you certainly want to do everything you can to prevent water from entering
the basement, but if it can't be stopped, you could cut the cement floor all
around the perimeter,about twelve inches wide, remove the cement and dirt
down about 18 inches. Then set porous pvc pipe surrounded in gravel leading
to one corner,where you install a plastic pump pit and sump pump. you
recover the gravel and pipe with new cement, but leave a small space against
the wall all around the room so any water coming out of the walls seeps down
into the gravel
"makesawdust" wrote in message
...

David Wrote:
Hello Everyone,
My wife and I just bought a 1927 home about five months ago. There
home has a 1000 sq. foot basement which is unfinished and only has
concrete walls. In a perfect world, we wanted to create a utility room
and a second living space in the basement - there is alreay an
existing garage in the basement as well. The problem is that we have
some minor water issues.
About a month ago, we had a record rainfall, and the basement flooded,
but was less than one inch. We're in teh pacific northwest, so rain is
no stranger to the area. The main problem seemed to be a hydrostatic
leak (water bubbling through the foundation at floor level next to an
outside wall (through a crack)). As with most old homes with basement
garages, the sloped driveway funnels water under the garage door and
into the basement (driveway has concrete walls on both sides). There
is an original small trench just inside the garage door leading to an
old drain, and the entire basement has an open trench about 2 inches
deep surrounding the entire basement. These all appear to be original
solutions, but the drain in the garage has been clogged and the clay
pipe appears to be crushed slightly below the foundation and no longer
drains.
I was considering either jackhammering the concrete at the bottom of
the driveway and installing a french drain with a grate outside the
garage door. I was also conidering putting a sump pump inside where
the existing drain is.
Eventually, I wanted to finish and sheetrock the entire basement (now
just exposed concrete), but have to deal with the water problem first,
if I possibly can. Also I will have to do most of the work myself.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!
David

Do you have gutters on your home? This is the first place I would
start if I was in your shoes. Also, if you have gutters, make sure
that they are draining away from the house, not at the foundation.

Next, I suggest that you look at the grade of your lot - is it sloped
towards your house. If so, consider installing drain tile around the
foundation.

If you can patch the cracks, consider doing so - I think that product
to use is called hydrolic cement. Basically, it is water proof cement
that will even set up under water.

Also, there are paint on products that you can apply to the inside of a
basement wall to help with moisture coming through the concrete. I used
one in an old house that I used to have and it seemed to work ok, but I
didn't have a severe problem with moisture, either.


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makesawdust