I just finished inspecting a 1470 sq ft home on 15 acres of mountain property. I was told by the client that there was some minor moisture issues in the basement and they wanted to make sure I checked them out.
The home was built in 1958, 24 by 32 foundation, half unfinished basement, half crawl space. Surrounding property has a slight slope towards the home. When I got into the basement I found water running into the basement from the slab to foundation pour line. It ran across the floor in a channel which had been cut with a chisel and disappeared under the far foundation wall. This went with the water seeping through the poured concrete and concrete block foundation wall. The crawl space was unvented, had no vapor barrier and the dirt was almost like mud it was so wet, again, water was seeping through the foundation. We wont even get into the various forms of microbial growth that were found.
Here’s the good part, the seller was there and his comment was,“Oh, that not a big deal, it only does that in the spring for a couple months when the snow melts.”
I informed the client later (out of earshot of the seller) that it was a big deal and even if it only did it one day out of the year it was still a big problem. I advised my client to get a reputable foundation contractor out there to look it over and give them an idea of what was needed and how much money it would cost before signing anything else. I also told them as per Bubber if he starts talking inside solutions to run. I even went so far as to suggest they check out the forum and Bubber’s thoughts on basement repair. Although I did mention that he is slightly coarse and I hoped they weren’t easily offended.
They have promised to let me know how it turns out. I can’t wait.
lol slightly coarse…hehehhee, got MILK!!!
Hello Mr Scott,
well, just got in from hand digging a biatch hole, especially the last 2-3’…clay! I’m tired!!! And, after the job went 2 the corner bar wiff a couple old friends…i rarely drink but sure had a handful TADAY!! lol
yeah, not the best of days to answer this…and i’m not sure i’m following everything (again prolly my bad) so, i could ask a few Q’s now n ‘try’ and answer them in this shape or, if you could wait 'till early tomorrow morning i can get another read on this when in better condition. lololol
also, you/they or anyone can always call my dumb az, would like to help anyone.
ok, gonna start 2 try,bare wiff the Bubbaman please,
right now, screw the grade and screw the channel.
1)sorry but need to know what you mean when you say, water running into basement from slab—to—foundation pour line
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the water seeping through poured AND block wall…?
Ya mean the BASEMENT wall(s) or CRAWL wall(s)?
I think i see it now, lol, foundation walls are ‘BOTH’ poured and block…??? -
water can/could certainly come from a crawl (various possibilities as to how,why water is in OR is getting in crawl eh)…and then go through poured or block wall.
Ok, short attention span at the moment sir, sorry…but let me know
Scott… if you have pic’s… post them to help out!
Crawls…sometimes water in a crawl can get in through exterior openings/gaps etc and then soak the shtt outta the dirt floor and then sometimes, could be humidity etc or some sort of leaky line/hose in the crawl and sometimes its a COMBINATION, more than 1 problem
sometimes the ONLY problem (where water is getting in crawl) in from/through exterior gaps,cracks etc like this, see photos…
http://picasaweb.google.com/101049034584960315932/Crawlspace
click each photo to enlarge, use arrow on right side/middle to forward eh
So when anything like that(link) is PART or ALL of the problem(where water is FIRST getting in) then obviously exterior waterproofing is the ONLY thing that’ll fix part or all of it
Have yet to see 1 crawlspace(walls) that was even—parged on the outside…not good.
BUTT, i don’t/haven’t done ALOT of em…just saying.
Please eyeball photo #14…happens to some basement block walls as well,some bricks(brick walls) can also deteriorate and-or the joints between em
Holy crap Bubber, thats insane.
do ya mean me or those pics, especially #14…or both! lolol hehehee
One BIG thing about crawls that no terdball inside system company seems to get, or know, or care is…many crawls (walls) are just like that link/photos and they NEVER do anything about 'em, not on the outside…that is absoluetly insane and incompetent ta Bubbamilkman :mrgreen:
Shht, i don’t want to hand dig every dang house and get/pay for insurance to do so but kkkkkrist sake, that’s where most problems are, yeppers. (others than flooding crap like up through floor drain or back ups due to city shtt etc)
Oh…lol, and ya make LESS money, yes LESS on the exterior if ya wanna stay in biz a long time…alot more work,risk,matrerials etc
Little of column “A”. Little of column “B”. Meant the pictures but if the shoe fits. LOL
Bubbamilkman???
Mr M, lolol. ummmm, apparently YES…on some days so i’m told. 
Yep, the inside system terds obviously never SEE what we do…exterior cracks,deteriorated blocks,bricks,joints,underground roots,clay etc CAUSING bowed walls, cracks/leaks.
Guarantee ya’s…other than back ups n shtt like that, MOST homeowners problems,causes of problems etc are on the outside!!! If my dumb az was wrong, if Capizzo const(another good co here) was wrong, if John McEwen was wrong then we’d have 20–30–50++ complaints in the last 2-3 years JUST like the inside system terds buttttt, we don’t…we have ZERO…HMMMMmMmMMMMMMMM
Seems too many incorrectly think/say that exterior waterproofing costs a ton, that it costs way more than inside waterdiverting…just more BULLSHHTTT peeps, it really is.
Month after month, year after year and…decade after decade, see the same old dumb az incompetent bullstt,various forms
Sorry to state it again, other than these inside system terds…bullshtt consists of…the grade supposedly and erroneously is 50 or 80 or 90% of all peoples wet basement problems/solutions…nonsense. Same goes for downspout extension,mudjacking etc.
Now IF a homeowner doesnt have the CASH and wanna ‘try’ shtt themselves to slow down the leak then…by all means, have at it. But jesus joseph n mary, why spend $500,1,000+++ to regarde or mudjack slabs etc…FIND the problem(s), fix the problem(s)…use that money to FIX the stupid problem once n for all.
Hate to post again butt, like THIS…$7,000 spent on new driveway…under the incorrect thinking that the PITCH of the NEW slabs would solve the dumb az leak…NOOoo!!
Should have spent $3,200 ish on what was done in these photos…
http://picasaweb.google.com/101049034584960315932/BasementWaterproofing14
Say yetttt again, lolol sorry…NO inside system and sump pump would have solved these problems…would have cost MORE! And obviously spending $7,000 didnt solve shtt either…bad incorrect info people!
If you look at those photos,link above…some may ask/think…how the hll is water getting against-the-basement-wall underneath that concrete. There’s concrete UNDER that new concrete and, someone tarred along house/drive.
On longer,heavier rains,spring thaws…water gets under all that concrete,under that new pitch of slabs,mostly on the NEIGHBORS side/grass/edge of concrete. Goes into the soil, clay soil (some voids etc) and travels-moves through-the-soil including towards the basement wall.
The problems are VERY OBVIOUS, exterior cracks in basement wall and some other exterior openings.
It’s not the pitch/grade of new concrete slabs, its not the gutters, its not the downspout extensions. If it was 1 or more of those the homeowners wouldn’t have called my dumb azz. If the exterior cracks etc were not the real problems then…they’d still be leaking! lol
NOTHING pleases my old dumb azz more than going on an estimate and finding the one-lone problem being, open mortar joints above grade (tuckpointing) or, a blockage in lateral line (snake) or, water was first getting in/through openings around a door (often caulking). The look on the faces of those homeowners is BEAUTIFUL, worth every shtty day ive had doing this crrrap.
Here are some pics, I took these and uploaded to my laptop on site but I didn’t feel good about them so I took another set. I can show you these because they aren’t in the report, I take ethics to heart. The pour line I am talking about is where the floor slab meets the wall pour. It has shrunk and cracked over the years and now there are gaps. The water is coming from and going into these gaps. The home was clearly built by a DIYer back in 58. The foundation is a mishmash of poured concrete, cement block, and in places there is block in front of poured. There is water seepage around the entire foundation in varying degrees. It is clear there is no drain tile system, no waterproofing of the foundation, and there is no sump system. The pictures of the crawl space can not even begin to impart the overpowering smell when you open the access. I guess I am not asking for advise, and I know Bubber can’t come to Montana, but I thought you guys might like to see one of my little battles in Big Sky Country. I guess I can only upload five pics, if you want more i have another 4. This is the first time I have taken over 200 pics and they all went in the report. My client is a retired law professor from the University of Montana and I am doing CYA!!!
Not sure i;m going to be much help on this one.
Ok, so NO city sewer system?
I wish i’d started taken photos of our jobs earlier,the first 20 or so years, we had several where builder used poured and block on top etc.
On THOSE, block on poured, all had at least openings/gaps along/where the first course of blocks sat on top of poured wall, not all saying this house has any of that. Some had cracks in poured wall(s), some had cracks etc in block wall-part.
Crawl-walls were seen,worked on have never had anything on the exterior,no parging no nuttin, something like this…
http://picasaweb.google.com/101049034584960315932/Crawlspace
Shtt like this/in pics may be part of problem in that crawl.
If there are NO cracks, no leaky rod holes in poured walls and no water/water stains from the top of poured walls down then obviously the problem in those areas is elsewhere. Around HERE, my first and next thoughts would be a possible blockage in lateral line and-or possible problem w/existing sump or possible need to snake tiles that empty into pit/sidewall.
Have seen a few poured wall SEAMS that were part or all of water entry problem
Sometimes, somebody covered over/cemented a floor drain or 2 that needs to be snaked.
Sometimes on poured walls, what you see in pic’s 11,12,13 is part or all of the problem/where water enters…see scraper
http://picasaweb.google.com/101049034584960315932/BasementWaterproofing06
See it?
Sometimes there could be a leaking underground water line etc
Can only give you some of the possibilities that i’ve seen, decade after decade, sorry about that.
When i’m in doubt i run a water test with a hose.
No city sewer, private septic, here in the mountains when spring melt starts the water table can jump a whole lot of feet in a short amount of time. What I tried to impress on them was that this was an outside fix and was going to involve some cash money. I appreciate all the advise Bubber and I will pass your info onto my clients.
Have seen a handful of poured walls and some block that had gaps or cracks right at–along the bottom of wall and floor and it would LOOK like water was coming UP through the gaps/crack but each time i found that the water first entered through the bottom of a crack or seam or on block walls, they had exterior cracks etc.
Once the water came through those openings at the very bottom it would run into/along the gap/crack, some water would go down,some would keep running in that same area/gap. Again, this may not be any part of that home’s problem
No problem, wish i really could’ve helped.
Where this place has block in front of poured wall ( i think you said), of course there could certainly be a crack(s), leaking rod holes etc in the poured wall that i’m guessing you cannot see because lolol, a block wall was built in front of a poured wall
I agree, that’s why I have already talked to them about membranes and drain tiles .
Sure seems your right on top of this…wish many more here in MI would do 1/5 of what you have. According to many of them (no not any Nachi member ive met or spoke with lol), every and i mean every leaky basement is because of the grade. Anyways, keep kicking az man!
Just would like to add, there’s been 2 or 3 (im old ok!) times i could NOT find,identify why/where basements were leaking…2 schools,pretty big and deep basements on em.
1 of them i wasn’t given full accessibility to basement so, i simply told em night night and good luck. When need be, I have no problem telling anyone i cannot find/identify your problem versus many who do not give 1 shtt what the actual problem(s) is or lie and they go ahead and install that interior system.