Basement walls can leak from multiple locations including through cracks around pipe penetrations in the walls or through basement windows.
Fixing water leaks in basement walls.
Given the right conditions water can seep into your house through the foundation walls.
I ve painted drylock but when i get close to the great stuff the drylock seems cause the great stuff to pull away from the wall and that original leak has started again.
The two must combine to make the basement leak and any approach to repairing the leak must take both into account.
Causes of basement leaks.
I m currently fixing a leak in my basement wall.
The leak wasn t present most likely when the place was new so study the outside for water puddles cracks in the stair or basement wall or if present a dirty clogged or improper bulkhead door s drainage and water run away system.
Insulate exterior walls to prevent condensation.
It has a great big gob of great stuff sprayed on there from the previous owner.
The patching over of the crack surface with a material such as hydraulic cement is not an effective way to fix basement leaks because a patch repair approach causes ground water to be trapped within the crack in the wall.
In cold climates insulating basement walls also saves energy and reduces your heating bill.
Leaks in foundation walls are usually fixed in 1 of 2 ways.
These leaks are seldom caused by faulty plumbing.
By far the most common cause of basement leaks is pressure created by water in the soil surrounding the foundation that occurs in two forms.
Window wells are a common source of basement wall leaks because they tend to retain water if a proper drainage system wasn t installed beneath the well when the house was built.
Foundation walls crack and leak when water soaks into the walls and eventually begins to drain inside of your basement.
But don t cover the walls with insulation if water is leaking in from outside.
If water is leaking into your basement low on the walls or at the seams where walls meet the floor your problem is hydrostatic pressure pushing water up from the ground.
Here are a few interior leak repair solutions that we commonly see and do not recommend.