I have a basement that floods in one corner after heavy, extended rain
(every 2-3 years). Current theory is hydrostatic pressure pushing
water (vapor?) through concrete.

Will a sump pump help?

The weeping tiles in this development are notorious for being
inadequate, so I'm not sure if busting through the floor/walls to make
a connection is worth it. Is it worthwhile to install just the pit
and pump without connections to the weeping tiles?

All the usual measures (eaves, grading, etc) have been taken. Lots
of concrete/asphalt around the perimeter of the house makes excavation
unappealing.

TIA.

"WandererFan" wrote in message
...
I have a basement that floods in one corner after heavy, extended rain
(every 2-3 years). Current theory is hydrostatic pressure pushing
water (vapor?) through concrete.

Will a sump pump help?

The weeping tiles in this development are notorious for being
inadequate, so I'm not sure if busting through the floor/walls to make
a connection is worth it. Is it worthwhile to install just the pit
and pump without connections to the weeping tiles?

All the usual measures (eaves, grading, etc) have been taken. Lots
of concrete/asphalt around the perimeter of the house makes excavation
unappealing.

TIA

I doubt a sump pump by itself will do more than provide
a place for the water that makes it onto the floor to go. It might help
marginally.

You could try it and if it does not work by itself, then cut
the concrete 18" back from the wall around the perimeter,
break it out and install a drainage system with leading to the new sump pit.

On 8/8/2011 4:01 PM, . wrote:
wrote in message
...
I have a basement that floods in one corner after heavy, extended rain
(every 2-3 years). Current theory is hydrostatic pressure pushing
water (vapor?) through concrete.

Will a sump pump help?

The weeping tiles in this development are notorious for being
inadequate, so I'm not sure if busting through the floor/walls to make
a connection is worth it. Is it worthwhile to install just the pit
and pump without connections to the weeping tiles?

All the usual measures (eaves, grading, etc) have been taken. Lots
of concrete/asphalt around the perimeter of the house makes excavation
unappealing.

TIA

I doubt a sump pump by itself will do more than provide
a place for the water that makes it onto the floor to go. It might help
marginally.

You could try it and if it does not work by itself, then cut
the concrete 18" back from the wall around the perimeter,
break it out and install a drainage system with leading to the new sump pit.


Surface water, soggy soil 3-4 feet down, or local water table rising?
For the first two, if you can figure out which direction water is coming
from, you can cut a drainage swale, or even a gravel-filled slit trench,
upstream from the house, and feed it into a big honkin' drywell. If it
is groundwater rising (seems unlikely if only one corner is wet), a sump
pit may or may not help, depending if original builder bothered to put a
gravel layer under basement slab.

Localized flooding almost always leaves a trail. Hydrostatic pressure
usually bows a wall, or at least presents as a visible 'artesian' leak
or trail of stains on wall, in my experience. Water coming in at base of
wall can be coming in outside of wall waterproofing, and seeping down to
where wall meets footer- if your foundation drains have failed or are
missing, it'll find its way in. Or, it could be coming in halfway down
wall at a bad mortar joint, and filling the wall, if you have block
walls. If so, you could trying drilling a small hole a foot up in the
wet corner, and see if it starts peeing in a bucket during next storm.

Can you post well-lit photos of the problem corner somewhere, with a
link back here? Inside slab to sill plate, and outside at foundation
level, please. And if there is a paved area on the outside near the
leak, run a hose there and see if maybe there is a ponding situation
that directs water against the basement foundation. I had that problem
with a frost-heaved abandoned patio slab under my low-level deck. Once I
dug drain channels through the planting bed around the deck, my basement
leak problem almost completely went away.


--
aem sends...

On Aug 8, 7:43*pm, aemeijers wrote:
On 8/8/2011 4:01 PM, . wrote:
snip snip
Can you post well-lit photos of the problem corner somewhere, with a
link back here?

Sorry computer problems for a day or two.

Still doing demo, but pictures of inside are he
http://www.dropbox.com/gallery/20192...Water?h=492572

Outside is concrete patio extending 10+ feet in all directions.

Once the inside finishes are out, I'll get some shots of the bare
concrete.

WandererFan wrote:
On Aug 8, 7:43 pm, aemeijers wrote:
On 8/8/2011 4:01 PM, . wrote:
snip snip
Can you post well-lit photos of the problem corner somewhere, with a
link back here?

Sorry computer problems for a day or two.

Still doing demo, but pictures of inside are he
http://www.dropbox.com/gallery/20192...Water?h=492572

Outside is concrete patio extending 10+ feet in all directions.

Once the inside finishes are out, I'll get some shots of the bare
concrete.

It's hard to say for sure, but it looks to me like it may be possible to
just put in a sump pump in the corner or area where the problem is and that
might work. I have something similar in the basement of a house that I own
and I think it is the water table rising every once in a while, especially
after a lot of rain. I had a sump pump pit put in, with stone around the
pit of course, and put holes in the side of the pit. I didn't break out the
floor along the walls or anything like that -- just a sump pump in the
corner. It worked for me. When the water table rises, the water comes into
the sump pump pit through the sides and the pump pumps it out. That solved
the problem. My thinking was that I would start with just the sump pump pit
and see if that worked. If that didn't work, I figured I could always go to
the next step of breaking out the floor along the walls and running drain
lines under the floor over to the sump pump pit that I already put in. But,
I ended up not needing to do that -- just the sump pump pit by itself
worked.

On Wed, 10 Aug 2011 09:12:22 -0700 (PDT), WandererFan
wrote:

On Aug 8, 7:43Â*pm, aemeijers wrote:
On 8/8/2011 4:01 PM, . wrote:
snip snip
Can you post well-lit photos of the problem corner somewhere, with a
link back here?

Sorry computer problems for a day or two.

Still doing demo, but pictures of inside are he
http://www.dropbox.com/gallery/20192...Water?h=492572

Outside is concrete patio extending 10+ feet in all directions.

Once the inside finishes are out, I'll get some shots of the bare
concrete.

Really hard to tell what's going on from the pics.
It's possible you have a crack in the floor or foundation that's the
source of the water.
Once you have all visible you should wait to see exactly where the
water is entering.
Then it's quite possible you can get that sealed by a pro and don't
even worry about a sump pit.
I had a 3-4 foundation cracks sealed by U.S. Waterproofing.
Some kind of epoxy they inject.
Cost about $250 a crack. I don't look at that as DIY but you and
others might.
You could hardly see the cracks when dry, but they let enough water in
form puddles during heavy rains.
My working sump pump didn't stop that.

--Vic

On Aug 10, 4:58*pm, Vic Smith wrote:
snip
Once you have all visible you should wait to see exactly where the
water is entering.
Then it's quite possible you can get that sealed by a pro and don't
even worry about a sump pit.
I had a 3-4 *foundation cracks sealed by U.S. Waterproofing.
Some kind of epoxy they inject.

That's the plan. Leave everything bare concrete until we get a big
rain or until SWMBO's patience runs out.

I had 2 cracks sealed with epoxy last flood. Can't see any evidence
of water getting in through them.

On 8/8/2011 2:24 PM, WandererFan wrote:
I have a basement that floods in one corner after heavy, extended rain
(every 2-3 years). Current theory is hydrostatic pressure pushing
water (vapor?) through concrete.

Will a sump pump help?

The weeping tiles in this development are notorious for being
inadequate, so I'm not sure if busting through the floor/walls to make
a connection is worth it. Is it worthwhile to install just the pit
and pump without connections to the weeping tiles?

All the usual measures (eaves, grading, etc) have been taken. Lots
of concrete/asphalt around the perimeter of the house makes excavation
unappealing.

My first house would get water in one corner after a long heavy rain.
Wife called a waterproofing company and guy came out, said the water
table was causing problem, wanted $1000's to put in a french drain.
House was on top of a mountain, and the highest point in miles. Told
him he was full of sh*t, and threw the turkey out of my house. Drilled
holes in block walls and entire wall was filled with water, but only
leaked in a few places.

Told my brother-in-law, a builder and he said 99% chance it was
downspouts leaking. He said put a hose in downspout when dry, let water
run for 1 1/2 hour, NO LESS unless it leaks sooner. EXACTLY 1 1/2 hour
it started to leak. Turned out the downspout went into terracotta pipe
that connected downspout on other side of house, and that was broken,
about a foot or two under ground. I ran a new PVC drain and problem was
gone. BIL told me most basement leakage comes from this sort of problem.

The first thing you need to do is find out why there is water around
your house. Basements are not swimming pools, and it's
difficult/impossible to keep water out if it gets to the walls. If it's
a water table, or you live on a spring or something, you might need a
french drain/sump pump. About all other conditions you want to remove
the cause if possible, and most of the time it is coming from the roof
to your basement. It needs to be redirected to someone else's basement:-)

--
Jack
Add Life to your Days not Days to your Life.
http://jbstein.com

On Aug 16, 11:39*am, Jack Stein wrote:
On 8/8/2011 2:24 PM, WandererFan wrote:

I have a basement that floods in one corner after heavy, extended rain
(every 2-3 years). * Current theory is hydrostatic pressure pushing
water (vapor?) through concrete.
Will a sump pump help?

The weeping tiles in this development are notorious for being
inadequate, so I'm not sure if busting through the floor/walls to make
a connection is worth it. *Is it worthwhile to install just the pit
and pump without connections to the weeping tiles?

All the usual measures (eaves, grading, etc) have been taken. * Lots
of concrete/asphalt around the perimeter of the house makes excavation
unappealing.

My first house would get water in one corner after a long heavy rain.
Wife called a waterproofing company and guy came out, said the water
table was causing problem, wanted $1000's to put in a french drain.
House was on top of a mountain, and the highest point in miles. *Told
him he was full of sh*t, and threw the turkey out of my house. *Drilled
holes in block walls and entire wall was filled with water, but only
leaked in a few places.

Told my brother-in-law, a builder and he said 99% chance it was
downspouts leaking. *He said put a hose in downspout when dry, let water
run for 1 1/2 hour, NO LESS unless it leaks sooner. *EXACTLY 1 1/2 hour
it started to leak. *Turned out the downspout went into terracotta pipe
that connected downspout on other side of house, and that was broken,
about a foot or two under ground. *I ran a new PVC drain and problem was
gone. *BIL told me most basement leakage comes from this sort of problem.

The first thing you need to do is find out why there is water around
your house. *Basements are not swimming pools, and it's
difficult/impossible to keep water out if it gets to the walls. *If it's
a water table, or you live on a spring or something, you might need a
french drain/sump pump. *About all other conditions you want to remove
the cause if possible, and most of the time it is coming from the roof
to your basement. *It needs to be redirected to someone else's basement:-)

--
Jack
Add Life to your Days not Days to your Life.http://jbstein.com

been there done all this

just go with the interior french drain system with sump pump or better
a drain to daylight.......

because although just a sump pump may work today one day a gully
washer might come along and flood your basement/ this is espically tue
if your finishing your basement...

been there spent 8 grand on exterior work......

all new downspout drains , exterior french drain, sealed basement
walls newsidewalks and steps. I was the laborer. sealed basement walls
and floor cracks, completely regraded lawn. the job took much of the
summer. hard grueling work.

that winter the basement flooded anyway./ you cant seal out water just
redirect it. and cracks can move again, so crack sealing is nbo
guarantee of anything other than having spent money

broke down and had interior french drain installed which fixed the
problem.......... for a fraction of the cost of my doing the exterior
work.......

yard looked great it gave the home curb appeal.......