Water coming up in basement cracks


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Old 07-15-17, 10:19 PM
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Water coming up in basement cracks

Need some advice!

I have had a significant water leak in my basement for 3 weeks.**We had a torrential rain when it started and water came up through the cracks in the floor and through a repaired crack in the back wall of the basement.**Since then, the wall crack has continued to leak every time that it rains.* There is also some water that came in under the stoop because there is a low spot under it where an animal has been digging for years! I took a photo of it in the pictures.

Any advice that you would give me would be appreciated.**I have had several bids…some want
(#1) to jackhammer all of the perimeter of the basement and put in a permanent drain system because of the hydrostatic pressure under the basement floor.**Others think that (#2) it can be remedied with fixing the cracks and making sure the water reaches the drain tile. Bids range from 21K (for #1) with draining for the 208 linear feet and wall bright to divert “wall water” to drainage system and 5.5K (for #2) for fixing 3 cracks*and working on gravel under stoop, putting soil to change flatness near foundation plus battery back-up for sump pump.

Is patching cracks in the concrete and diverting rainwater by creating a slope (with dirt) away from the house enough? Is patching the cracks only a temporary fix that will inevitably need more work at some point in the future? Can I hire a handyman to do this for me, or do I have to pay big bucks from a company?

Thanks for any ideas/advice!

Pictures: Pat's Basement Cracks - Album on Imgur
 
  #2  
Old 07-15-17, 11:20 PM
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Welcome to the forums.

Not my specialty..... just making some observations.

Hard to tell what's going on under the front porch but just putting crushed stone in the hole/under it isn't going to help.

Filling the cracks in the floor won't solve the problem. The water pressure under the slab will just force the water in somewhere else.

A perimeter drain system will probably be needed.

Do you currently have a sump pit ?
If so.... does it run a lot ?
Is the pit always full of water ?
Do you have any neighbors nearby and do they have water problems too ?

The pros will be by to add their input.
 
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Old 07-16-17, 04:08 AM
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For option #2 you said "make sure the water gets to the drain tile". What drain tile? I suppose obviously that that drain tile is not working.
 
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Old 07-22-17, 05:17 AM
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Serious Trouble

Hello,

I just bought a house that is experiencing a similar situation. My analysis is that a high water table is partially to blame, and runoff from my home and others is also to blame.

As an initial response, what I did was install a perimeter drain OUTSIDE the house first. By this I mean a French Drain that collects water from either direct rainfall (no eavestrhough) or eavestrough runoff from my dwelling.

Where the house shares a narrow alley with another building I installed a main French Drain 100 feet long. Along the back of the house, where there is no eavestrough, I am installing a contributing drain about 25 feet long. These two drains form a "T". The other two sides (Front, Driveway) are being managed by an eavestrough system that will drain into the main and contributing French Drains. At the back of the property I have installed a dry well of capacity 500 gallons or so, and all of the trenches start at 12" deep and drop 1" per 8 feet of run. If this system does not work, I will install an internal French Drain at 16" below the slab (at footing level) and put a sump pump in.

So far, total expenditure has been about USD500.00 to dig the trenches. I hired a couple of students to do it with me, and I am teaching them about surveying and French Drains in return for a cheap labor rate.

Gravel to fill all of the trenches is going to cost about USD200.00, for 12 tons.

200 feet of perforated, flexible drain tube, end caps, "T" joints and eavestrough couplers will cost about USD200.00

Filling in the trenches with gravel and putting the turf back on the section that runs through the back yard will cost about USD500.00.

When it's all said and done, even with "oops" money budgeted in (+25%), I figure this project will happen within about 80 to 100 man hours (of which I am contributing either 25% or 33%) and USD2,000.00 in direct cash outlay.

Graham Leach

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