okay, here it goes. we purchased our home in summer 2004. the house is almost 100 years old. there is an addition on the east end. the basement of the original portion of the house is fully finished. the new addition has only a dirt crawlspace, accessible via a small window on the side of our staircase (that leads downstairs to the fully finished basement). (i've never been in the crawlspace myself.)
earlier this year we started getting water collecting under the carpet near the stairs every time it rained hard. not right next to the stairs, about a half a foot away from them (everything is carpeted including the stairs). it's happened over 5 times now, a few times was really bad, water literally rushing in and we had to run the shopvac pretty much until it stopped raining outside.
cleaned the gutters. check. had someone come out to inspect our sump pump and drain tile. all ok. check. the guy from standard water control (the company that installed our sump pump and drain tile system) said to rip out the portion of the wall near where the water was coming in to see exactly where it was coming in and they would put up a moisture barrier. well, maybe i should have hired someone to professionally remove the wall, but i decided to do it myself. i ripped out the drywall. check. ripped off the plastic sheet under it. check. ripped out the insulation. check. underneath that was another plastic sheet. was this the original moisture barrier? it didn't look like anything was wrong with it(?) so anyway, i ripped all that plastic out and a little bit past where i had removed the drywall, etc.
i went outside, turned the hose on, and placed it on the outside of the house near where the floor in the basement was getting wet. went and sat on the stairs and waited. sure enough, drips began forming on the wall. i used a black permanent marker to mark the small cracks where the drips started from. i then proceeded to cut the studs out from around the affected area.
so i guess my question is what now? i have read that a moisture barrier must be continuous to work properly. i'm worried that by ripping just a patch out i have screwed it up worse. what is the guy from standard water control gonna tell me? should i hire someone to completely remove the rest of the finished wall - drywall, insulation, studs, plastic, etc.? what are my options as far as a moisture barrier? is it always just a sheet of plastic, or is there some sort of paint-on epoxy or something? any guidance would be greatly appreciated, as this whole fiasco has both me and my wife rather stressed out. thanks.
earlier this year we started getting water collecting under the carpet near the stairs every time it rained hard. not right next to the stairs, about a half a foot away from them (everything is carpeted including the stairs). it's happened over 5 times now, a few times was really bad, water literally rushing in and we had to run the shopvac pretty much until it stopped raining outside.
cleaned the gutters. check. had someone come out to inspect our sump pump and drain tile. all ok. check. the guy from standard water control (the company that installed our sump pump and drain tile system) said to rip out the portion of the wall near where the water was coming in to see exactly where it was coming in and they would put up a moisture barrier. well, maybe i should have hired someone to professionally remove the wall, but i decided to do it myself. i ripped out the drywall. check. ripped off the plastic sheet under it. check. ripped out the insulation. check. underneath that was another plastic sheet. was this the original moisture barrier? it didn't look like anything was wrong with it(?) so anyway, i ripped all that plastic out and a little bit past where i had removed the drywall, etc.
i went outside, turned the hose on, and placed it on the outside of the house near where the floor in the basement was getting wet. went and sat on the stairs and waited. sure enough, drips began forming on the wall. i used a black permanent marker to mark the small cracks where the drips started from. i then proceeded to cut the studs out from around the affected area.
so i guess my question is what now? i have read that a moisture barrier must be continuous to work properly. i'm worried that by ripping just a patch out i have screwed it up worse. what is the guy from standard water control gonna tell me? should i hire someone to completely remove the rest of the finished wall - drywall, insulation, studs, plastic, etc.? what are my options as far as a moisture barrier? is it always just a sheet of plastic, or is there some sort of paint-on epoxy or something? any guidance would be greatly appreciated, as this whole fiasco has both me and my wife rather stressed out. thanks.