Monday, December 14, 2015

Basement Waterproofing

Basements + Water = NOT A GOOD COMBINATION.  Period.

Anyone knows this -- and especially those that have had water in their basement.


We have ALWAYS had water in our basement.  Here is a picture, when we first bought the place (June 2013), with the 'finished' basement.  The floor was never finished -- my guess is because there is so much water in the basement... continuously.  The water seeps from the walls.  Yikes.







I REALLY tried to salvage this... it was too wet :(
Wow.  I barely recognize those photos!

We took the 2x4s, insulation, and drywall out of the basement.  Normally, when you tear down a wall - you've got to put some gusto into it.  Welp, these walls just crumbled down.  They were so saturated -- and moldy -- and just plain nasty that they fell apart.  ICK!  Anyways, they went -- in June of 2013.  And -- we've been thinking about drying out the basement since then...


One thing I'd like to share - is how water gets into your basement.  This is all new to me, but here is a good photo describing it.  It's really either rain water or hydrostatic pressure from the walls or under the flooring.  Pretty incredible all the little nooks and crannies that it can penetrate to get into your basement, eh?



So -- we commenced the 'dry-out the basement project' about a month ago.  When you touch the cinder block wall inside our basement, it crumbles.  Ugh.  Tom works with water for a living, so he is very competent in this subject and we decided to tackle it ourselves.

We also decided to have the 'experts' come out and give us their opinion.  Truly?  A great idea (of course, it was mine!).  At any rate, they gave us some really, really good ideas.


We are doing an exterior and interior french drain.  Most waterproofing experts recommend an interior only french drain in a house this old.  Tom does not agree with this, as it means you are inviting water in through your walls and then draining it through the french drain in your floor.  Therefore, we are doing an exterior drain only 2 feet below the surface (so we can spare some beautiful rhododendrons we have!).  


We have started the exterior work and plan to do the interior work when it is TOO cold outside.  Most of you probably think its too cold already!  Hehe.  We are lucky enough for 50 degrees this saturday and sunday.  Hoping all the outside work can be done next weekend!  Whew.  I'm exhausted just thinking of that.


Here's a picture to basically show what we are doing.  This is if you cut our house in half.  All the red and blue arrows are airflow, which is not a concern for us at the moment.  You can see the exterior french drain and the interior.  We will also do a sump pump, which is pictured bottom right.  (I'm pretty sure, right Tom?)





Here are some pictures of OUR progress!  (Tom and I CANNOT wait until this is all finished.  Tom said this to me the other night, "NO major house projects for at least another 6 months, right?"  He forgot that I said that to him a week before that!  Haha!)


The below pictures were taken the weekend before Thanksgiving (3 weeks ago) and Tom had obviously done a lot of work before these pictures!  We also had the help of some hired hands - teenagers we know, thank God for them!

First up, dig a ditch.  Ever done that?  Me neither!




Next up?  Re-mortar the block.  Yup, me neither.  Closes all those holes, all the pathways for water to seep in!

Next up, apply BLACK TAR, aka NASTINESS.  Do NOT get this on your clothes.  But that's about impossible to do.  Just wear clothes you don't mind throwing away.  

Yeah, I've never done this either.  Had no idea what it was - apparently all homes get this applied to exterior of basement walls now-a-days!




Some pictures of the progress:



This was all PREP work, 3 weeks ago.  The serious business happened last weekend.

This past weekend was HUGE and serious.  4 truckloads of crap was delivered on Friday and Saturday we went to work.  We had 7 adults working Saturday:  2 were homeowners, 4 were AMAZING volunteer friends, and 1 was a paid laborer who happens to live across the street.

WOW.  Did we make serious progress. And WOW we were all super sore the next day.  Those 2 homeowners also went at it the next day (plus the hired help).  Man, we were defeated by 4pm Sunday.  

BUT I HAVE GREAT NEWS!

At this very moment, it has been nonstop raining for about 1 hr... I AM SO HAPPY TO SAY THERE IS NO RUNNING WATER ON OUR BASEMENT FLOOR!!!   

In the past, every time it rains, water seeps from the walls.

Every.  Single.  Time.  

I am crossing my fingers... I will be posting again, very soon, on what we did over the weekend and letting you know if this constant rain this evening appears on my floor.  

I hope this to be educational -- please let me know if you have any questions!  I'd love to help you with your wet basement, as much as I can, pro bono!   Water in your basement is an exhausting 'to-do' item... but you CAN do it!  And we will do what we can to help!  Because Lord knows, we couldn't have done it this weekend without our friends.

With love, muddy shoes, and no more grass in my yard,


Heather