Hello all,
OK, 3 columns in basement. One of them
has leaking rust spots, 3 of them.
Bottom, middle and towards top,
Is the moisture seeping up from foundation
into center of column?
I live in an area where it floods in the street
about every 10 years. Thanks.

On Tue, 23 May 2006 19:03:00 GMT, "mo" wrote:

Hello all,
OK, 3 columns in basement. One of them
has leaking rust spots, 3 of them.
Bottom, middle and towards top,
Is the moisture seeping up from foundation
into center of column?
I live in an area where it floods in the street
about every 10 years. Thanks.


It's extremely unlikely that there's water
coming up the lally columns. I'd
suspect condensation, unless there's
evidence of water damage to the overhead beam.

No damage to overhead beam.
Thanks

mo wrote:
Hello all,
OK, 3 columns in basement. One of them
has leaking rust spots, 3 of them.
Bottom, middle and towards top,
Is the moisture seeping up from foundation
into center of column?
I live in an area where it floods in the street
about every 10 years. Thanks.

That's a weird one. A couple of comments and observations, if I may.
If you have leaking rust spots at locations throughout the height of
the column, then you have rust-through and seriously weak areas. This
is not a good thing to have in a column that is supporting substantial
weight. Some of the Lally columns are plain steel tubes and others are
concrete filled. If you have the former, and it's leaking from a point
near the top, that would mean that the tube is filled with water which
- a rather unlikely situation. If it is the latter case, the concrete
may be wicking water up from below. That is also rather unlikely, but
possible. You didn't mention whether or not that you had water
problems in the basement.

As the Big G mentioned condensation is a potential source, but that is
also unlikely. Having that much condensation inside the tube is pretty
bizarre. How would all of that moist air, enough to cause all the
leaking, get inside the column?

So you have three unlikely scenarios, one probably is the culprit.

I think you had better plan on replacing that column sooner rather than
later. It's easier to determine what is causing the problem once you
have removed and inspected the post. Then you can install the
replacement post in a new and improved fashion.

R

On Tue, 23 May 2006 19:03:00 GMT, "mo" wrote:

Hello all,
OK, 3 columns in basement. One of them
has leaking rust spots, 3 of them.
Bottom, middle and towards top,
Is the moisture seeping up from foundation
into center of column?
I live in an area where it floods in the street
about every 10 years. Thanks.


Lolly Columns require lollp pop sticks to hold them up.

when you feel nervous about the support posts, have them replaced.
concrete does not provide waterproofing, humidity is the enemy of a
steel post.
read more basement info than you will need at:
http://www.buildingscience.com/resources/basements.htm


mo wrote:
Hello all,
OK, 3 columns in basement. One of them
has leaking rust spots, 3 of them.
Bottom, middle and towards top,
Is the moisture seeping up from foundation
into center of column?
I live in an area where it floods in the street
about every 10 years. Thanks.

On 23-May-2006, "buffalobill" wrote:

humidity is the enemy of a steel post.

And yet steel sheet piling can last for decades in a marine environment.

If the post is painted with rustproofing or even a good coat of paint, humidity
won't be much of a problem.

The OP should scrape away at the rust spots and see if it's just a bit of surface
rust or deeper.

Mike

On 24-May-2006, "RicodJour" wrote:

All steels are not created equal.

Any steel used in a structural application (assuming a standard lolly column)
is not going to rust that quickly. It isn't sheet metal.

The OP said the spots were leaking. That would mean leaking from the
inside out. That's a serious problem anyway you cut it.

Is that what he knows or what he thinks? I don't take things like this
at face value.

Mike

Michael Daly wrote:
On 24-May-2006, "RicodJour" wrote:

All steels are not created equal.

Any steel used in a structural application (assuming a standard lolly column)
is not going to rust that quickly. It isn't sheet metal.

Sheet piling isn't a Lally column and you have no idea how long the
column has been there. The OP said that his street flooded "about
every ten years". Your guess as to how long he has been monitoring
that flood data...? I have no clue.

The OP said the spots were leaking. That would mean leaking from the
inside out. That's a serious problem anyway you cut it.

Is that what he knows or what he thinks? I don't take things like this
at face value.

The OP wrote, "One of them has leaking rust spots, 3 of them. Bottom,
middle and towards top." I can't imagine another scenario, other than
water originating on the inside that would cause three such spots to
leak. Anything originating on the outside would be uniform
(condensation) or there'd be a visible trail of water (leak from
above). If it's leaking from the inside out, it's a lot worse than
what you're seeing. Right?

R