My concrete block cellar gets infiltrated with water every spring?

Question

while it is dry I have gotten 3 estimates to get rid of the problem, 2 of them are very expensive, but guarantee no water infiltration. the other that is affordable guarantees no water infiltration through my front basement wall which is the one that is completely underground. I need a way to find out if water is coming through the other 3 walls. I live on a hill and the front wall is the highest point, the rear wall is almost a walk out, with less than 1 foot of wall below grade, the 2 side walls slope in grade between the front and rear. is there something I can spray on the wall that will show me if water is flowing through there?

Answer 1

"is there something I can spray on the wall that will show me if water ..." no the way water works it will travel within cracked blocks and loose morter. very hard to tell from the inside wher water is coming in from the outside/

The only way to FIX the problem is time consumming and not cheap. rent a backhoe (small one) dig a trench around the 3 sides almost to the basement floor level. Scape the outside walls clean and treat with a water sealer for block.

When you backfill you Must back off a few feet from the house and fill a path around the house with small stone and sand so that water in the soil will run off down this underground trench and come out at the low side away from the house. Fill in the rest of the trench and pack hard against the house causes a slope away. water is noraml in the soil you just want to control it. Fill up to the top and some recoomend planting srubbery to hold the soil.

Never plant trees with traveling roots next to a house the roots cause channels that water will seep into and expand. (I went thru this) At the top of the soil line grade a slope (swag) around the house that keeps water from pooling up and will run down the yard. ( also while you are trenching add 4 inch drain pipes underground for you downspouts running off to the low side, I put over a hundred feet down and it is not expensive at all.)

Just a warning if someone sells you a fix from the inside water will still pool up in the blocks and someday will crack, if you area gets below freezing it will happen sooner.

Lesson learned - often this problem is caused by 3 common things. Roots causing channels underground, Bad grading by the builder and builders who throw scrap lumber in the gorund next to the building to save on hauling costs. This just rots out and causes a hollow spot that fills with water later.
good luck

Answer 2

Water coming off of the roof alone can cause flooding in the situation you describe. Make sure your eave's troughing works as well as.....

Unless there is an underground stream, what you would usually need to do is dig up the wall(s) that is/are covered with dirt and install some "french drain" as to carry away the water before it gets to the wall.

You can rent a small excavator if you have someone with good eye hand coordination to operate it, but that could be dangerous if they are clueless to it.

Cover over the Drain pipe with crushed rock as to ensure that the water gets to the drain as to be channelled away from the Block wall

Answer 3

spray will do you no good. what you have is sub-teranian ground water. what you`ll need to do is put a drain field on the out side of the foundation at the deepest line and drain the water to the lowest point away from the bldg proper. other than that put a sump pump in the basement and run the line out the lowest point. yes it will be labor expensive and should have been done when the bldg was constructed.

Answer 4

I agree with the drain , the term agricultural drain is used here what it is is a perferated pvc pipe wrapped in 80% shade cloth( dont use bidem it clogs ) bedded on no fines concrete, seal the walls by removing existing plaster apply a flame torch bitumen coating and re plaster. Good luck