Water leaking in basement studio

  • Thread starter Thread starter meadeam
  • Start date Start date
M

meadeam

New member
My basement seeps a bit along one wall if we get prolonged rains, which we seem to have had a lot of lately. I've applied sealer with some success, but I doubt it will stop all future leaks. One option I am considering is a raised floor that would let the water find it's way to the drain if we get leaks. Have any of you had to do that in your basement studios? I'd be interested to know how you've dealt with the issue.
 
You need to build dirt up around your foundation, sloping away obviously. Extend your gutters too.

Have a sump pump installed/ or do it yourself, or invest in milk crates, and im only half joking there!
 
Unfortunately, a crack in the foundation can only really be fixed from the outside. Anthing inside won't stop water from finding a path. As to the raised floor, I don't see why it wouldn't work, but there are bigger issues. Water means mold and that can be very nasty, to the point of home demolition.
 
I think what I am going to do is build the studio in such a way that when the basement does seep, the water can find its way to the drain without going through the studio. The water really isn't a huge problem, it only happens when we get really heavy rainfall and the ground is completely saturated. Normal amounts of rain are fine. The design I am arriving at is an almost freestanding box. A room within a room, basically. I wanted to avoid a raised floor to save money, and I think I can get away with it. Just wanted to see if others had dealt with a similar issue.
 
Like mentioned...it's an outside fix.

Go outside to the general area of where the leak is appearing inside...see what you have going on there. As mentioned, it could be as simple as extending a gutter drain away from the house, or some additional dirt or even a buried drainage pipe along the wall that will then carry/divert the water away.

I would not accept water coming into the studio...even if it's not touching the gear, as it creates a mold/mildew condition that is worse than anything just getting wet. If you are stuck with a rainy couple weeks, that means there will be a constant flow...just not healthy...and not to mention, the longer that water is seeping in over the years, the more damage it is doing to the foundation.
So do the fix outside.
 
Dealing with water once its entered your basement is basically admitting defeat. Do you own this house or rent? What are the basement walls? Poured concrete or block? If its poured concrete and theres a crack, epoxy injection works very well from the inside (if you're diy savvy, you can find a kit for a little over $100 at a concrete supply company). If its concrete block or there is no evident clearly visible crack in poured concrete, then you'll need to address seepage from the outside- which means digging, then applying a membrane to the outside of the wall. And, while you've got a hole dug, you might as well do an exterior french drain. You can try something like the "Drylok" paint products on the interior, but they wont stop much.

Properly routing downspouts is the most common and cheapest fix. Put on your rain coat and go out and observe during hard rains. If downspouts are piped underground, make sure the pipe is actually taking the water (i.e. it not spitting up and out of the pipe). Find where your drains discharge-usually either through the curb into the street or into a nearby catch basin. Make sure that the water is actually making it to the discharge. If its not, that could indicate a clog or break somewhere underground. If you think you have a clog or break underground, get some pipe that you can lay on top of the ground, pointed away from the foundation and use that as a temporary fix-check the basement and see if it helps. Your goal is to give the water a better place to go than into your house. If your underground piping is clay tile (probably really old) or the asphalt impregnated paper shit they used in the 70s (just total junk), then its a safe bet that the pipe is either clogged or even collapsed. If its pvc, rent a camera snake, and see if you see any troubles. You want to chase drains from the point of entry all the way to discharge. Sometimes, people halfassed stuff and just ran a pipe a couple 10, 20 feet and just let it dump into the dirt- that can be fine if theres a drywell or you have really loose well draining soil, but around here (lots of stiff clay) its pretty much useless.

Also, make sure grade is sloping away from the house- they say for at least 10' around the perimeter. Make sure that water has a swale or path to follow away from the house- preferably out to the street or to a creek (or your neighbors yard, lol).

Don't accept defeat. :)
 
Alot of really good advice, but one more thing I can tell you from experiance is that even though it isnt a huge problem right now trust me when you least expect it, it could become a HUGE PROBLEM!

Dry-lok or similar product is only a tempory band-aid that will fail at some point.
Water always takes the path of least resistance, so you have to give it a easier path.
 
To bad water only runs down hill. That's where most basements are!
 
I dry locked the seepage point a few weeks ago and haven't see any water since, but it has only rained lightly since then. Its a poured foundation, btw. We just bought this house, and the previous owner did disclose that there is a leak when it rains heavily. Its a totally unfinished concrete basement, so I guess it was never considered a huge problem. I'll be the first one to put a finished room down there. Fortunately the studio will not touch the wall that leaks, but unfortunately it will be in the path the water takes to get to the floor drain.

Next time we get a good rain, I'll go check the situation outside.
 
Check your downspouts first. If your downspouts go underground, change that with a 90ish Degree Elbow above ground then add extensions to get the downspout water away from the house as far as possible.
You can pick up those plastic extensions for not a lot of money.
This might do all that's needed to be done.
If not, I'm sure it will help nonetheless.
BG

PS-DO THIS NOW BEFORE IT RAINS!!!! ;-)
 
meadeam said:
Next time we get a good rain, I'll go check the situation outside.
Click to expand...

We've had a lot of trouble here at our house. The place was built in 1964, and while the builder did a FINE job when they built it, previous owners have done somethings that I've been systematically UN-doing since I moved in 7 years ago. I re did the downspout drains and a french drain along one side of the house a couple years ago where I knew we had trouble. BUT, I made a few mistakes in that process- originally, I tied the new downspout pipes and the french drain together, then tied it into an existing pipe that ran about 50 feet out to the road. Mistake 1) I tied those two things together. Mistake 2) I assumed the pipe out to the road was in good shape. What really happened is, the pipe to the road was crushed and blocked. So, when all that downspout water came down stream, it hit the blockage, THEN worked its way back up the french drain... so, instead of taking what little water away from the foundation, I was REALLY taking ALL the water from the roof and putting it right into the foundation. So last summer, I dug all that shit up again- now the downspouts and french drain are piped separately to about 30 feet away from teh house (theres a tree between there and the curb that I didn't want to kill, otherwise I'd have run the new pipe all the way out). Now the pipes all discharge to the open air well away and downhill of the house. I can monitor the discharge point to make sure its not obstructed and everything is now crush-resistant pvc instead of the old asphalt-paper and clay stuff. The other side of the house is up next... :)
 
Like everyone is saying, if you're getting water into the basement you've already lost. Applying a DryLok or Killz to the interior wall will only help partially. The biggest issue is the accumulation of water underground near the exterior wall of the basement. Water will flow downhill and find a path of least resistance. You need to find a way to move the water away from the house while its still outside. If the water doesn't accumulate near the basement it can't leak.

Adjusting drain spouts is a great way to move the water away from the house and its pretty easy to do. If this isn't enough you may want to build a french drain around the exterior walls. You can pipe the french drain away from the house, preferably downhill so that it won't gravitate back to the house.
 
I would consult some construction experts and be sure to get permits for all the construction.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top