Basement Water Issues

When it rains, my basement gets wet. It is coming in three places:

1) seeping through the wall in the front wall of of the cellar – the surface of the wall (rock or cement) gets moist and then it dribbles down the side

2) coming in through the cellar doors (what are these called? they remind me of the tornado doors in the Wizard of Oz in the front of the house and 3) the back of the house.

Is there one type of tradesperson I can get to deal with all 3 of these? (2 & 3 are the same problem – maybe I need new cellar doors (or whatever they are called).

Thank you!

Sara

cynthiab

in General Discussion 2 years and 7 months ago

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justinromeu26 | 2 years and 7 months ago

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Various members of my extended family plus my mom on long island have the issues you mention and colonial addresses. If someone uses the basement, the right way to deal with this is to do what colonial says. In the case of many of the people i know, the basements are used as storage and they pick the lowest point and install a sump pump. For some, the decision as to what to do also comes down to how often this happens (only during rainy season?). The sump pump is the cheaper option, especially of the water pools to one spot.

I think colonial mentioned a duralock type product. I have a cousin who put like three coats of that on a modern poured cellar wall and it worked. I would definitely consider that it could damage old concrete (my guess is the duralock might adhere so well that the water pressure “splays” the old concrete) and of course, it cannot be used on stone.

cynthiab

in General Discussion 2 years and 7 months ago

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Hugely helpful – thank you both!

cynthiab

in General Discussion 2 years and 7 months ago

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Hugely helpful – thank you both!

colonialrevival | 2 years and 7 months ago

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The “seeping” is hydrostatic pressure — groundwater building up on the other side of your excavated foundation, finding its way through the porous concrete. This is usually remedied by trenching just inside the footings, installing french drains in the trench, and then recovering with vapor barrier and fresh cement pour. The french drains will then drain to a sump pit. It’s not cheap but it’s the “right way” to do it, and _will work_. Many waterproofers may try to sell you on epoxy coatings for your walls, like “Dry Lock”, which can be hazardous to the old concrete.

eatshoppaybills | 2 years and 7 months ago

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We had a similar issue – we hired John Carbone at Superior Restoration and he did an amazing job https://www.superiorhomerestoration.com/