wet basements in general

[Judd]

Edited

[Aldo]

Though it's probably not that simple, it looks like a grading problem to me. The far left side of pic #1 is, of course, the highest end which should drain down toward the driveway, yet the grading appears to also be lower at the outside wall on that side than it is just a few feet away. That could result in most, but not all, water heading for the driveway with the rest seeping down and through the wall. If The Force is with you, the problem could be resolved with a few yards of topsoil and some grass seed. If not, you'd probably have to deal with that one wall and I'll defer to someone more savvy than I.

There is even a 6-12 inch high wall that ran from wall to wall about 3 feet away from the wall.
Sorry, maybe I had too many Happy Meals, but I don't understand that unless you regard the row of blocks as a wall.

[Jim Johnson]

I have looked at several houses where the basments had stains on the walls from what appears to be water seeping through the block

I looked at one twice and both times the basement had maybe 100+ sq feet of water. There were 2 big stains on the wall but they seemed dry to the touch. There is even a 6-12 inch high wall that ran from wall to wall about 3 feet away from the wall. Looks like they were trying to trap the water like a damn. Serious. I have pictures but they are too big to post.


The first pic is of the front of the house. The problem area is on the very left side where the ground is much higher. In that damn area the water is like 2-3 inches deep. that cant be good.

What does it take to fix something like this? Do we have to dig around the house and install new drainage? what does something like this cost? I put in an offer on this property but lowballed it in case this got expensive.

I agree with aldo you could have to regrade the yard to make real sure the water is being swept away...

Let me add one other thing though... I am not sure about the area of these houses but here in Colorado we have a ground water problem. We put in perimeter drains just to the inside of the basement walls. They are gravel with a special PVC type pipe that water enters and is then taken to a sump pit. There is a pump in the pit... and we pump the water outside and away from the house. The pump in my house runs all the time in the summer.... and never in the winter. Some other houses in my area run year round... others never pump at all. The test here is a 'perk' test. They dig a hole to find the ground water level (among other things like soil samples). The tip for me is the cracks in the driveway. Soil that expands and causes cracks like that 'tends' to be in high water table areas. Al least... in Colorado.


ah... cost... here it would run $1500 or so to fix with a drainage system...

[Judd]

Edited

[Aldo]

A local builder. That's great. I have no doubt you'll get the info you need, but be sure to take the pics with you. Hopefully, it's only a grading problem. Let us know what you learn. I'm particularly interested because I've never seen a 'wall' like that.

Is there a defintion of how high a wall must be?
I'm sure there is one somewhere. Locally, any wall less than 4' high is called a knee wall and any wall that is 8" high might be called many things, none of which include the word wall. Must be a local thing.

[Debbie]

Jeff would know....I don't think he'd take it kindly if I wake him up and tell him it's his turn to contribute....How about tomorrow (early) evening?