CraigT wrote:
I've got a leak in my basement coming from under the drywall. Behind the
drywall is a poured concrete wall. In the 4 years I've lived here I have
never had any problems like this. The house was built in 2001. This leak
started about the time I started to run the sprinkler system a couple of
weeks ago so assumed it was related to that, but now I've gotten some water
in the basement after a short heavy rain yesterday. So, now I'm thinking
that it might have something to do with a failure in the drainage tile
system, but I don't know.



Double checking the sprinkler, and touching up the landscaping, was a
good idea. Likely failure point is the outside waterproofing on the
wall, and/or a metal form tie that got left in wall and rusted out, or
was not clipped and sealed over properly. I have one like that in my 40
year old poured wall, that I need to get an epoxy injection kit for. No
painless way to expose the outside wall and repair from the outside. In
your case, if you can localize the leak point, you can peel back the
sod, dig a pit, inject epoxy and spot-patch the water seal the proper
way. Is there water sealer (the black or gray stuff) showing above the
sod line on the sloped wall? Bare concrete below finish grade level is a
problem, and many people like to had the nasty black line.

In my case, the proximate cause of the problem was pretty obvious. Idiot
previous owner left an abandoned concrete patio under an 18" tall deck,
and along with it heaving, he also put a slightly raised plant bed
around the outside. Heavy rain, and there was a lake under the deck,
slowly draining into the basement through the failed sealing and rusted
out tie bar hole. I solved most of the problem by scraping the old patio
with a long-handled hoe to remove debris, and cutting a drain channel
out through the plant bed.

Time to demo the drywall to expose the leak. Start with a strip at the
bottom, to narrow down where the leak is. Then go up there, until you
see where the water is coming through. If you are hiring out the new
drywall, probably just as cheap to demo whole wall, rather than try to
patch it in. Unless the leak is only at slab level, your drain tiles are
probably fine. If it is high on wall, like I suspect, it is coming from
someplace else. Rainstorm-related says it is probably surface or
near-surface water causing the problem.

Good example of why I'll never finish out a basement, and if I stay in
this house, will likely end up UNfinishing it. IMHO, subterranean rooms
SHOULD be concrete.

Oh, and while I am ranting- IMHO, many of those 'inside solution'
basement dry-out companies are con artists. Had one come here and they
tried to high-pressure me into signing a contract Right Then, for 7
grand, to put in interior drains. Quoted 15 grand to dig out the
backfill and reseal the outside/replace failed perimeter drains, which
was the correct solution. Claimed doing slit trenching is now illegal,
and they would have to kill all the trees and dig yard out to a 45
degree slope to expose the wall. That is when I told him I grew up in
the business, and I knew he was spouting BS, and basically threw him
out. Sure was a slick pitch though, he even brought a cute little
portable printer and gave me a stack of shiny pictures that he covered
with circles and arrows using a red sharpie. I can easily see how
homeowners with no background in residential construction could be
panicked in to signing Right Then, and handing over a big check.

Before the flames start- yes, there are some lots and some houses where
inside drains are the only viable solution. In many cases, those lots
never should have been built on, or there should not have been a
basement. But they are the exception, not the first solution out of the
box for a minor leak like I have.
--
aem sends...