Help with foundation leak

[pownal55]

I have a hairline crack at the top of my poured concrete foundation that runs about 30" down from the top and is below grade about a foot. It is too thin to inject crack sealer but still leaks water into the basement.
Any suggestions on a coating to fix this problem would be greatly appreciated. I do not think the usual methods of using Drylock or tar would last very long.
Thanks

 

[steelslaver]

You may not like my suggestion but it works. My step dad was a concrete contractor. For the one crack you could dig down on the outside of the foundation and then clean and tar the area. Then fill hole near the crack with bentonite clay and thin cover with soil that matches the area. The very best cure for leaky basements is to repair leaks and then go back a couple feet from the foundation and dig a trench around the house 4ft deep or more and fill it with rock like used in a septic field. Make a connecting trench going from it to as far away as possible and make a pit, fill this with rock also. Cover with top soil. This will collect any built up ground water.

 

[dmar]

You may not like my suggestion but it works. My step dad was a concrete contractor. For the one crack you could dig down on the outside of the foundation and then clean and tar the area. Then fill hole near the crack with bentonite clay and thin cover with soil that matches the area. The very best cure for leaky basements is to repair leaks and then go back a couple feet from the foundation and dig a trench around the house 4ft deep or more and fill it with rock like used in a septic field. Make a connecting trench going from it to as far away as possible and make a pit, fill this with rock also. Cover with top soil. This will collect any built up ground water.

Good advice. These problems need to be addressed from the outside. OP, find a good contractor that has a good reputation for fixing basement water issues.

There are trenching solutions that can be done on the inside, as well, but I think outside solutions solve most issues.

 

[ejeli]

What "steelslayer" said. Only real cure is outside, should be dug down as far as the footers and then trenched away to daylight if possible. Some even put a second drain at the top of the trench (down about a foot) and daylight it the same way. While it is dug out a good spray tar foundation coating should be applied to the outside of the foundation. Rain gutters should also be installed. VT winters can be hard on foundations if not properly prepared.
e.

 

[doublesharp]

I agree with the outside method but for a small crack I'd try Ames liquid rubber. Ames makes some amazing products . I've used the rubber undercoating, 2 coats and then 3 coats of maximum stretch to refurbish a flat roof that is in full sw Florida sun. Good stuff.

Ames Research Laboratories

 

[pownal55]

Good suggestions here but I don't think it is a ground water issue. I measured for rain gutters last week and will install them this week. This problem is in the back corner of my house where two parts of the roof meet at a valley producing a lot of rain run off.
My concern is what to coat the crack with after digging down to expose the crack on the outside.

 

[arjay]

Gutters should help as long as they don't overflow at that valley ,maybe use 5"? Is there much slope away from the house or is the lot flat?

 

[doublesharp]

Good suggestions here but I don't think it is a ground water issue. I measured for rain gutters last week and will install them this week. This problem is in the back corner of my house where two parts of the roof meet at a valley producing a lot of rain run off.
My concern is what to coat the crack with after digging down to expose the crack on the outside.

I'd use Blue Max.
Blue Max

 

[smokindog]

Gutters are always a good idea if the water can't drain effectively BUT you need to fix the crack regardless and, as advised, from the outside. NEVER use those interior sealants.

I don't know how old your home is but many newer homes have 10+ year warranties and when I lived in places with basements, poured walls usually had better warranties than block! Never hurts to ask I had a home built many moons ago and they came and installed french drains and sealed the poured wall many years after the purchase with some persistence on my part!!!

Good luck!

 

[walkinghorse]

Look into epoxy grout which is applied under pressure. It is applied from the inside.
Can be done by the average person with a special caulk gun. Materials are not cheap though, and provides structural support also. Bought at a contractors supply, and application information and help from there also. You can have a contractor apply also for more money. Small hairline cracks (if allowing water to enter) typically require opening up, grinding wheel, and then various methods used, hydraulic cement to epoxy grout.
Shrinkage cracks are are part of concrete, only when allowing water are they a problem.
Getting the water away from the outside is a major help, depends on how much. If a lot then removing the soil, installing a drain line, gravel to get water to drain away (do not forget filter cloth on top of drain line to keep from clogging up over time) and proper waterproofing on the wall is the long term solution. Best is drain to daylight at a lower level, but the gravel filled dry sump pit is next best. Outside sump pit with sump pump works, but then you have to consider freeze issues, electricity for pump etc. But depends on your specific location and site specifics. GOOD LUCK

 

[steelslaver]

Good suggestions here but I don't think it is a ground water issue. I measured for rain gutters last week and will install them this week. This problem is in the back corner of my house where two parts of the roof meet at a valley producing a lot of rain run off.
My concern is what to coat the crack with after digging down to expose the crack on the outside.

It is good that you know where the water is coming from. If you don't have bad ground water except during rain and suspect it is from your gutters and fix those so that they don't overflow it will help. Even if you don't think an drain field trench around the house you might want to consider some covered drain rock trenches for your down spouts to move their drainage away from the house. I did this to a house I had in WA that had a back room with concrete floor at ground level that would get damp during rains. A good roofing tar should work to seal your concrete from the outside. You could get some heavy mill black plastic and apply it to the tar while it is still sticky for extra protection.

Any thing you apply from the inside will at best be a short term fix especially if you have freezing weather. If the outside of the crack isn't sealed and the inside is. Water will get in the crack and freeze making the crack worse.

 

[Jeff423]

Look into epoxy grout which is applied under pressure. It is applied from the inside.
Can be done by the average person with a special caulk gun. Materials are not cheap though, and provides structural support also. Bought at a contractors supply, and application information and help from there also. You can have a contractor apply also for more money. Small hairline cracks (if allowing water to enter) typically require opening up, grinding wheel, and then various methods used, hydraulic cement to epoxy grout.
Shrinkage cracks are are part of concrete, only when allowing water are they a problem.

I had a contractor do this about 20 yrs. ago in a similar situation - still dry.

Jeff

 

[Squarebutt]

There are a couple of ways to fix it. On the outside, a heavy coat of roof cement, followed by a patch of roofing mesh, followed by more roofing cement, all extending down past the end of the crack and maybe covered with a piece of foam insulation should work.
On the inside, we used a method that involves drilling a series of 1/2" holes, installing pressure ports and then pumping a urethane (not epoxy) into the crack. The urethane liquid foams up and fills the crack. After it cures we remove the metal injection ports and patch the holes. Before you do any repairs, dampen the wall on the inside, follow that crack with a strong light and outline it with a piece of chalk. When you get to the lowest point, draw a horizontal line across it. Then check it again in the spring to see if it extended any lower.
Just thought of one more trick, maybe the easiest if it works. Cover the crack with a strip of duct tape, then take a utility knife and slice down through the tape following the crack. Get a tube of silicone (not acrylic with silicone) caulking, cut the tip off square, then pump it into the crack while holding the tip hard against the wall. Don't hesitate to overload it. It should show up outside. Give it a couple of days to cure, then carefully pull the tape and scrape any excess off the wall. Good luck.

 

[captorquewrench]

Never mind. I thought this was going to be a thread about cosmetics.

 

[perrazi]

when you do the gutters, make sure they are routed well away from the house. our first house had a similar issue. to fix it they had to dig up the outside of the foundation beyond the footings, dug a trench with rock in it and routed the gutters into this trench and was exited about 25 ft. away from the house. the house sat on a little rise so it was easy to send the water away from the house. didn't leak for the time we lived there, at least another 15yrs.

 

[islamoradamark]

with some cracks they say to take a concrete blade cut along crac then fill with a product called crack chaser then cover with water proff paint or elastameric or could use flex seal.tar or a 5200 marine base calk lots of good answers here

 

[litenlarry]

There are a couple of ways to fix it. On the outside, a heavy coat of roof cement, followed by a patch of roofing mesh, followed by more roofing cement, all extending down past the end of the crack and maybe covered with a piece of foam insulation should work.
On the inside, we used a method that involves drilling a series of 1/2" holes, installing pressure ports and then pumping a urethane (not epoxy) into the crack. The urethane liquid foams up and fills the crack. After it cures we remove the metal injection ports and patch the holes. Before you do any repairs, dampen the wall on the inside, follow that crack with a strong light and outline it with a piece of chalk. When you get to the lowest point, draw a horizontal line across it. Then check it again in the spring to see if it extended any lower.
Just thought of one more trick, maybe the easiest if it works. Cover the crack with a strip of duct tape, then take a utility knife and slice down through the tape following the crack. Get a tube of silicone (not acrylic with silicone) caulking, cut the tip off square, then pump it into the crack while holding the tip hard against the wall. Don't hesitate to overload it. It should show up outside. Give it a couple of days to cure, then carefully pull the tape and scrape any excess off the wall. Good luck.

This is a very similar application that I used to fill the crack on my foundation wall..

 

[chief38]

steelslaver GAVE YOU THE 100% CORRECT ADVISE! Don't fix the cosmetic result (hairline crack) fix it from the source of the leak. If you don't do it right you will be battling this leak for ever - - and remember........... leaks only get worse - not better and they never fix themselves!

Good call steelslaver!