Basement question

[Ysabel Kid]

Fellas -

I have an unfinished basement in my house. We love it - lots of temperature-controlled storage, room for my reloading area, the kids toys, exercise equipment and a entertainment/movie area. The back wall of the house is a walk-out, with a ton of windows, so plenty of natural light. The walls had foil-backed insulation on them already when we moved in. I just added about a dozen shop lights and sealed the floor.

Unfortunately, when I was getting the Christmas decorations out last month, I discovered that we must have had a small amount of water in the basement in the back corner where the Christmas stuff is stored. My plan is to reroute a gutter downspout on the opposite side of the wall, pull back the insulation and replace any that got wet, and seal the poured foundation wall.

Good idea? Am I missing anything. I'm hoping there are some knowledgeable experts out there!

Thanks,

YK

[Old Ironsights]

Sounds about right... though I might also consider trenching out about 2' deep along the entire wall on that side and install some perforated pipe & gravel (french drain) tight to the foundation wall to keep it from happening again (moving the downspout will help, but is not a 100% fix)

[Ray Newman]

Ol' Ironsights has it right.

[vancelw]

You definitely need to seal it from the outside and don't waste time and money trying to seal it from the inside. Ground water exerts more pressure than we think.

Some people backfill the trench (that you made for your French drain) with bentonite. It swells and seals the cracks in the ground to prevent water from flowing in.

[Tycer]

Grading the pitch away from your house a minimum of 4 feet preferably 10 should cure the problem. A quarter inch of fall per foot of run should be plenty. I'll wager that if you took a level out there you would find that the water would be flowing towards your house or at best level

[Chuck 100 yd]

Basement... a.k.a. (in WA) indoor swimming pool!!

[cowboykell]

THIS IS A LEVERGUNS FORUM, NOT BETTER HOMES AND GARDEN!!!!

[pokey]

THIS IS A LEVERGUNS FORUM, NOT BETTER HOMES AND GARDEN!!!!

terry is that you? channeling thru CK?

[french drain and pitch water away from foundation.]

[Gobblerforge]

You also can look into the possibility that you are having condensation. If you have moist air in the house and an area that gets cool enough.
Gobbler

[Tycer]

Gobbler has a good point. Even a sealed concrete floor seeps moisture into a drier area. If your boxes were absorbent and directly on the floor they would get wet. My basement office floor is laminate over vapor barrier over sealed concrete. At the threshold where it meets my shop (sealed concrete) there is almost always a 2" wet spot.

[madman4570]

Before I would do anything, I would clear everything away from that section so you have view of complete area.
Sounds like it is dry now? Is there must or mold on that foil back insulation panels that you can see or smell ?

If so taking precautions if it is just some say light green film can it be wiped clean with white vinegar or bleach solution ?

Before I would do anything.

1) that area would be cleared so have a excellent view of area
2) would have a humidity gauge down there and monitor your basement. Is it 50% or lower?

If you do find that during rain, you are getting water infiltration can that be fixed by

1)adding a eves extender taking water out further from downspout. You know those plastic vacuum hose type extenders that just go on end of downspout.
2) adding some dirt in problem area to help pitch of grading
3) #1 and #2 combined ?

I have seen where the downspout in certain instances does not always have to be on an end of the house.
Can be even in middle if there is an area that you can live with. This being accomplished by two methods.

1)Downspout in middle of home with eves pitched both ends to downspout.
2) One piece seamless eve running full length of home basically flat with downspout in middle. I say this because my friend had a grading issue and it was all landscaped he did not want to re grade. He put on a seamless one piece 6" eve with a 4" spout almost dead center of home. Any standing water in eves was nil. being in SC though would check if that would be a mosquito issue. But he says his normally eves dry. His was placed at end of his treated deck so it blended in and looked ok!

If you are not getting a water puddle within a day or so of rain. just dampness anytime and dampness during certain times seasons etc.
Humidity will really screw things up. Good gauge and humidifier does wonders. Good Luck.

That foil backer board, If it was checked shown at one time to have water staining etc. and not warped etc. can you wipe it down with vinegar or a bleach solution. wearing appropriate masks of course. If it was fiberglass insulation and got wet,and panel warped etc. Yes replace it. If it had just a stain on that foil panel, myself I would once I solved issue try wiping it down with above type solution and see if good to go. Any notice of black mold etc. Be extremely careful also.

ps
Also having stuff tight up against the basement wall like that Christmas stuff impedes its breathing of air circulation and that might be why its only there?

http://www.bhg.com/home-improvement/adv ... -moisture/

[Old Time Hunter]

Got lucky, added runners to my downspouts which moved them a good 10' from the house. Never had a lick of moisture again in the basement.

[madman4570]

Got lucky, added runners to my downspouts which moved them a good 10' from the house. Never had a lick of moisture again in the basement.

[GonnePhishin]

Only sure fire way to stop water from coming in is to dig down to the footers, fix the cracks, make sure the drain tile are clear and working and backfill with gravel. Anything else is just fixing the symptoms not curing the problem.

[madman4570]

Only sure fire way to stop water from coming in is to dig down to the footers, fix the cracks, make sure the drain tile are clear and working and backfill with gravel. Anything else is just fixing the symptoms not curing the problem.

Only thing I find odd is when its raining now! Is there water? Is the wall wet?

How long has he owned the home?

He said it looks like he once had water, if that basement's humidity is kept at reasonable limits now he cleared that area to monitor it if it don't get wet again either wall or floor.

Myself, I wouldn't sweat it! Keeping it at even a max of 60% humidity it should stay good!

I also have a walk out "frost wall" basement with big Anderson windows and sheet rocked.
If I don't run a dehumidifier from April-Sept, it sweats a tad on back corners of concrete wall.
Run the dehumidifier is just dandy. Takes out between 1-2 gallons of water out a day!

[Ysabel Kid]

Guys, thank you for all the advice!