# water coming through basement concrete floor



## jomama45 (Nov 13, 2008)

Sorry, but there is no "simple" way to fix the problem, other than possibly correcting the grade/soil outside.

The thickness of the floor has very little effect on the leakage. What you're probably seeing is a elevated water table under your foundation, and the floor is just the weakest link. If you're so inclined, do a search here for lots of information on leaking basements.

PS, the Drylock will not work, at least for any length of time.


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## SeattleSurfaces (Mar 26, 2011)

You can try adjusting your exterior downspouts to get the water further from the house. Many times this can fix a basement moisture issue. 

Another great fix is to trench around the perimeter of the basement and add a french, then patch the concrete. It isn't cheap, but if the walls are dry this might be the best option to keep water from coming through the floor.


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## mwpiper (Feb 26, 2009)

Stories exist about sealing floors and having them buckle. The leakage is relieving the pressure underneath. The concrete floor in my 1928 bungalow is maybe an inch thick. It won't resist much pressure. I'm not sure about the comment about how much it costs to put a french drain under the floor because I'm looking at it as being one of the cheaper things we're going to do. We are getting ready to do that because the rains the last two years have just inundated the basement. But I'm not going to go to the wall. I'm not tearing out the furnace, water heater walls, etc. to get at the perimeter. We are going to start by putting in a drain in the basement door stairwell in back and follow the path of least resistance to the sump pump under the front porch. I know the water moves under the floor because it leaks everywhere. I'm just going to give the water a new path to get out.


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## Done That (Apr 28, 2011)

I resolved a similar situation without doing the whole perimeter drain thing. Using a sump pit with numerous holes drilled in it and placed into a large pit then backfilled with gravel, it will catch the rising water level which typically is uniform throughout the basement floor. Then do a regular sump pump and expel the water as far away from the home as practical. Two "flood" episodes in the first three years of home ownership, none in 9 years since the install...and we have gotten a ton of rain this month.


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## Perry401 (Apr 26, 2011)

I did like "Done That" and had the same results -- A sump pit and sump pump, in my case in the lowest corner of the basement. You might want to have someone who knows a little about the local water table characteristics to give you advice. I was told that in extreme cases, hosues with concrete foundations and floors have litterally been shifted (raised, usually not evenly) by high watertable levels.

Lowering the water level under the house enough can stop the seepage through the cracks in the floor. Seepage through the walls may or may not occur in association with the water table. Walls can leak when water works its way down from the surface to the watertable, even when the watertable is well below the floor level. An elevated water table can leak not only through the floor, but also through cracks in the wall.

Water table issues may not respond to corrections in grading, getting down-spout water away from the foundation, or or newly installed outside "weep" drain systems. Where my grandmother lived, the floor was poured almost directly on bedrock -- they actually blast before putting in basements. In this environment, the water table behaves differently than where I live -- which is on a glacial moraine. Water tables also can be affected by nearby lakes and rivers, outside flooding, new nearby construction, and other things.

If you can keep up with the water now -- while water tables are high, the floors will probably dry out in a few days or a week or so when the watertable goes down again. Don't think things are "cured". It will happen again when the water table returns


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## Fastballoon (Apr 29, 2011)

mwpiper said:


> We are going to start by putting in a drain in the basement door stairwell in back and follow the path of least resistance to the sump pump under the front porch. I know the water moves under the floor because it leaks everywhere. I'm just going to give the water a new path to get out.


Careful, there! We have a drain in the bottom of our basement stairwell as well hooked up to the city storm sewer. Being the weakest link, during heavy rain events, the city's storm water would surchage and spurt through that drain, under our basement door, and easily flood our 1100 sq foot basement with inches of water in a matter of minutes.


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## mwpiper (Feb 26, 2009)

I have no access to the storm sewer system. The sump pump goes way out into the front yard. For all intents and purposes, it's discharging at the street. This is where being near the top of a hill helps.

My basement water situation has gotten noticeably worse in the last few years. I've gut gutters to seal, grading to do and an aquaduct system planned that would make the Romans blush; of which the basement drain tile is part. Putting external drain tiles at the footings is unworkable. Won't happen. I've got to seal where the driveway and a concrete apron touch the house, raise the apron about an inch to provide a better curb and put a skirt around the areas where there's dirt. My house is only three feet from one property line so grading isn't an option there. That side will get a french drain (a footing drain tile about five feet too high). <sigh> I think I know where my summer is going.:hammer:

Now an interesting twist is I believe there is a water main break a few hundred feet up the hill from me. The street has standing water in it long after it rains. But I'm going to have to wait until we actually get some extended period without rain (our droughts are currently measured in hours) before I can make a case to the water company.


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