basement waterproofing
maryIt depends...….sorry, but many ways to tackle this problem.
The easiest, and often the obvious, is gutters, gutters, gutters. Be they clean and be they direct the water 6 feet from the house (I use three or less actually but be sure it's all going away and none comes back to the foundation. This is a major reason basements get wet.
berm baby berm.... That is, 1) make sure everything outside slopes away from the house for six feet in all directions. I use three feet and have been fine. 2) if needed, like on a hill, berm it so that all surface water is directed away from foundation before it gets there. Just a slight mound directing water away is sufficient as long as it is easily mowed and does not look like you built a mountain. Sometimes a valley does better than a mound.
These are your cheapest alternatives. Getting more expensive.....
You can drain your yard as in put drainage barrier in some distance from house. Works well when located on a hill to get rid of water before it gets to house. Think of it as a berm on steroids. You can get real exotic here, see link, but often just a slight mound, berm as noted above, directing water away is sufficient. I have built underground (2.5 feet, piping systems) that direct the water right into the storm sewer (need county approval for that sewer connection). I have never used surface rock, I always cover. Used a civil engineer to design and pro's to install but you can roll your own with rental equipment too. Technology is pretty low tech here.
You can drain the foundation as in French drain around the perimeter, right on the foundation line. General protection for general penetration in a large portion of basement.
You can put in a sump pump to drain what's going on below the house, or you can add one to an existing system to "spread" the load. Again, general protection for overall problem, not just a single leak. Good for when you know the water is coming up through the floor.
You can super-seal wall cracks only from inside using high-tech expansion material and fancy machines. Expensive, but if you only have water from a few cracks... If you are inundated with water from many areas, probably not the way to go.
You can seal the entire basement if you can access the block to create a dam from the outside for general protection for general problem. Sort of like a pool in reverse which means the water is still there, but you are blocking it.
Probably plenty other ways so lots of approaches depending on what the issue is and what the environment (terrain, problem area, existing protections). Also, water is devious so often you fix it just to find it somewhere's else. May need to chase for awhile. Here's a couple of pieces on the subject. Good luck and let us know the problem description and folks can probably better advise.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/home/lawn-garden/how-to/a7661/5-ways-to-stop-runoff-from-ruining-your-lawn/
https://www.wikihow.com/Drain-Water-Away-from-Your-Home
strangerdanger Agree start with gutters. I’ve had big improvements by moving from downspouts that just turn 90 degrees when they reach the earth to installing full underground pipe and directing the water to the woods.
I also painted my basement with some basement paint from Home Depot. Not sure What if anything it does but it sure looks nice.
wow thanks for the posts I will read them over and over again. The guy that
gave me a 18,000$ estimate keeps calling!
That estimate is absurd! I paid five grand for my waterproofing and that was roughly 6 years ago. I have never once had water in my basement since and it was a good investment. However I would shop around!
Grace We had two basement leaks over the 15 years we lived in Hackettstown. First time was in the front of the house. New gutters with the draining away from the house and a berm in the front of the house cured that one. The second one was after our deck was built a leak appeared where our basement met the concrete slab for the ground floor (it was a basement only under 1/2 the house). The basement wall had a 4 inch space between the foundation and the slab. Sealing the 4 inch gap with stone and sealant cured that one. Dry basement up until we sold the house and as far as we know it is still dry. I hope this helps.
MK Again, for price, it depends.
I had a lawn that was turning into a bog. It was caused by by neighbor planting a row of trees to divert the water. The roots caused a natural dam slowing the flow. In the wettest section my lawn tractor up to the rear axle and I lost my shoe when I got off. It was a dry day and the area looked fine. The bog was leaching into the house overwhelming the sump. First quote was close to 20 but I thought over engineered. Brought it down to 12 by using 4 inch pipe instead of larger and other materials changes. This was an extensive system with two legs running the entire house width. I just figured once dry, the 4 inch would handle the load. It trickled for a year.
Bog gone but really glad I tied into the sewer. A 4-inch going full bore is a lot of water.
As a young man, we built a development with two concentric rings of houses where the inner ring was up a hill, literally two stories high. Well the water from three upper houses came down to a slot tween two lower houses so close, like 20 feet apart. That water streamed down, hit one house, went down the outside basement stairs, blew open the door and we got the call — two feet of basement water.
We built a system like I noted, but the underground gravel pit was the size of a large dump truck. We then put the exit pipe at the curb. First rainstorm that thing let loose, I swear we moved a parked car. Had to tie it in to the storm water system.
Water is a funny thing.
Another thing to realize is that you just don't have (surface) streams, you have underground steams too.
iJay Yeah, in my case, the "bog" was created by underground flow which was blocked by my neighbor's tree line that was parallel to our driveways.. Try getting neighborly help with that one... Can't blame them though, who would have known. Unintended consequences for sure. Whereas the water used to flow laterally towards their house and across the top of our driveways, now it flowed down the same path as the driveway along my side of the tree line. The only underground channel it had was a five foot channel between my driveway and the neighbors tree line. The surface water was minimal and fast although it was causing erosion due to a lack of grass under those wonderful trees.. The underground was greater, slower, and backed-up creating the bog. Once I put the drainage system in, it began to drain, drip by drip. Once drained, it never returned, no it never returned.....
Like I said, water is a funny duck.
Any recommendations of actual companies that have done work in the area? Looking to have French drains/floating slab done in basement.
Exterior is fine.
3wbdwnj I would recommend beginning outside and taking a step by step approach.
Why start jackhammering your basement when a curtain drain or regrading may correct the problem?
Stymie 3wbdwnj
I agree with Stymie on this. At my ex's house in Dover she asked my opinion on a plan they had a quote on (and that her brother was pushing for) to do a trench with drain screen around the inside of the basement floor. I went there once on a really rainy day and watched as certain parts of the basement wall leaked water down the inside of it. I came back on a dry day soon after and carefully examined the outside of the foundation.
I saw that someone had disturbed the soil near the foundation and not only was there a depression right next to it, but the ground sloped towards that depression from the side of her neighbor's driveway. I told her to go the least expensive route first, by buying some topsoil and grass seed, dumping the topsoil along the foundation, then grading it back for several feet. Once that was done, seed that area with grass seed to hold the earth in place and to allow it to slowly run off. She did what I had said, and miraculously the problem was gone. She didn't need a several thousand dollar custom drain system tied into her sump anymore and her brother stopped pressuring her for the expensive fix.
Many times basement water is more a matter of proper grading of the soil to move water away from the foundation than anything else. That said, there are always challenges due to siting next to a hill, or with an unknown artesian spring right next to the foundation or with a neighbor's new project channeling water towards your foundation. It always behooves one to examine the possible causes, rather than just treat the results
Phil D. Than you stymie and Phil. We had a grading/excavating contractor look at the exterior and he said the grading is fine.
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