Background: 3 year old house, poured foundation, no sign of any cracks or water problems until now. Finishing part of the basement - half media room with eventual projector, half kids play area. Plan to use heavy pad and carpet directly on the concrete floor.

I was in the middle of the 3rd coat of drywall mud last week while it was raining (in Wisconsin, middle of winter - go figure!), when I noticed a water puddle at the base of one of the walls, near the egress window. In hindsight, I guess I saw the same thing about a month ago too, but at the time just wishfully thought it wasn't what it really was.

So I took a sledge hammer to my drywall to try to find out the cause, and found a hairline crack running from the bottom corner of the egress window, over a little to a joint made by the forms when pouring the basement, and down to the floor. And I can see the water seeping in from one spot and running down the wall to the floor, where it soaked into the pressure treated bottom board, and then started making the puddle.

Looking outside, there has been a little settling above that spot, so I will need to add some dirt to build it up, but also need to get the crack fixed before completing the basement. I've gotten two opinions so far:

Option 1, from the original concrete contractor that poured the foundation (who my builder called after I contacted him): He would chip out the crack and inject some foam into it. Cost = free. No warranty or gaurantee.

Option 2, from a reputable (I think) local company that specializes in fixing basement problems: They would inject polyurethane into the crack, seal it, and then put a rubber membrane over it, which is routed down into the drain tile by chipping out about a square foot of the basement floor, and then patching the floor. Cost = $475, but a 20 year warranty against any further leakage from that crack.

I may contact one more company to get another opinion/estimate, but which of these options would you choose? I'm doing this whole basement project on a smaller budget than most of you, but I can afford the more expensive fix if I can really justify its worth it. Do any of you have first-hand experience dealing with a leaking crack, or advice that can help me decide? Thanks.

Brian

The later sounds like the better way. I would ask though if you are 100% sure that this is the only crack. Have you considered Dry-Lok for the rest of the basement?

I am currently dealing with the same frustrations. From what I can gather the only good solution is to try to prevent the water from getting near the house. Once it gets near that wall it is going to find a way to get in, sometimes will even work its way up throught the concrete slab. So functioning gutters are a must that take the water away from the house. Possible a drain system exterior to the wall that takes any ground water away from the wall. Then treating the interior walls/cracks. From reading on the internet, every different system says the other one doesn't work. So it is very confusing.

So the rubber membrane is on the inside of the basement wall? That doesn't sound very reliable to me. Aside from the expoxy or polyurethane injection, it seems to me that outside excavation with additional treatment of the crack outside the foundation is the best choice. Obviously more $$$ though.

I would get a third opinion...

I had a similar issue in my poured basement walls. I think the first thing to look at is getting the water away from the wall outside. I don't know what the lay of the land around you house is but one thing to make sure of is that your gutter downspouts are getting the water far enough away from the foundation.

I also used this http://www.polygem.com/repair/lcrdiy.php to repair the cracks. One of them was leaking like the one you describe. Absolutely no water problems since I repaired the crack with the LCR product.

There is no technology you can apply to the *inside* of a concrete wall that can permanently stop water/humidity. You must do two things:

1. stop the water from reaching the *outside* of the wall (relieve hydrostatic pressure).
2. prevent water vapor pressure from pushing through the concrete (concrete is porous. Water vapor will migrate from an area of high humidity to an area of low humidity.

sprayed membranes on the outside wall *might* physically stop water if they are applied perfectly, but they are prone to damage (read: leaks) and you'll have to have perfectly clean concrete to apply against. Also, they don't relieve vapor pressure.

I strongly recommend Delta wrap or equivalent. It's a near-indestructable physical water barrier (forces ground water to go down to the weeping tile, or around the house), and it leaves a wee gap/airspace that eliminates vapor pressure.

I just built a home in an area famous for groundwater problems, with sandy soil. Even in a record-breaking rain year, and with no downspouts the basement was dry dry dry.

Yes, you will have to excavate down to your footings, at least where you're having problems, but this solution will mean you'll never have to worry about a wet wall again.

I don't know about in Wisconsin, but here in New Jersey, the foundation is guaranteed by law for 10 years on new construction. I think you should contact either the state or city office for contruction and see what the laws are for warrantees on the structural parts of new homes before going any further.

If it is warranteed, then make the builder dig up outside by that crack and seal it from the outside properly and re-grade the land there so there is no more pooling.

Option 2, from a reputable (I think) local company that specializes in fixing basement problems: They would inject polyurethane into the crack, seal it, and then put a rubber membrane over it, which is routed down into the drain tile by chipping out about a square foot of the basement floor, and then patching the floor. Cost = $475, but a 20 year warranty against any further leakage from that crack.

I've done this twice (yeah, two houses, two basement leaks :( ). It has worked great both times. Price seems higher than I paid from a company in Chicago called Permaseal. Might want to see if they service Wisconsin.

sds

I did get a 3rd estimate today - they also proposed what sounded exactly the same as option 2, also with 20 year transferrable warranty, and cost = $400. Turns out they are familiar with each other as both companies were started up by people that previously worked at the same oldest & most well-known basement repair company in the area.

So I think I will go with the "option 2" from one of those 2 companies. Both said they have never seen that method fail. I really hoped it could be done without excavating the foundation outside, and I feel pretty good about this working OK. I will also build up the grade outside in that area to get the slope back to where it should be (the downspouts are correct, and in general the slope is more than adequate, except right above the crack, where right there it settled the most).

Re. other cracks, I did not see any when I examined the walls before I started the project 2 years ago, so I hope there aren't any more. But it sounds like its not that uncommon to have some small cracks due to curing and shrinkage, even in newer houses.

Re. Dry-Lok, I did consider that briefly when I was getting started, but decided to forego it. I did the "tests" of taping aluminum foil to the walls and floor for a couple days to see if any condensation built up underneath, and none did. And I seem to recall reading the can and it saying it had to be applied to bare concrete, whereas my builder had already painted the walls white. I hope I don't regret that choice later on, but its too late now.

Thanks for your advice everyone!