Help - Damp Basement

[brian h]

Hi All,

I have a basement that is a combination of block and poured concrete generally in good shape. I want to finish a section of it but it is damp along the walls in some areas and in extreme downpours there are small puddles in a few spots. I was wondering if anyone has hired one of those "basement waterproofing" specialists, If so can you share your experience and recommendations. I have already graded the land away from the house and have gutters with extended spouts as needed.

Thanks a lot!

[upthesaukee]

Watching Holmes on Homes on HGTV by no means makes you an expert, but I notice that virtually every time there is a wet basement on one of his segments, the problem is attacked from the outside of the foundation, ie: digging around the foundation and waterproofing from there.

I had a house in Billerica MA that had a wet basement, and we tried to fix it ourselves. We were told about a magic paint that would seal the concrete...didn't really do the job. We did have some cracks, and we followed the instructions for widening the cracks and then using hydralic cement to seal the crack. This stuff sets up really fast. It worked pretty good but not 100%.

We were not trying to finish our basement, but rather keep the water from running across the floor. We pretty well were able to do that, and our sump pump kept up with most water problems.

Just go into this whole process with open eyes, and realize that if a company is talking about results that seem too good to be true, well....you know the rest. Good luck.

[meredith weekender]

To do the job right you will need to seal the concrete from the outside and then on the inside. As well, adding drainage on the outside is a must. We added drainage along the footing and then added surface drainage to get the water away from the house. Definitely a good sized project. Get references from anyone that you are considering hiring. Generally speaking this project would take a 2 man crew probalably 4 to 5 days to complete. Good Luck and keep us informed as to what you do and how it works. :)

[Water Camper]

brian h,

I have used this company up here in Laconia for foundation repair and at home in Pembroke, NH for wet basement. I find them honest and easy to work with.

Toll free # 866-841-7711.

You can also try michelet@ramjackne.com.

Good Luck,
Bill

[Kamper]

Every little thing you can do will probably help. If you can change the slope a bit so the water doesn't run towards your house, that's a big step right there.

I also dug around my foundation to about 3 feet and used a waterproofing paint. Then I sloped the dirt away from the foundation and coverred the slope with heavy plastic before back-filling the rest of the way (about 2ft wide).

Just to reduce the damp smell, I used the waterproofing paint on the inside too but not all at once. Just as I had time and energy over a couple years.

Now I only get water one spot towards the front where ther's a dry sump. Even that's only a problem in the spring when the ground gets very saturated and the water table comes up to the celler floor level.

If you have funds, an engineering or landscaping company will probably recomend "French" drains. These are simply gravel filled culverts covered with land-scape cloth and sod. Making sure the slope is right is why they usually need an expert, or so I'm told...

Good luck!

[brian h]

thank you all for your feedback!