[N8N]

Hi all,

I have a feeling I need a new French drain, because after today's torrential rain I saw puddles that appear to be coming from water entering right through the cinder block wall at the rear of my house. Unfortunately that is where the deck is; can you feel the pain yet? Anyway I have no connections in residential construction in this area and was wondering if anyone had anything good or bad to say about any firm in particular.

I was all ready to buy a neat old truck too...

thanks

nate

[Dave O]

Nate,

One of the first things to do is check your downspouts. Often they drain right up against the house. If yours are not directed onto splash blocks that move the water away from the house, and keep it away, then that is the first thing to fix. Normally you won't have water entering the basement unless it is laying up against the outside wall to begin with. An easy fix is often to keep the water draining away from the house. It may be that the ground under the deck has settled around the house and is allowing water to pile up there. If so you can save a lot of money by using a shovel and some sweat equity.

Just a few thoughts. Good luck.

[vascott99]

It is a very easy job that you can do your self.....VA CLAY is so much fun BTW....

[SilverStreak]

PM sent

[Mark in Baltimore]

Originally Posted by Dave O

Nate,

One of the first things to do is check your downspouts. Often they drain right up against the house. If yours are not directed onto splash blocks that move the water away from the house, and keep it away, then that is the first thing to fix. Normally you won't have water entering the basement unless it is laying up against the outside wall to begin with. An easy fix is often to keep the water draining away from the house. It may be that the ground under the deck has settled around the house and is allowing water to pile up there. If so you can save a lot of money by using a shovel and some sweat equity.

Just a few thoughts. Good luck.

Excellent advice from Dave. Grading (i.e. adding dirt to drain water away from the house) can really help with water issues. Also, check to make sure your gutters and downspouts are not clogged and dumping water near the foundation. If you have any basement windows, be sure they are covered by the palstic shields that you can buy at Home Depot. Lastly, only call Mid-Atlantic Waterproofing if you've spent time in prison and miss your old cell mates. Believe it or not, there are affordable "waterproofers". very few companies guarantee that water will not enter a house; rather, companies say that they will manage the water.

if your water table is especially high in the area, you will need to spend the coin for a french drain. Try to get a Zoller sump pump.

[Dr K]

We had a proper grade but 2 different hoses were cut and leaking (sump pump and A/C condensation drain pump). Fixing those caused significant improvement, but we were redoing our basement and worried if it leaked, it would ruin our new work. So we used B-dry to cut an internal drain, and they did a very neat and careful job.

Peter

[N8N]

re: grading and downspouts, yes the grading is bad around my house and I've been picking away at it. unfortunately the grading is poor under the deck, but there's barely enough room to crawl under there and whoever installed it put down landscape fabric and gravel to keep the weeds out so it'd really be easier to demo the deck and start over if that is the problem. I don't actually have downspouts, the gutters drain into two above ground cisterns and I suspect one of them may actually be part of the problem as its overflows aren't well directed. I've been meaning to rework that but the original pipe for the old downspout is clogged and I haven't gotten around to digging it up yet to see where it goes.

Also adding dirt to fix the grading is not an option in my case... the PO's of my house were obsessive-compulsive mulchers. I've literally given away truckloads of composted mulch on Craigslist etc. simply because I have nowhere to put it. If anyone wants some there's plenty more. I have the greatest soil in my neighborhood, I just have way too much of it - it's almost up to the windowsills of the basement windows, and still slopes in toward the house in some places. If anyone wants some you're welcome to it, all I ask is that you come and help me load it.

Another project to keep me from working on my cars, apparently...

nate

[Vicegrip]

Put a water barrier under the deck. You can't keep water out if it builds up against the foundation.

[N8N]

Well, as you can tell, it's raining here again; somewhat expectedly, my basement is moist again. I can see now where the water is coming in - it is not coming in through the wall at all but apparently running down the exterior wall and in through the window over my deep sink.

I've got Andersen windows in the upstairs of the house and garage both, but was singularly unimpressed with the attitude of the Andersen dealer in Loehman's Plaza - I went down there to order some parts to repair various windows when we first moved in, thinking that I'd rather support a local business than order online, and they basically told me to either prove that the windows came from them or to piss off and quit bothering them.

So... anyone recommend someone to replace a couple windows in my basement? If I have to replace these, I might as well replace all of them as the one that is leaking is clearly a cheap replacement and the rest of them are original to the house (and one has had its panes replaced with Plexiglas) The one that is leaking is actually now underneath my deck, so possibly replacing it with glass block or something might be in order.

nate

[BlackTalon]

Nate -- are you sure the water is actually penetrating the window assembly, as opposed to the frame-to masonry/ siding sealant joint? I would check the sealant carefully, as it's a quick and cheap fix if that's where the problem lies.