Advice on waterproofing basement.

[Peter Vincent]

I need some help on how I should attack the problem in my basement. The walls are cinderblock and the floor is concrete. There is also an exposed rock that covers almost an entire wall. Water is seeping in along the rock and it also appears to be rising from the floor during heavy rain. I want to waterproof as best I can the entire basement. Any ideas. (If it makes a differnce I am in New York City). The photo is of the rock. It is covered in dirt that has washed in over time.

Thanks in advance,

Peter

[Broken External Image]:

 

[Todd Z]

I am surprised that went passed a building inspection.....Any way, With out digging a hole outside the house and spraying on a bitsomastic sealer...



INSIDE then you have to

Clean the entire area with water and wire brush all the cracks.

Buy a non shrink grout and pack it into any large void or hole between the block and the wall

Then Buy a bonding agent and spray it on the rock and the block.

Then get HYDRAULIC cement and mix that and patch over the block, the joint, and the rock with it... Making a seal. I would go 6 inches past the joint on either side.

Then Paint the whole thing with the Dry-Lock masonry paint...



all the stuff listed can be bought from home depot or Lowe's...



Thats the way my office requires contractors to repair cracks in water tanks...

Todd Z





The other thing you can do is just encase the whole thing in a huge concrete ball...



Hope this helps

 

[Domenic Celeste]

IF you want to do it the best way.



http://www.deltams.com/



Sealers do not always work, and will not help with large cracks.



This is a membrane, that when installed properly will always work.



It is installed on the majority of all new construction in this area, and is the best you can get.

It is not that costly either.

 

[Bart Adkins]

We put in a French drain in our basement to battle our water problems and sealed the walls with dry-lok. No problems since...but thet big @$$ rock you got there? I've never seen anything like that! Was the house built around the rock? That's nuts!:wacko:

 

[Thomas Rogers]

My advice:



1) Remove rock.



2) Install french drain.



3) Install sump pump, make sure it's a redunant system (battery backed-up 2nd pump)



4) Seal-lock the cinderblock walls



I think you want a professional to do at least steps 1-3 above as part of one large job.



TJR

 

[Richard Kolb]

I doubt you could remove the rock. If it were me I'd build a cinder block case around it and then do all the stuff Todd Z said. Then again, if it were really me I'd call a contractor and get a quote and explaination of what they were going to do. Then I'd price out what it would cost me to do the same thing and if it was a lot less do it myself, if not then I'd cough up the extra cash to have them do it.

 

[Michael Cacioppo]

A water proof covering like "BILDRY" wil prenet water seepage through cinder black and stone wall. It goes on like "oat meal" but does give a very good waterproof barrier. The hydraulic cement will even stop runnung water and will cure in the presence of water. If you have the patience, you can dry out the basement. If you suspect that the water pressure behind the rock will continue to allow water in, built a sump pump pit and install a sump pump as suggested above.

 

[Peter Vincent]

Thanks for all the advice. The basement has a sump pump in it already, but it is the stupidest thing I have ever seen. The pump is inside of a clay pipe that rises about 6 inches above the floor. I cracked the side of the pipe off so any level of water can run it. I think the route I am going to take is seal all the walls and the rock with one of the above mentioned ideas and then encase it in cinderblock.

Thanks for all the advice,

Peter

 

[Greg Stuhlsatz]

Check first if there is gold in that rock first!:lol:

 

[Gavin Allan]

Fix the drainage problem around the perimeter of the foundation first. Make sure the grade slopes away from the foundation on all sides for at least 10 feet. Make sure gutter downspouts are extended at least 10 feet from the foundation. If you get the water away, you may not have it available to get into the basement.



As for that fugly rock: Rent a jack hammer and bust that cancer-looking thing out of there!

 

[Chris P]

first if the water is comming up from the floor, that is called hydrostatic pressure, basically the water is forcing its way throught the concrete, you need to dig a new sump witha new pump