Expert: Richard Taylor, AIA - 6/4/2003

Question
Mr. Taylor,
Hello.  I have a question regarding waterproofing a basement.  My basement is underground and when it rains heavily, I get some water seeping into the basement.  It's not anything major.  It doesn't even make a puddle, but just a 2 to 3 foot wet marking along my floor.  The people that I purchased the house from started to put cement around the base of the house on the outside, but didn't finish the job.  I planned on finishing that once spring breaks and it's not raining so much.  What can I do on the inside to waterproof, and if there is something I can do, what does it entail or how does the process take place?  Also, since it's not waterproofed at the time, I get a musty smell down there.  Is there anything I can put down there to absorb that for now until I can do something constructive about it?  Any help would be appreciated.  Thanks in advance.

Yolanda

Answer
Yolanda:

Thanks for your question!

Anything you do on the inside is "treating the symptom", not the cause.  There are a number of products and systems to gather the water once it gets through the foundation and then direct it to a drain somewhere.

The wall can be "sealed" with a product called Thoroseal, available at any home improvement store.  There are also inverted gutter systems that you attach at the bottom of the wall that hold the water in and direct it to a drain.  Those are available retail and installed by contractors.

But what you really need to do it stop the water from getting to the basement wall in the first place.  95% of wet basements are caused by two things: disconnected or plugged downspouts, or negative grading.

First check the downspouts to see that they're connected to the drain tile that should be sticking up from the ground next to the house.  Attach it if needed, then run your garden hose in the downspout through the gutter and turn it on.  After a short while you should see water coming from the outlet at the street.  If not, the tile's broken somewhere underground (expensive to fix).  If water just bubbles back up from the downspout or tile, you've got a clog!  Call Roto-Rooter!

Once that's all ok, check to see if the ground right next to the house slopes towards the house or away.  It should slope away.  If not, water will run up to the foundation wall and work its way down to the basement.  If the grade is negative, add soil to create a slope of about 6" in the first 10' or away from the house.

Once you've done these things, you've just about exhausted what you can do as a homeowner.  If you still have water, either learn to live with it or call a basement contractor!

In the meantime, use a dehumidifer to dry out the basement and remove the musty smell!

Hope this helps!

Richard Taylor, AIA
Richard Taylor Architects, LLC
www.rtaylorarchitects.com/ebook.html