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Basement waterproofing...

Home ▸ Archive ▸ Serious Business ▸ Basement waterproofing...
justincredible's avatar

justincredible

Nick Mangold

32,056 posts
Nov 29, 2011 10:38 AM
Has anyone ever had their basement waterproofed or know anything about it?

I've got an old house (1909) with I believe a block foundation. It's not a finished basement, just your standard dungeon type basement, but when we get heavy rains we'll get a decent amount of water coming in from one wall. It's not really a huge deal but can be annoying at times. It never leaks enough to flood the basement, just enough to be inconvenient at times with streams running to the drains.

Any idea how much something like this might cost? I don't want to schedule someone to come out if it's going to be really expensive, it would just be a waste of everyones time.
Nov 29, 2011 10:38am
Automatik's avatar

Automatik

Senior Member

14,632 posts
Nov 29, 2011 10:42 AM
Thought of installing a French drain?
Nov 29, 2011 10:42am
justincredible's avatar

justincredible

Nick Mangold

32,056 posts
Nov 29, 2011 10:44 AM
I have no idea what that is but I'll check it out.
Nov 29, 2011 10:44am
I

I Wear Pants

Senior Member

16,223 posts
Nov 29, 2011 10:44 AM
This thread is now about basement waterboarding.
Nov 29, 2011 10:44am
justincredible's avatar

justincredible

Nick Mangold

32,056 posts
Nov 29, 2011 10:45 AM
I Wear Pants;992583 wrote:This thread is now about basement waterboarding.
No it isn't.
Nov 29, 2011 10:45am
Automatik's avatar

Automatik

Senior Member

14,632 posts
Nov 29, 2011 10:46 AM
justincredible;992581 wrote:I have no idea what that is but I'll check it out.
I think its rather pricey, but very common and effective for old houses. It's not too hard to DIY if you have it figured out.
Nov 29, 2011 10:46am
I

I Wear Pants

Senior Member

16,223 posts
Nov 29, 2011 10:47 AM
justincredible;992585 wrote:No it isn't.
Pussy.
Nov 29, 2011 10:47am
justincredible's avatar

justincredible

Nick Mangold

32,056 posts
Nov 29, 2011 10:47 AM
Automatik;992587 wrote:I think its rather pricey, but very common and effective for old houses. It's not too hard to DIY if you have it figured out.
I looks like I'd need to dig a trench along the leaky wall?

That would prove to be difficult as we have sidewalk running along the entire length of the house on that side.
Nov 29, 2011 10:47am
Curly J's avatar

Curly J

Self Pwner in Training.

7,282 posts
Nov 29, 2011 10:52 AM
justincredible;992593 wrote:I looks like I'd need to dig a trench along the leaky wall?

That would prove to be difficult as we have sidewalk running along the entire length of the house on that side.
Beer and Jackhammer, not too difficult.
Nov 29, 2011 10:52am
I

I Wear Pants

Senior Member

16,223 posts
Nov 29, 2011 10:52 AM
On topic: My basement floods like no other whenever it rains which is why I have no expertise on the subject.
Nov 29, 2011 10:52am
M

MontyBrunswick

Nov 29, 2011 10:59 AM
justincredible;992563 wrote:Has anyone ever had their basement waterproofed or know anything about it?
No, I live in an apartment building and it doesn't have a basement.
Nov 29, 2011 10:59am
Commander of Awesome's avatar

Commander of Awesome

Senior Pwner

23,151 posts
Nov 29, 2011 11:02 AM
My mom has been dealing with a leaky basement since she moved into her new house. We've tried just about everything. Outside of digging up and checking the foundation (obv trying to avoid that) I dont think there is much more she can do. She's tried sealant, new gutter system, drainage on the outside of the house etc.. Nothing has worked so far. Hope this helps.
Nov 29, 2011 11:02am
sherm03's avatar

sherm03

I go balls deep.

7,349 posts
Nov 29, 2011 11:09 AM
My wife and I are having some issues in our basement as well. The price is going to be based completely on how big your basement is and the size of the sump pump you get. If you're only having trouble in the one wall, they can just waterproof that wall, which would save you a ton of money.

We've had about 4 different companies come through. All except for one were around the same price. It works out to about $70-$90 per linear foot, plus about $1000 for the pump and battery back up.

If you start getting quotes, don't go with EverDry. They were the first ones we had through, and the salesman had my wife in tears because he kept saying how our foundation wall was probably going to collapse if we didn't act soon, and then shot us a price for their "system" of $27,000 that he would knock down to $19,000 if we signed the paper right then and there. They are just sleazy, and there's plenty of other water-proofing companies in Cincinnati that won't pull that shit with you.

Good luck.
Nov 29, 2011 11:09am
sherm03's avatar

sherm03

I go balls deep.

7,349 posts
Nov 29, 2011 11:12 AM
Also, if it's just along one wall in the basement, check and see where the downspout on the outside of that wall is located. Our house is older, too. And the downspouts just go into these clay pipes into the ground. A few of the water-proofers that came over said that if we seal off the clay pipe, and reroute the downspout away from the foundation, it will pretty much stop all the water that we have coming in on one of our walls.
Nov 29, 2011 11:12am
justincredible's avatar

justincredible

Nick Mangold

32,056 posts
Nov 29, 2011 11:14 AM
Did you guys have AquaProof come give you a quote? They look to be pretty reputable on AngiesList.
Nov 29, 2011 11:14am
justincredible's avatar

justincredible

Nick Mangold

32,056 posts
Nov 29, 2011 11:17 AM
Also, what does a sump pump do? I've always lived in older houses that do not have them so I have no idea what they are for.
Nov 29, 2011 11:17am
sherm03's avatar

sherm03

I go balls deep.

7,349 posts
Nov 29, 2011 11:17 AM
justincredible;992634 wrote:Did you guys have AquaProof come give you a quote? They look to be pretty reputable on AngiesList.
Yep. They were really reasonably priced compared to the others that came through. I want to say it was $80/linear foot and $1000 for the pump. They were actually the ones that told us to seal off the clay pipes and that would solve the problems on one side of our house.

The problem we have is that our basement is too big. It's huge, and most companies have said we need two pumps. It's just too much money to put into our house after all the renovations we have already done. I don't want to end up taking a loss on my first house.
Nov 29, 2011 11:17am
ZWICK 4 PREZ's avatar

ZWICK 4 PREZ

Senior Member

7,733 posts
Nov 29, 2011 11:18 AM
Waterproof paint the walls then jackhammer the floor around the perimeter and put corrugated piping leading to the sump pump. There will obvii need to be some digging to gravity feed the water to the sump.<O:p</O:p</O:p
Nov 29, 2011 11:18am
karen lotz's avatar

karen lotz

TuTu Train

22,284 posts
Nov 29, 2011 11:20 AM
justincredible;992642 wrote:Also, what does a sump pump do? I've always lived in older houses that do not have them so I have no idea what they are for.

Pumps any water that builds up out of the basement to keep it from flooding.
Nov 29, 2011 11:20am
sherm03's avatar

sherm03

I go balls deep.

7,349 posts
Nov 29, 2011 11:21 AM
justincredible;992642 wrote:Also, what does a sump pump do? I've always lived in older houses that do not have them so I have no idea what they are for.
Basically, the way they "water-proof" your basement is to dig a trench into the ground on the inside of all the walls that you want water proofed. They put in a drainage system, and then add cement back so that there's just a small amount of the drain showing. If you have a block foundation, they'll drill weep holes into each block along the wall, so that any water coming through will go through those holes and into the drain.

The drain leads to the sump pump, which will then pump the water up and out of your basement.

Water-proofing is generally a misnomer. In actuality, these companies make it easier for water to get in the basement, but make it so the water has nowhere to go but into the drain to get pumped out of the house.
Nov 29, 2011 11:21am
said_aouita's avatar

said_aouita

Banned

8,532 posts
Nov 29, 2011 11:23 AM
I Wear Pants;992599 wrote:On topic: My basement floods like no other whenever it rains which is why I have no expertise on the subject.
Hope this helps.
Nov 29, 2011 11:23am
THE4RINGZ's avatar

THE4RINGZ

R.I.P Thread Bomber

16,816 posts
Nov 29, 2011 11:53 AM
Definately start by inspecting your foundation drain, if your house is older the foundation drain is probably made of clay tiles which can crack or have tree roots clog them up, thus preventing the water from running away from the house. You can have a plumber run a camera in the tiles to see if there is an obstruction. If there is, they should be able to give you an idea in the clogs approximate locataion, grab a shovel and some new pipe and fix it yourself.

Adding a French Drain is a good solution if you are having a drainage problem.

Painting the interior walls with a Dry-Loc paint is not a viable solution. That traps the water inside the wall and seeing that your foundation is porous the water will weep inside the wall and start to rot your sill plate.

Digging down around the perimeter of the walls is the only solution that will really work. You can rent a little back hoe and do it yourself, just dig down to the footer and re parge the walls using a tar based product. Giving it a second coat really helps. And hell while you are down there, repair or replace your footer tiles.

Companies who do basement waterproofing are now using a seamless membrane and attaching it to the walls chemically, this new technology seems to be the best and most costly solution. If you are going to hire it done, check references and warranties.
Nov 29, 2011 11:53am
sleeper's avatar

sleeper

Legend

27,879 posts
Nov 29, 2011 11:57 AM
Just ask your landlord to take care of the issue. I think most Section 8 housing facilities will come and do the repairs if they are needed.
Nov 29, 2011 11:57am
justincredible's avatar

justincredible

Nick Mangold

32,056 posts
Nov 29, 2011 11:57 AM
I really think the only solution that will work for us is for all of the work to be done on the interior. In order to do work on the exterior of the basement we'd have to dig up our sidewalk which will end up adding significant cost to the project. I'll probably end up not worrying about it since it's only annoying and not really a huge problem and it seems like it will be cost prohibitive.
Nov 29, 2011 11:57am
justincredible's avatar

justincredible

Nick Mangold

32,056 posts
Nov 29, 2011 11:58 AM
sleeper;992701 wrote:Just ask your landlord to take care of the issue. I think most Section 8 housing facilities will come and do the repairs if they are needed.
Best advice so far. Also, since I'm unemployed I can't afford it anyway. Thanks.
Nov 29, 2011 11:58am