Basement water help

I live in an older house that gets water in the basement sometimes. It’s gotten a lot better after we’ve re-sloped the sides of the house but we still get some. This could be due to the old basement walls crumbling a little bit and water seeping in. Looking for thoughts/advice/recommendations in a few areas:

1. Does anyone have any experience re-sealing basement walls, is it something that can be done effectively by the homeowner or is it best to get a professional?

2. Anyone have a recommendation for a good dehumidifier? (We currently have a 115v 45-pint unit that has about stopped working).

3. I’m not sure if we have mold or not, but anyone use a mold test kit and clean it themselves or is that something that may also be best done by a pro?

Thanks.

Do you have gutters installed?

first thing is do you have gutters? if not i would add them,if you do i would make sure there clean and have long down spouts to get water further from foundation.

If you don’t have a good gutter system, get one.
Sealing from the inside is not good value.
You can get a good de-humidifier at Wallmart.
A mold test will come back positive as their is mold everywhere.

To totally eliminate water in the basement, a drain tile system should be installed by someone who knows how to do it properly. It can be done from the inside or outside depending on your situation. Either way it is an expensive procedure.
I would recommend gutters for a short term repair, drain tile for a long term remedy. Depends on how long you plan on living there and how what intend to use your basement for.
Just my opinion.

Call my cousin he owns safe basements. Jesse trebil waterproofing

Thanks for taking the time to reply guys. I do have gutters and recently bought some extensions, they don’t take the water extremely far away but it adds a little distance.

Dan wrote:

2. Anyone have a recommendation for a good dehumidifier? (We currently have a 115v 45-pint unit that has about stopped working).

I have this Frigidaire model, and it works well. I did have a problem with the first one I bought (the compressor died after a year), but they replaced it under warranty, and I’m on year two with the replacement.

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having spent last night watching water not only seep in through the normal places but also discovered it pouring down the concrete walls in one room, I feel your pain. We have gutters (not in the best shape mind you) and last year we paid a professional to install a drain tile system in the back yard. the drain tile helped a lot but it hasn’t totally resolved the issue. We run two huge dehumidifiers in the house 24/7 during the wet season. I have to empty them twice a day. Our house is also old (1930) and I believe the issue to be grading along the house as well as some cracks in the foundation. It doesn’t help that we also live on the bottom of a very steep hill and I believe there is a lot of clay in the soil around these parts. I am at a loss as to what to do to try and fix our issue being that I think there are multiple issues to address and I don’t think the cost would ever be recouped in the selling price. If your problem is serious like mine, there is one suggestion that was given to me by a professional that sounded pretty solid – they would dig up all around your house and apply some sort of sealant on your foundation, then lay down a rubber barrier. He said that we would never see another drop in the house if we did that. Of course the total cost for that operation was quoted at 15k. We opted for the $1500 drain tile job with mixed results. Sorry you are having these troubles. Houses can suck sometimes!

Dan wrote:

This could be due to the old basement walls crumbling a little bit and water seeping in. Thanks.

Before I spent any money on the water issue, I would have a professional look at the walls themselves. Have this done sooner rather than later. The last thing you want, is to go from “crumbling a little bit”, to caving in and the house dropping into the basement.

Dan wrote:

I live in an older house that gets water in the basement sometimes. It’s gotten a lot better after we’ve re-sloped the sides of the house but we still get some. This could be due to the old basement walls crumbling a little bit and water seeping in. Looking for thoughts/advice/recommendations in a few areas:

1. Does anyone have any experience re-sealing basement walls, is it something that can be done effectively by the homeowner or is it best to get a professional?

2. Anyone have a recommendation for a good dehumidifier? (We currently have a 115v 45-pint unit that has about stopped working).

3. I’m not sure if we have mold or not, but anyone use a mold test kit and clean it themselves or is that something that may also be best done by a pro?

Thanks.

Resloping is not a once and you’re done fix. The KEY area is the intersection between the foundation and the soil, and that needs to be rebanked at least every couple years because of the freeze/thaw cycle and erosion. If you have a sidewalk or patio, etc. that is against the foundation seal the seam with concrete caulk – EVERY year.

Good luck.

Oh boy. Dealt with this for 2 years on my new home before going all-out and tackling everything. The problem came from an expansion of the garage and a concrete pad that they put alongside between the house and garage.

First thing I did was jack up and slope the pad outwards. Then I had a professional come in and raise the block to add 1 additional row along that wall. After that, I rented a concrete saw and jackhammer and installed my own drain tile. The worst part of installing drain tile was drilling the holes in the bottom of the block for weep holes. Many of the blocks poured water out once I drilled through them. Once I got the new concrete poured over the drain tile, I dryloked all the block around the basement with multiple coats. Yes, many contractors say Drylok is just a patch. For me, it was one extra step to eradicate water. I am on month 6 with ZERO water to speak of in my basement. Cracked open my sump basket a few weeks ago and it was also bone dry, lucky me.

All said and done, It cost me roughly $8,000 from gutting the old basement to a complete re-model, including all block and drain tile work. I did all the work myself except raising the block, taping the rock and laying the carpet. If I were to hire out the drain tile, sheetrock, trim and doors, I would probably be looking at nearly $25,000. It pays to do it yourself!

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The only way to fix the problem permanently is to Seal the exterior of the foundation and installing a draintile and sump system.

Running a dehumidifier is very important to reduce the humidity level in the basement. Buy a dehumidifier with an internal pump and hose. This type you can run the hose to a floor drain or sink drain and it will run continuously and drain its self.

If this is an old home where the basement is used for storage only, you can do a few things to prevent mold growth. First dispose of anything that you don’t want any longer. Throw away cardboard boxes, and organize. If you are determined to store things in the basement use plastic shelving and plastic storage totes that seal. Then you can use soap and water and wash everything in the basement. This will prevent the mold issue. You want to keep the basement as dry as possible, clean as possible, and remove surfaces that mold could grow on. (such as cardboard boxes, etc.) The key to prevent mold growth is Dry and Clean.

Indoor pool and forget about it

The only way to fix the problem permanently is to Seal the exterior of the foundation and installing a draintile and sump system.

YEP – been in this biz for many years. A properly sealed basement and a good drainage system that has been installed properly is Key BEFORE doing anything else.

I had American Waterworks come in and put a tile around the inside walls in the basement and a sump pump. Best thing I ever did.

Re a dehumidifier, the most important thing is to keep the coils CLEAN. That means taking the unit outside ever month and hosing out the coils and letting it dry.

I had a job in college working in an appliance repair shop and the #1 issue with dehumidifiers was the coils got totally plugged solid with pet hair, lint, dust, etc. They can’t work if no air goes through the coil. I’m not talking about the big one you see, I’m talking about the inside coil that looks like a car radiator.

Grouse

Matt I had Safe Basements out to seal a leak in my basement wall. I’m very happy with the results. Both the consultant and the installer were professional and personable. Lead time was a week or so and the job only took a couple of hours.
I had to wait 3 weeks for it to rain LOL, but so far so good!
Thanks for the referral!

I have similar problem and looking for help. Our basement is around 10 feet in ground in VA. After recent heavy rains we are seeing constant sump pump activity. When we dig in a corner to add additional sump pit, we noticed that ground water level is 2 inches below the slab. Here the math comes. So total ground water level is around 6 inches from top of the basement floor slab. The lowest discharge into my sump pit is around 11 inches from basement floor top. Sump pump is constantly ON because basically it is trying to pull out all the ground water in the area. And this is going to ON till ground water goes down may be another 2/3 weeks. I am planning to close that discharge and open new one right under the basement slab. That way sump pit will only work if water level is about to reach the basement floor level and flood. Do you see any issue with this approach. I am not sure if this can cause damage/break to the basement floor due to “hydrostatic pressure” . Any advise would be highly appreciated!

I wouldn’t let the water get that high. Just keep pumping and add a backup pump and replace pumps if worried about wear. Sump pumps are cheap.

Contact a local Company in your area.
You do realize you are asking a question on an Upper Midwest Outdoor forum.

No such thing as a totally dry basement IMHO-water loves to go low-lots of things you can do to help just don’t put carpet down there or you will have mold heaven or be ripping it up.

tim hurley wrote:

No such thing as a totally dry basement IMHO-water loves to go low-lots of things you can do to help just don’t put carpet down there or you will have mold heaven or be ripping it up.

Oh, You could not be more incorrect with that statement.

Agreed, basements can be dry if done properly.

Thank you all. I need to do a bit of play around and see what options could keep it low moisture/low water and dry. If i find something useful to anyone will post back with pictures. Thanks again for looking into this and your responses!

Wall to wall carpet does not belong in a basement-rolls and rolls of practically new carpet in the trash from my many neighbors, they would all agree with me. Water likes to go low and get down like a disco dancer. Can have a nice finished basement with linolium and throw rugs-do the drain tile, pump, battery back-up. W2W? Nope-my 2 cents.

You don’t know what you are talking about tim.

Linoleum is worse then mold..