Foundation walls crack and leak when water soaks into the walls and eventually begins to drain inside of your basement.
Fixing water leaks in basement walls.
The two must combine to make the basement leak and any approach to repairing the leak must take both into account.
Here are a few interior leak repair solutions that we commonly see and do not recommend.
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.
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.
But don t cover the walls with insulation if water is leaking in from outside.
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.
These leaks are seldom caused by faulty plumbing.
Basement walls can leak from multiple locations including through cracks around pipe penetrations in the walls or through basement windows.
I m currently fixing a leak in my basement wall.
Insulate exterior walls to prevent condensation.
It has a great big gob of great stuff sprayed on there from the previous owner.
In cold climates insulating basement walls also saves energy and reduces your heating bill.
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.
Water can also seep through the concrete itself seeping into your basement or entering as moisture.
Causes of basement leaks.
Leaks in foundation walls are usually fixed in 1 of 2 ways.
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.
You ll just create a potential mold problem.