barbe4

I just gone thru another flooded basement. The street and side yard of my house flooded during a 6" flash flood. The water has been pumped out of my basement and its time to access the damage. The last time this happened I noticed small holes through the field stone foundation. This time there appears to be many more and larger gaps where the mortar has washed away.
The cellar walls are exposed field stone and the outside has been "parged" although the material broken off in many locations.
What product is used to seal gaps in old fieldstone foundations? If it's hydraulic cement, how is it applied? Is there a product apllied with a caulking gun. Something that expands to seal the gap?

nealtw

Water will find its way thru anything unless it is sealed from the outside.

BridgeMan

Maybe it's time to consider a more permanent repair than "parging." If it were my basement, I'd first consider doing any (and every) thing possible to keep the water away from the house's foundation, including regrading the yard if necessary, extending rain gutter downspouts, etc. If cost is no concern and you've already done those things, then you might give serious thought to doing a local search for an established basement water-proofer. If that doesn't work, another option would be to pay a good concrete contractor to excavate, form and pour a bonded concrete wall on the outside of your field stone foundation. A thickness of 6" would enable a heavy mesh reinforcement, to minimize the effects of any random cracks that might occur. Sealing the new concrete outside with bitumen or the fancier plastic bubble stuff, and backfilling with pea gravel, would be the finishing step.

Get a few quotes, and make sure whoever you select to do any work removes all dirt and loose mortar (water-blasting works well) before setting his forms and placing concrete, or installing any other kind of sealing system.