Need Guidance on basement waterproofing approach to take.

[Guest]

This past year I purchased the house I grew up in after my father passed away.

The house is a Cape, built in 1947, with a cinder block foundation on the NH Seacoast. The walls and floor are painted (in the 70's). I believe it's basement paint and not waterproofing paint (lime green walls, and grey floors). My father applied plastic for vapor barrier to the walls , a styro-foam barrier, and wallboard. I have since started removing the walls and noticed the paint flaking off. The house has gutters, and I have made every effort to ensure that water does not drain towards the house.

In 55 years my parents lived here, we've never had water in our basement. (Maybe moisture but no leaks) However the Mother's day storms this past May dropped 22 inches over the course a few days. More than half of our street flooded due to a water table (we don't usually have issues with this).

During those storms and only 2 storms since then (we had hail and a tornado) water seeped in in 2 places in between the wall and the floor. A shop vac handled it.

I have had 3 basement companies come in and recommend French Drains, because that's what their company sells. I believe I should first try to remove the paint (how?) and seal the cracks and waterproof. A few questions:

1. Where can I find professionals to do this? Most basement companies don't want to deal with your walls, they just want to install drains and sump pumps. I would be willing to do the labor, I just don't have the know-how.

2. Should I try a do-it-yourself approach before spending $6,000 smackers for French Drains?

Thx,
Terri

[Guest]

Removing paint off basement walls can be quite a task. Before you start hand scraping, check with your local tool rental company and ask about a concrete grinder. The newer grinders have dust ports that can be attached right to a shop vac thus cutting down your grind time and the dust clean up.

As far as the waterproofing goes, I would make sure a few things are working properly. The gutters are attached and clean, the downspout extensions are far enough away from the house and there is a positive grade away from the house. These are easy things to do before spending any money.

The sheer volume of water (especially 22 inches) will find its way just about anywhere. What you need to determine is if it was a one time occurence or will it be an ongoing one. Sometimes a flood like that can actually create floor cracks, wall cracks and moderate to heavy seepage and turn an isolated incident into real problems.


By installing a sump crock and sump pump you will help not only the ground water but it will assist in draining water that will build up against the exterior walls. This is a fairly easy installation but sometimes the easy jobs become very difficult. Its best to let the professionals do it and get a warranty. If you do it yourself check with local building codes and don't forget a building permit.

[Guest]

Tval,

Thanks for your response. That's what I fear has happened- that the storms of mother's day have actually provided an avenue for the water to get in, and now I've got problems, where I never did before.

I'll investigate renting a concrete grinder, and trying that approach first. The problem now is that whenever it rains, I'm afraid to leave the house in case I get water... I think that's part worry because this is the first time I've owned a home. So I'm trying to solve the issue to get back that piece of mind.

Terri

[TJ1962]

Good advice tval...

With masonry walls, water gets in from the outside and then being hollow acts like a glass holding water until it seeps out.

Waterproofing paints, mortars etc. usually are a short term fix. For instance you cannot put 10 oz of water into an 8 oz glass. Water does not compress. Most french drains operate on this principle redirecting water.

Dry lock has to get into the pores of masonry. Sand-blasting or grinding would be required. To truly treat walls from water outside would be required but very expensive and intrusive to any landscaping, decking, patios, additions etc.