports along the pipe so you could go in and clean a clog if necessary. Otherwise you have to rip out everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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