Help - Water Problems!

[bpsbassman]

Looking for some help for my son Tracker Terry.

He bought a house last year (about 10 years old). He is the third owner.

He has started getting leaks in his basement. It has been repaired before with plugs, but it is even coming in through that area. It appears to be coming from at least four spots on the same wall.

So far it has buggered up one room in the basement (water is coming in behind that wall and ruined the carpet.

He phoned his insurance company and they say they don't cover seepage (insurance companies are a whole other conversation).

He has been in the house one year today. The previous owner declared that he didn't have any water problems.

Evidently, where they plugged it carries a 15 year warranty. Would they come back and just try to replug it or could you get them to do a proper job from the outside.

With Christmas and all the other expenses of a young family, this obviously hasn't come at a good time. He got called home from work this morning and hasn't stopped since.

Any advise would be appreciated.

[Eddyk]

Rodger, It could be a leak on his water service coming into the house. I dont know where he lives but call the local utility and they can do a simple check on the service with an aqua phone to determine if it is leaking and if it is, there is a simple procedure to determine if the leak is on his property or on the townships property. If they find the leak is on his propery PM me and I can save him a few bucks if he lives in or around Toronto.

[mason05]

I assume he's living in a dense subdivision so his neighbours won't like my suggestion for a possible temporary remedy. Get outside to the area you think is where the leak is stemming from. Rough frame a little slant roof off the edge of the foundation wall out as far as you can and if possible collect the water shed from the mini roof and discharge as far away from the house as possible. A tarp may come in handy if you're short on lumber. Is he on a sump pump? If so direct the discharge as far away from the home as well. With all this rain groundwater levels are rising and his storm drainage system cannot handle it. In newer subdivisions storm quantity control can be a huge pain to deal with and costly. When better weather and cash flow return he should look at excavating and waterproofing the outside of the foundation walls. Like I said your neighbours might not like it so be mindful of where you direct the runoff from YOUR property. Oh yeah check all roof drain leaders to insure they are directed away from the dwelling too. Good luck dude.

 

Corn Nug

Edited December 1, 2006 by Corn Nug

[Fang]

Best thing he can do is try and divert the outside water source from that area. Have a very hard look around the outside and try and find out where all the water is coming from.

 

Is it natural drainage from the lawn, is there a drain spout from the eve troughs nearby?? Sounds like this is more than seepage and when it rains the run off stream is pooling into that spot.

 

When you say the wall has been plugged - is that from the inside? I'm no engineer or contractor but I just wonder when water leaks are attempted to be fixed from the inside. Water has to be stopped from coming in contact with the foundation. The only real fix long term is to dig up and repair from the outside.

[express168]

bassman , I work for a company that forms and pours concrete foundations, and unfortunately "MOST" basement leaks are truly only stopped properly by digging the outside and doing a proper patch and foundation waterproofing with wrap. However like the others have said there are some temporary fixs. Check the outside grade on that side of the house to make sure it is sloping away from the house. If he has his downspouts running into the ground on that side of the house , I would recommend that he cut them off above ground level and run an extension above ground away from the property as his storm drainage may be blocked and causing the water to backup.If he needs someone in the future to do a proper outside repair send me a PM and I may be able to put him in touch with some good guys.

[Carp]

I had my basement plugged in a few spots from the inside

and also dug out and patched from the outside about 2 years ago.

 

One section started leaking a bit, but the rest seem fine.

 

I can give you a name and number if you're interested.

[bpsbassman]

Thanks for all the prompt attention guys. So very much appreciated.

I think we'll take Corn Nug's advice and build some sort of slant roof until we can get it patched externally.

Will follow up with some of you.

Please keep the advise coming.

[setomonkey]

Hi Roger:

 

Too bad about the leaking, other things to check is to see if the ground around the foundation slopes away to prevent pooling, eavestroughs aren't clogged and drain well away from the foundation, sump pump is working properly and hose isn't clogged if there is one.

 

I'm told that inside patches don't last long b/c they don't solve the problem (water coming through the foundation walls). Waterproofing on the outside, which means excavation etc., is expensive but it's the only long-term solution.

 

Mike

Edited December 3, 2006 by setomonkey

[Gerritt]

safe to assume it is a poured concrete foundation???

 

if so it can be injected to stop the leaks from the inside and might last for a lifetime.

 

I know of a person on OFC that does such a job... PM me if interested.

 

Other then that your son will need to do exactly what I have just done..

 

dig around the foundation to the weepers, Parge, tar, blue skin and Delta. (I went over kill) I hired my neighbours for the digging ( 10bux an hour) and that is all they did was dig/backfill for me.. I did the rest saved me alot of time and time is precious right now... cost me about 450.00 for a 35' section..

 

let me know if you want any info.

 

Gerritt

[mason05]

Good luck BPSBM. By no means is my suggestion good forever but it might reduce the volume of water that is shedding over your pesky area. Given all the rain/snow in the forecast this might reduce the flow to the leak for the interim. Let me know how it turns out.

[express168]

Bassman , Gerritts repair is a great way to go. The blue skin is a great product and combined with the delta wrap he shouldn't experience anymore water problems. Gerritt for the price you mentioned that is not overkill at all , that is doing it right!

[Tracker_Terry]

Hey Guys, when I first got this problem, I didn't know where to turn. "Dad" of course was my first call. After some thought, he said he would post my problem on OFC. I just knew that was where to go for my answers. I want to thank you guys for all of your support and ideas. I mainly use this site to view some of the monsters that you catch and of course read my Dads' documentaries of our trips. But this site is much more than that. It really is a support group of solid guys (and gals) that love to fish and lend a hand when needed. I will hopefully be in touch with some of you about my problem and want to say "Thanks" again for being there for me when I needed you. (Boy that sounds unmanly)

 

Tracker_Terry

 

PS....Keep an eye out for another BPS BASSMAN exclusive post about a new purchase!!!!!!

[Mike the Pike]

I have had some leaks over the years.Had it repaired by pros.$2200.00.5 years later same problem .Tried to find the nobs who fixed my house 5 yrs earlier and found out they were out of business.A $4000 estimate for a patch and a new french drain and decided to wait.When out and bought 2 huge window wells, brought in a a heavy load of earth and made a 45 degree slope. the house has not leaked since .that was 4 years ago .$200 dollar fix.Good Luck.Mike

[Fisherman]

Mike: what the heck is a "french drain"?

[Mike the Pike]

Your not trying to funny with me right.The french drain is a plastic tubing 12 inches in diameter pipe with many pin holes in that allow the water to flow to a main pipe hooked up to the main city drain pipe.it is buried level with the footing of a basements foundation it is buried by about 18 inches of stone before the earth is back filled above it.it draws water away from the footing of the house.LOL.Maybe you call it something else in Ontario.Mike

[irishfield]

We call it Weeper pipe Mike..usually 4" in diameter and sometimes covered with a cloth sock to keep sediment out of it. Maybe that's where the "french" drain comes from..the "sock" over the pipe!

[Mike the Pike]

yes Wayne I am as english as you guys but our parents brought us up to say things diiferently.Were just in the province next door but our english terminolgy can slightly differ.The Pipe I buried is about 6 inches high ya really 12 inches in diameter and it does have a sock.

 

Man I know how you feel Wayne with dialup I am on it now the wife is on the computer upstairs on full speed sympatico.I hope you at least have 56k in your town.Mike

[irishfield]

22,800 on a GOOD day!

[outdoorguy61]

Our family purchased a home and soon thereafter had a few leaks appear. Numerous experts came up with an array of expensive options, with a scan of a pipe using some kind of fancy camera producing what has been (10 years later) seemingly the answer..... a root had basically broken a discharge pipe, not allowing adequate drainage. I had it repleaced and we have not had this problem since. The cost was about $1,400 about 9 years ago and took 1-2 days to complete if my memory is correct.

 

outdoorguy61

[bpsbassman]

You guys are absolutely amazing!!!

It's great when you offer me help, but I think any of you with kids knows what a wonderful feeling it is when someone helps your kids.

Truly what OFC is all about!

Do you think he has any chance of claiming any of this through insurance? He has had to take down a wall and the carpet is also a write-off.

[irishfield]

If he's paid the extra premium for water coverage possibly. Standard policies usually read they don't cover sepage(sp) or repeated sepage. They do cover "sudden" floods, but not if it happens to be your above ground pool etc.

 

One thing to keep in mind with insurance. If he is getting a 10% no claim discount on his policy at the current time he will lose that for 5 years if he claims as much as a 10 speed bike stolen. So add the 5 years of discount on the policy + what ever his deductible is and if the repair isn't going to cost more then don't even think about calling the insurance co. If the repairs are more...call and be very cautious in the asking if he's covered for sepage damage...or they could deny AND remove his no claim discount.

 

I should add...the only real use for home owners insurance is for the dead beat that falls on your front steps and sues...and if your house catches on fire. Other than that......

Edited December 3, 2006 by irishfield

[Mike the Pike]

Unfortunately if the leaking did not occure from an act of god ;Flood from an overflowing river, mudslide hurricane etc......insurance companies are not willing to pay.I was fortunate enough to have sued the previous owner in small claims court for $2200 damage and I won .This occured only one week after I moved into my new home .In quebec you can go back as far as ten years on the previous owner if the house leaks alot.It took me 10 months before my case was heard in small claims court.Find out what the laws are in Ontario you may still have time to claim from the previous owner.Best of luck .Mike

[moosehead]

Can't add anything else (lots of good ideas and information allready shared here) but if you need help with the tearout or to rebuild any walls, I am a licensed carpenter and i am curently between jobs.

[OhioFisherman]

Roger I just had the front wall of my basement dug up about 3 months ago. I also feel that water problems are best repaired from the outside. Water needs to be able drain, slow or no drainage allows it time to find the weakest link.

 

My basement is made of concrete block, it had poor drainage on the front because the construction garbage, insulation, pieces of wood, plastic, bottles and cans had been pushed into the hole along the outside wall and topped of by the clay they had dug up when digging the basement. There was also only about 4 inches of stone on top the footer drain pipe. Water doesn`t flow well or at all thru clay, it traps the water against the foundation, all the junk was dug out, by hand(2 men, 2 days) footer drain section was replaced, black flexible perforated pipe was was replaced with rigid perforated pipe,basement wall was resealed, clean out installed and the hole was filled to 1 foot from the surface with number 57 limestone and topped of with topsoil.

 

The water isn`t coming from inside the house, why try to stop the seepage from the inside? The repair is simple but labor intensive, a 2 foot wide trench dug down to the footer drain, if you can run the water of with tarps or something it is a do it yourself project to save cash if you are physically able to do it.

[Pinch]

I dont think that there will me much of a chance to claim through his insurance. We had some cracks in our foundation that was caused because the builder didnt put any black water proofing on the exterior walls. This then caused water to seep into the basement and the entire house to shift.

 

Anyways to cut a long story short we werent covered. Our policy, which overall is very good, wouldnt cover defects in workmanship or acts of god/nature. ie flooding.