All,
As I prep to build out my basement I began thinking about waterproofing. My basement is brand new poured concrete walls. As the home was being built I noticed that a black tar looking waterproof membrane was applied to the outside of the concrete walls b4 they backfilled all the dirt. Other than that, nothing much was done to "waterproof" the basement area (I have a walk-out basement). There is one wall that has 2 holes through the wall which provide for passage of the sewage pipe and water pipe. These continue to leak, but the builder is expected to fix this. I'm guess he will put some hydraulic cement or something in the holes like he should have in the first place not just some canned foam crap. Anyway, my question to you all is, what have you done to DIY waterproof your basement? Use that waterproofing paint in the whole basement, nothing, forget DIY and hire someone, etc.? After the holes get fixed I feel that my space will be dry, but when I think about all the $$ I'll be spending on the HT alone, I don't want to risk even a drop of water getting in not to mention mold, mildew, and all the other nasty stuff.

Thanks.

Painting or sealing all the walls and floors will help with moisture permeating through the concrete. Also don't forget to caulk or fill any expansion joints and the corner where the floor meets the wall with polyurethane caulk/fill. There is always the possibility that you will get a settlement crack after you finish the walls which makes your effort useless. Many people suggest you wait a year or two(the most likely time to get a settlement crack) before you finish the basement.

I also placed platon (purchased from Menards) over the basement concrete floor in case of light water seepage.

I went ahead and had a Bone-Dry system installed in my basement (www.bone-drywaterproofing.com). The house was built in 1942 and there was no evidence that water had seeped in, but I didn't want to risk my investment. It's not cheap, but nothing in this hobby is and it's as good as 100% protection as you will find.

I just finished my new basement with this:

http://www.amesresearch.com/bluemax.htm

I have freshly poured concrete walls as well and did it for piece of mind. I rolled on a couple of coats so far and will probably do one more to really build up the thickness. I also have the asphalt sealer on the outside but, was told that stuff won't last more that a few years. It just evaporates and when the concrete cracks so does the asphault coating. I wish I could have the blue max on the outside as well.

The single most important thing to keeping a basement dry is releaving the hydrostatic pressure that will be build on the wall. Every new foundation should have perforated drain around the footing that either dumps into a sump basket to be pumped out, or in the case of a walkout basement the pipe can "daylight" out onto the lot. The draintile should be backfilled with washed rock to keep it from getting clogged.

I have not seen the Bluemax used before, it looks like it might work well, but stay away from the epoxy based coatings because they tend to be quite expensive and provide little protection. I have seen quite a few of those applications fail to keep water out.

Funston....I think I have the drain you speak of. On both sides of the rear of my house (basement walkout level) I see a big black pipe, 4 or 5 inch diameter. As far as backfilled with washed rock....I don't remember seeing that :-( I guess it would be dumb to just back fill it with dirt and clog the whole system huh? Thanx all for the wall covering recommendations. I looked at the Blue stuff and it looks fairly easy to aply. $150 for 5 gal is not that bad if it will save me $$$ in the long run ya know what i mean?

Those two pipes would be your drain tile. I have a walkout lot too and I hate the look of those pipes, so I reburied them, added extensions and then terminated them with these

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=25652-676-422G&lpage=none

It is flush with my grass so the mower goes right over it and you don't even know it is there.

Once you have a water problem you will do just about anything not to have one again. Nothing is worse than water problems...

I could type a book on the experience I had with my last house and the utter agony (any lawyers) to deal with. Some ya hoo decided to build a new house next to my 20+ year old home and essentially drain his yard and even the majority of his freshly delivered topsoil into my back yard and daylight basement...

The basement was finished but all I lost was carpet, drywall and some old furniture. I did have to drain a half inch of water out of the computer that was on the floor but that is the same computer I am typing on now and that was some 6 or 7 years ago.

Retaining walls, catch basins, drain tile, rock, sump pumps the works.

Listen to Funston. "releaving the hydrostatic pressure". There are only two ways to eliminate water problems.

1. Don't let any water get to your foundation (which isn't always possible)
2. Give it a way to escape.

Drylock painted on the inside of the wall alone only traps the water in the concrete. The minute there is a crack, you have a problem. It has been awhile since I did all my home work on this but I believe the seam between the footers and the poured walls are nearly impossible to effectively seal so again, you need the drain tile escape route.

There are many companies that will come in and break out 4-6 inches of the concrete floor around the foundation to put drain tile in before resealing and if I had to go back to my last property, I probably would have. Instead I went for the DIY route and buried drain tile in heavy gauge plastic around that outside that all drained away from the home. I would be to embarrassed to post a picture because the amount of rock I used was insane.

If there is any chance of water issues some type of drain tile around the foundation (either around the outside or broken through the basement floor and on the inside) is essential.

We had our current home built 4 years ago. It is a small development with only 17 homes and we were one of the first to secure a lot. Which lot did we choose??? The highest in the neighborhood with the sandiest soil. I like the lot for other reasons as well but walk out basements are the only way to go if you have the choice. No lift pumps necessary for basement bathrooms, no sump pumps.... Life is good.

Ok enough with the story and on to the advise.

Control the surface water.
Control the surface water.
Control the surface water.

I am not sure of the percentage but I believe the vast majority of water issues are from surface water rather than ground water or high water tables. If water tables are an issue you should be building your HT in an addition out back rather than in a basement.

Even the smallest of homes have a significant area of roof that collects water when it rains and that water NEEDS to be delivered as far from the home as possible.

Gutters, down spouts and drain tile the carry the water away from your home are absolutely required. If you think you will cut corners to keep the cost of a home down by not installing them the dumb police should come out and flood your basement for you.

Being the DIY er that I am, I bought plastic gutters at Home Depot for my last home and they were worthless by year 2. Let the pros install and manufacture on sight to eliminate the seams.

Grade the surface around the home away from the home. Do not put plantings right next to the home and them flood them with water (I am a little guilty of this one but I am just now finishing my basement and HT and will be far more frugal with the water from now on.

Clay is evil. When they dug my current foundation I was so relieved to see pure sand. It was soooo beautiful I nearly teared up... The last home was clay city and it only compounded the issues.

You say the two holes that continue to leak. Do not think that the builder is going to fill it with magical gue that will solve your problem. Get to the source of the problem which is THE SOURCE OF THE WATER. Remove it and you'll know it will be fixed regardless of what your builder does.

I had major, running stream-like water problems after having had a dry basement for the past 60 years. I went with an ecapsulated system (www.aquaguard.net). Pricey, but guaranteed and my basement is now crispy dry despite a bunch of rain. And the renovations allowed me to justify building a HT. If I were building or rneovating a house, I would put something like this in again, for piece of mind if nothing else as my h2o issues are forcing me to shell out major $ not to mention the enormous amount of frustration it cause me and my family.