Sealing cove joint

1

Hi all, first post here.

This home has a well, that provides drinking water AND irrigation system duties. The homeowner was experiencing puddles of water entering the basement in an unfinished portion of the basement.

Upon further inspection, the irrigation shut off valve (exterior) was leaking. Probably for many months to a year. It was replaced, and there doesn’t appear to be any more leaks. However , fast forward one week later, and a small amount of water is seeping through the cove joint. I’m assuming this is water “left over” from the previous issue.

Should the cove joint be sealed at this point?

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Let me get this straight, So the ground was saturated for an extended period of time due to an irrigation valve leak? Now, there is water seeping in after the repair?

If so in my opinion, the saturated ground has no way to drain. Hydrostatic pressure has caused water to penetrate the foundation. Fixing the leak will slow things down, but it is likely you have a bigger problem and sealing the cove joint may not cure this issue.

But, we have very limited information. The year the home was built, the foundation materials (CMU block or poured concrete?) and a few photos would likely help.

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Yes sir that’s correct. Home was built in 1990 and it is block foundation. The previous owner had Drylok’ed the wall and apparently didn’t address the root cause. Will try and grab pics. Thank you

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applying Drylok to an interior wall will only trap water within the block wall, the water will get through the block eventually, and can cause more damage then not using drylok at all.
the only real fix for water intrusion is exterior sealing, don’t let the water in, in the first place.

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This will give you a basic understanding of how a typical foundation waterproofing system is designed.

Any failure of one or more of these components will promote water intrusion.
image

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If the valve was repaired a week ago and there is still slippage into the basement, something else is leaking! Ideally, the foundation should be waterproofed from the outside. Shut off the irrigation and see if the problem goes away in a day or two. If it does, turn the irrigation back on, run each zone for an hour and see if the problem comes back. If it does, something else is leaking!

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Hi there. Yes the valve has been shut off for 24 hours and still seeping. There was very heavy rain a few days ago, not sure if that’s the cause. Continuing to monitor

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Ground Water, Hydrostatic pressure is pushing groundwater up through the cove joint.

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if there was some sort of hydrostatic pressure problem around the house/under the floor then in my 40 yrs of doing waterproofing, the homeowner/basement would be experiencing water coming up through the cover pretty much all the way around, all 4 walls perimeter, yep

it would not just be in one or two areas

since they applied drylok to wall then what drylok can do sometimes is, hold the water that gets into the cores… inside, then it may dribble out so there ‘might’ be water trapped inside one or more blocks

the water may have got into cores/blocks through an exterior cracks, cracked parging on the exterior of block wall. One can always do a water-test with a hose to see if that is the problem and if so then exterior waterproofing done correctly is needed in that one area.

peeps talk about ‘cove seepage-leaks’, lolll, well here’s an interior dorky azz driange system that was installed for $$$$$, still leaks, see the moron water/seepage in some areas along cove/floor

above video, the actual problems are some exterior cracks and cracked parging, that IS where the water first enters into the hollow blocks, then the water drops through the lower blocks aka it stays inside the walls/blocks, where it eventaully get into the bottom blocks and almost always comes out along the cove aka where the bottom of the block wall meets the floor hence, exterior waterproofing is what was always needed here, NOT a dumb azz interior drainage system, note the efflorescence n some mold

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exterior crack block wall, this crack does not appear on the inside of wall, no

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ext-crack block wall, it does not appear on the inside

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exterior vertical crack block wall, you won’t see any crack on the inside of this wall, sure exists outside eh
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and water can also get inside blocks from openings above the wall such as gaps/openings under basement window sills, door sills and so on

sealing/caulking/mortar etc along a cove inside is another rookie knothead idea, it is pretty much only helpful to keep radon gas etc from entering

notice interior bubblehead systems companies don’t like to talk about radon gas, about the openings they create inside basements which allows the possibilty of more radon gas to enter plus, lolll they do not seal/waterproof any of the exterior cracks etc that also can allow radon to enter, they suck, it’s pretty simple n if one has a tad of common sense plain to see

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sealing cove joint, hmmm

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here was THE problem is this area, a crack that was ‘doctored’ over, it leaked at very bottom, where floor meets wall

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My fear is that there is a crack in the exterior wall, which was created over time from the water. So far the water has all but stopped seeping in. I’m going to turn the irrigation back on shortly to see if it is truly the culprit.

Yes, the basement is 99% finished except for this small room that houses the water softener and water pump. The room above this room is a 4 season room. I’m going to post pics shortly

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Went to grab pics and water is still slowly sleeping in. Irrigation valve has been closed for going on 48hrs. Been hot and dry here

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And the saturated ground is still “draining” into the basement.

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Yes sir, though it’s slowed down considerably. I was going to turn the irrigation back on, but rain is in the forecast and didn’t want to add too many variables.

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https://usa.sika.com/en/construction/adhesives-sealants/joint-sealants.html
download

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Good product, used it for years then switched to this;
image

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17

If there is a properly installed cover joint in the footing the cover joint is a seal. As for sealing leaking cover joints, polyurethane injection can be successful but I would be more interested as to why the perimeter drainage field and weep tiles are not successfully removing the water next to the foundation.

As for irrigations systems. Never liked then. They do more damage than good. Leaking underground piping and fittings. Soil is displaced. Trenching for plumbing. Soil is displaced. Over watering. Groundwater recharge.
Top 10 irrigation system problems & solutions.
I stay away from reporting on irrigation systems.

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18

Foundation cracks can be created from foundation settlement, to improper foundation installation techniques. Temperature changes, soil pressure or soil shrinkage, unbalanced soil and hydrostatic water pressure are other causes.

I would be addressing in my report, why isn’t water being directed into the weep tiles and pooling against the footing foundation intersection in that area. Exterior repairs are likely.
Although sealing where the concrete floor meets the foundation could stop water from entering the basement I feel it would be a band aid repair. Standing water, over saturated soil, in that area over time could lead to part of the foundation settling away from the home.
Just my 2 cents.

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Stopped by the residence today. There was a fairly heavy rain storm and the irrigation had run for around 2 hours in the morning. The area of the basement, including the cove joint was bone dry. No sealant has been applied

Thanks again for the guidance gentlemen

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Glad it is working out. And we always appreciate the update.

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