foundation leaking.

[eilkka]

Cement blocks for walls are leaking . Only where the floor meets the walls. Not all the time just when heavy rain or heavy snow melt. I have a sump and it is working. Iam wondering if I need another one on other side?

 

[isola96]

Cement blocks for walls are leaking . Only where the floor meets the walls. Not all the time just when heavy rain or heavy snow melt. I have a sump and it is working. Iam wondering if I need another one on other side?

How much water are you getting?
You can try hydraulic cement in the area that has water but it will need to be dry before you apply it.
Then put 2 coats of extream drylock
Just some ideas if its not that bad.

 

[eilkka]

It's not water all the time. If there any its alot. Iam in Michigan . Right now its cold, warm , cold warm. In one spot I had a river that drained into a floor drain into the sump. I have tried hydo cement. Did not work but I don't think it was completely dry. I have a good gutter system that shoots water 20ft away from house downhill. I know that the best thing to do is correct on the outside but very costly.

 

[oldognewtrick]

Does the yard next to the house slope away from the foundation?

 

[eilkka]

Slopes down to the east . West side is where most water is ,does not slope slope very much. Road is on that side about 30y and road is higher .

 

[isola96]

I'm not a foundation expert but seems like its a week point in your foundation and the static water is getting in.
I'd retry the hydro cement again.

 

[nealtw]

A drain around the outside below floor level and waterproofing the outside is the only solution. If you do stop the water on the inside the blocks will just fill with water until it finds another path.

 

[mudmixer]

Your block are not necessarily leaking since you are just looking at where the water shows up inside. The water is coming through the joint with the wall and footing or slab and the same situation occurs with both block and poured concrete walls.

Since you have a sump, the odds are that you havedrain tile somewhere (most likely exterior).

Is you home built with the block wall (or poured wall) built on a slab or are they on a strip footing with the slab poured later on top of the footing (preferred in many areas)? One way to tell is if it is block there is about 4" of the bottom block showing, it is built as described as being on a strip footing.

If the slab if poured on the strip footing, it is a floating slab and hydraulic cement would not work even though it is a great sealer and compatible with concrete, but it is brittle and a crack should be caulked if you feel it is necessary.

If the wall is built on a slab foundation and water is coming in, the exterior waterproofing system is not working or has failed.

Depending on the construction method, drain tile would be the best, long term solution.

If it is a floating slab, interior, exterior or both drain tile locations are acceptable.

If the wall is built on the slab, an exterior system may be the most reasonable. In the case of outside obstructions (slabs, steps, landscaping, etc.), exterior systems are not that effective since water also can travel horizontally and then down and inward and an interior system may be preferable.

The advantage of a floating slab is that interior drain tile can installed easier and they also reduce the hydrostatic pressure under the slab that can also cause cracks.

Dick

 

[isola96]

Your block are not necessarily leaking since you are just looking at where the water shows up inside. The water is coming through the joint with the wall and footing or slab and the same situation occurs with both block and poured concrete walls.

Since you have a sump, the odds are that you havedrain tile somewhere (most likely exterior).

Is you home built with the block wall (or poured wall) built on a slab or are they on a strip footing with the slab poured later on top of the footing (preferred in many areas)? One way to tell is if it is block there is about 4" of the bottom block showing, it is built as described as being on a strip footing.

If the slab if poured on the strip footing, it is a floating slab and hydraulic cement would not work even though it is a great sealer and compatible with concrete, but it is brittle and a crack should be caulked if you feel it is necessary.

If the wall is built on a slab foundation and water is coming in, the exterior waterproofing system is not working or has failed.

Depending on the construction method, drain tile would be the best, long term solution.

If it is a floating slab, interior, exterior or both drain tile locations are acceptable.

If the wall is built on the slab, an exterior system may be the most reasonable. In the case of outside obstructions (slabs, steps, landscaping, etc.), exterior systems are not that effective since water also can travel horizontally and then down and inward and an interior system may be preferable.

The advantage of a floating slab is that interior drain tile can installed easier and they also reduce the hydrostatic pressure under the slab that can also cause cracks.

Dick

How will the op tell if it's strip footing slab (floating slab) or just plain old slab will it be hollow sounding say if you tap a hammer on it?

 

[mudmixer]

It all comes down to a bit of detective business. Since the OP said he has a concrete (not cement) block foundation, you just have to look at the height of the block above the slab to get a reasonable idea of the construction details.

A strip footing is just under the wall and it is not a "floating slab" since a raft or "floating" foundation is much thicker and more heavily reinforced than a typical floating slab (probably unreinforced) that is resting on a strip footing. That makes a big difference when it comes to an interior drain tile installation.

Dick

 

[eilkka]

Block walls . Floor is not floating.

 

[raysmythe]

I am also not a mason or any kind of expert, but from my trial and error experience, I would have to guess that water is moving eastward and penetrating the west wall through joints.
One fix would be to install drainage tile on the west side of your house that diverts this excess ground water around the north and south sides to the east side, where it would go if your house were not in the way.
Another fix would be to install "gutters" into the floor which drain into the sump. This requires purchase of one of the vinyl waterproofing systems and following manufacturer instructions.
I would start with the first choice, since it takes nature into account and simply helps the water to get where it's trying to go.
A third choice is to rebuild the foundation wall. If the house is old, just pulling the blocks down and resetting them with modern mortar could do the trick. If I did this, I'd also add the tile to make it last longer, since water will always try to flow in its natural direction. Just look at the grand canyon.

 

[1jackguy]

If the road has a ditch get it lowered . If you have block wall foundation try a product called throseal , drylock is to thin of a product.

 

[itsreallyconc]

imn-s-hfo, the best place for drylock is on the shelf in the apron/vest store,,, thoroseal is a good product used in the right situation,,, nothing works well IF you use anyone's product incorrectly,,, there's nothing you can apply inside to stop an exterior leak - if there were, we pro's would be using it ! kthere are materials that can be applied to interior surfaces to stop leaks from appearing inside however the damage will still be taking place inside the walls.

dick - what happened to the bugatti veyron ? still in the shop ??????

 

[mudmixer]

Two coats of Thoroseal are even better if the second is applied the next day and the wall is sprayed just prior to application.

itsreallyconcrete - Regarding the Bugatti, I don't have it since the $250,000 down payment and an unknown price in the future plus a 2 or 3 year wait does make sense for anyone but VW/Porsche that owns Bugatti. - When a set of tires is $25,000 and you have to wait a month or two to have then made, I think I will resurrect my 1952 Ford Crestliner 2 door HT. - Henry Ford would be proud because it was a flathead V8.

Dick