Author Topic: Interesting basement leaks  (Read 2937 times)

alanB

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Interesting basement leaks
« on: July 24, 2018, 08:25:43 AM »
Sorry this is a little long, but it is an interesting basement ;P

Background: Moved into this house with a leaky basement ~5 years ago, previous owner installed interior weeping tile drain connected to sump pit and drylok'd the walls.  It was still leaking so I improved the grading and gutters+downspouts, mostly good now.  Now I have 2 new problems left to tackle.

Problem 1: Chimney has an old unused flue line that runs ~2 ft under grade into the basement, looks like it was used for an oil furnace.  This flue is capped but has rusted out, now water streams out of the bottom there after it rains.  If I remove the cap I can see that the liner has deteriorated, so the water is seeping in from underground.  Anyone know any easy way to fill that line in or make it water-proof?  I do not plan to use that flue line in the future.

Anyway, I determined the origin of the water, looks like it is runoff from where the asphalt driveway meets the garage.  Driveway is in OK condition, though it has some broad low spots near the garage entrance that have gotten worse since the rain pools there.  Water flows in the gap between the driveway and the garage, not sure if I should caulk there?  I clearly need to improve the driveway slope away from the house, again not sure whether I can just tamp in a little more asphalt or I should get the whole thing repaved...

Problem 2: This one is a mystery.  Since I moved in there has been a ~2" (can't remember exact size now) PVC pipe that travels under the kitchen floor (inaccessible space over slab) through the basement wall, where it was roughly cut off and someone stuffed it full of newspaper.  I figured it was just an old drain line from an old sink and did not worry about it.  No problem for 4 years, now it has suddenly started leaking pretty impressively with rain runoff.  The water runs out of the pipe right down the wall right into the trench then into the sump pit, so not a huge deal... certainly not ideal!  I have considered capping it but if the water leaks out under the kitchen it would be way way worse.  The space between the raised kitchen floor and slab is dry, and I don't know why there would be a pipe going through an exterior wall from there, so no idea how this water gets in... any ideas?

MetalCap

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Re: Interesting basement leaks
« Reply #1 on: July 24, 2018, 09:16:12 AM »
My first thought with both is that they need to be capped at the other end to prevent water from building up and finding another way through to the basement, such as around the pipe instead of conveniently through the pipe.

An epoxy non shrink grout should help fill both pipes BUT then the water will find another route.  Problem No 1 will most likely need that same non-shrink ground around the flue line at the chimney and in the basement.

Problem 2 is showing you the fruits of your other work, water is now traveling under your slab with your grading and downspout changes.  That's not a bad thing but it's telling you that you're missing something.

All these are guesses as I'm on my 2nd leaky basement, I think I'm getting a treehouse next...