DIYbanter - View Single Post - Basement slab weeping/leaking through bottom plate screw holes

aemeijers

wrote:
(snip)

OP postrer needs interior french drain before ANY FUTHER WORK

with a sump draining to a pump or ideally daylight

As we have discussed on here before, drains belong OUTSIDE the wall.
Sometimes an interior drain system may be the only practical
alternative, but OP should look at all the usual suspects and cheap
cures first. Yard grading, gutters, etc. From OP's description, this
sounds like surface water getting under the slab, unless the water table
fluctuates a lot in his area. Need to figure out where the water is
coming in before doing anything.

OP, do you have a sump pit? Does it always have water in it? Is the leak
on same end of basement? Another sump pit may be called for. Do you know
if you have footer-level foundation drains, and where they drain to? If
the drain point is accessible, they may need to be cleaned. Any sign of
seepage or white crystals or mold growing on the walls? If walls are dry
and clean, I suspect water is coming down outside the walls, and leaking
in at footer level.

Here, in five years, my sump pit has stayed bone dry. Fixing outside
grading in a few spots, and disabling the pipes idiot previous owner
installed to direct downspout water straight down around the foundation,
solved 98% of my problem of damp spots in corners. Even with failed
sealing on outside of foundation, and failed foundation drains (if they
were ever there) a little more landscaping and some epoxy injected into
one rusted-out form tie hole, would dry me out completely. And my water
table is only a couple feet below slab level.

--
aem sends...