quote:

Originally posted by Ronin1069:
Minnesota.

My house was built on a bit of a hill so the basement itself is at ground level.

Oh.

I wonder if you have drain tiles around the foundation, to take water way from it, and that's freezing-up?

Do you have a sump well in the basement, with large pipes leading into it? If so: Does it maybe collect water during the warmer months and stop doing so when it gets cold enough?

I wonder if you have drain tiles around the foundation, to take water way from it, and that's freezing-up? Do you have a sump well in the basement, with large pipes leading into it? If so: Does it maybe collect water during the warmer months and stop doing so when it gets cold enough?


Yes. To everything you ask.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Ronin1069,

Is your sump pump working (can you see water in the sump hole, does it kick in)?


Is your wet spot close to a wall? I had a PVC drain pipe from the kitchen sink with a hairline crack in an elbow under the main floor that caused a wet spot on the basement floor. There was no apparent leak for 15 years, then all of a sudden a wet spot appeared.

quote:

Originally posted by ShouldBFishin:
Is your sump pump working (can you see water in the sump hole, does it kick in)?


Is your wet spot close to a wall? I had a PVC drain pipe from the kitchen sink with a hairline crack in an elbow under the main floor that caused a wet spot on the basement floor. There was no apparent leak for 15 years, then all of a sudden a wet spot appeared.

It rarely, if ever runs in the winter.

Wet spot is near center of the floor, but…and I am just noticing this now, directly inline with the sump.

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin1069:

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
I wonder if you have drain tiles around the foundation, to take water way from it, and that's freezing-up? Do you have a sump well in the basement, with large pipes leading into it? If so: Does it maybe collect water during the warmer months and stop doing so when it gets cold enough?

Yes. To everything you ask.

Then, given the additional information, I think it's not unreasonable to suspect the system that's supposed to carry water away from the foundation of the home becomes impaired during freezing weather.

I really have no idea how to mitigate that. (Not a professional, just somewhat well-read on residential construction, foundations, etc.)

I suspect you are correct in your earlier statement: Merely locating the source of the water incursion won't be enough--if for no other reason than, even if you can stop it, another will probably eventually pop up.

IMO you need to contact reputable professionals to look into this.

Question: Are your basement walls poured concrete or cinder block?

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Question: Are your basement walls poured concrete or cinder block?

Your question makes me feel a bit stupid, like I am missing something, but as far as I can tell, all of the walls are insulated drywall with studs. I don’t believe any of my walls are concrete.

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Originally posted by Ronin1069:
Your question makes me feel a bit stupid, like I am missing something, but as far as I can tell, all of the walls are insulated drywall with studs. I don’t believe any of my walls are concrete.

This is actually a basement, right? IOW: Some part of it is actually all or mostly underground? The up-slope end?

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This is actually a basement, right?

Split entry. “Basement” is ground level in the front and patio door in the back. Meaning…

Sitting in my office I can look to my left and see the bottom of the basement window at ground level, with a wall that runs an additional 4’to the floor.

Looking to my right I see my back yard, with a full patio door that I can walk out.

quote:

Originally posted by Shaql:

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Assuming it is cracks…is there something I can buy at Home Depot to fill them?

There are a lot of different fillers. Here's what I've bought in the past.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Sakre...ncrete-Patch/3093937

I had a settlement crack in the driveway. I’d fill it but after a year or so it would fail and the crack would reappear.
I bout a two pact epoxy that came out thin and easily filled the crack. It’s been four years and looks the same as when I put it down.

https://www.sherwin-williams.c...f-joint-crack-filler

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Originally posted by Ronin1069:

quote:

This is actually a basement, right?

Split entry. “Basement” is ground level in the front and patio door in the back.

Ok, so the walls are going to be either poured concrete or cinder block. What you're seeing on the inside is just finish work.

If it's rough-ish rectangular blocks with mortar between them it's cinder block. If they're completely smooth it's poured concrete.

I'm going somewhere with this

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it's rough-ish rectangular blocks with mortar between them it's cinder block. If they're completely smooth it's poured concrete.

Oh now I got you.

Cinder block.

Sump pump hole is dry and the hose that carries the water out is free of obstruction? I've had the hose freeze up in the past - I would not expect this as it hasn't been that cold with no measurable amount of snow yet.


Any moisture around the windows / window wells?


The ground slopes away from your house in all directions?

quote:

Originally posted by ShouldBFishin:
Sump pump hole is dry and the hose that carries the water out is free of obstruction? I've had the hose freeze up in the past - I would not expect this as it hasn't been that cold with no measurable amount of snow yet.


Any moisture around the windows / window wells?


The ground slopes away from your house in all directions?

Sump well is dry.

House from the house is clear.

No moisture.

No slopes from the house…pretty much flat on the upper and lower side. When it rains, the sump runs for days.

I’m thinking more and more it is a drain tile issue. I pulled up just a bit of carpet and there are cracks all over the place. This is the only spot with moisture though. Again…I can nearly draw a line directly to the sump pump well from the wet spot on the carpet.

Our hot water line to the bathrooms run under the concrete through the hallway busted and we ended up with a 3 foot wet spot that had to be jack hammered and dug up to fix.

I had this one time, was an odd spot in the hallway, turns out the damn ice maker was leaking at the hose and somehow the floor was sloped enough it ran back through the walls and into a hallway. Is there an AC unit down there? A hot water heater? What water sources are nearby?

Where you live there should be expansion joints sawed in your concrete slab when it was green. These saw joints are normally only a couple inches deep but they also provide a place for the slab to crack in a controlled manner, they are called control joints by some engineers. Could it be that your sump pump filled and before it could pump out the water weeps under the slab and up thru the sawed control joint ? I've seen it many times happen this way.

No offense intended, but some of y'all either aren't reading what Ronin1069 is saying or clearly don't understand residential home construction.

He's not on a slab. His home is built over a basement. It just so-happens the home was built on a steep grade, so the top of the up-hill side of the basement clears the ground by a couple feet while the floor of the down-hill side is essentially standing atop the ground.

My guess is there are two things lending themselves to his problem: 1. He's on a grade. This almost certainly guarantees ground water flowing downhill. Part of his home's basement and foundation is getting in the way of that. Normally his foundation's drain tiles and the sump take care of this, but... 2. Some of his foundation (that's the bit below the basement walls and floor) is close enough to the surface it's above the frost line, so his drain tiles, which normally capture the water, lead it to the sump well, then the sump pump sends it away, aren't working.

(I was surprised to learn some code allows foundations to be laid above the frost line. They're called "Frost-protected shallow foundations.")

Ronin1069, the reason I asked whether your basement walls were poured concrete or cinder block was this: I don't mean to be alarmist, and perhaps I'm writing this out of an over-abundance of caution, but, typically, cinder block basement wall construction doesn't tolerate hydrostatic pressure as well as poured concrete. So, in addition to the water incursion you're already seeing, I would be concerned about hydrostatic pressure on the walls, themselves.

Here's an explanation and illustrations of what I'm talking about: Hydrostatic Pressure

All this is to reinforce my recommendation you get professionals to evaluate what's going on and get it mitigated.

DISCLAIMER: As I noted, earlier: I am not a professional. I merely studied residential construction--including foundation construction, when I was in the process of house-hunting back before I bought our home.

The area in which we live has a lot of water around. It's everywhere, just about. I wanted to make sure I understood what I was getting into.

ETA: Ronin1069, you might best be served by heading on over to the DIY ChatRoom Forums and posting about your problem there. There, there are all kinds of pros that really know what they're about.

They may want photos, perhaps drawings, etc. so they can clearly understand your situation.

I have a question, for my own knowledge.

If it's ground water, what is pushing it up? In Florida we all live on one of the worlds largest aquifers so I understand there, I'd assume, without knowing that his area doesn't have as big a ground water problem.

If it's water run off, wouldn't construction normally deal with that? More sand and gravel?

I'm not arguing it is ground water, but seeing a Show ground water filters down and water run off should be redirected, what causes ground water to come up?

I'll read the hydrostatic pressure e-ink for answers, I'm assuming heavy rains or something.

WTF you using red font? We see your post more clearly than you see the source of the water.