We're relatively new homeowners in Bella Vista, and this summer's rainstorms have caused our basement (also our kitchen) to leak a few times. It looks as if the water is actually seeping in on one side where the wall and floor meet. Since it doesn't seem to be a plumbing issue, I'm not sure who to call. Any suggestions?

Is your house at the end of a row or next to a lot? If so, this may explain the seepage. Our house is the last in a row, with a paved lot next door, but it wasn't built to be that way. There used to be 6 more houses, but they were torn down in the 1960s to build a school. The school doesn't directly adjoin us, so there's a blank, stuccoed wall on one side of our house and an asphalt lot. The water gets in at the place where the bottom of the outside wall meets the asphalt, since weeds grow there and open up fissures (we try to control them, but it happens anyway).

Wish I could recommend someone specific, but I don't know anybody in your part of town and no-one who specializes in this sort of thing. We had an invasion of water several feet into our finished basement last Sunday, though thankfully it was only about 1/8" deep. We have a finished concrete floor, so it can take the water, but it's still troublesome.

Hal, you've worked on houses before...would a mason be the person to address an issue like this?

If you are somewhat handy you can probably take care of it yourself. It's not that difficult and since it's an unfinished basement the cosmetic aspect is not critical.
This company has the products you would need, and they are readily available at any paint store or home center.

http://www.ugl.com/

What would worry me is that you say it's also coming in your kitchen.

Water is pretty tricky stuff. Once it gets in the building, it can go anywhere . . . and appear anywhere.

It could be something as simple as water getting in the roof and then traveling down through the walls and appearing in your kitchen and your basement.

I suspect that if it were infiltrating through the ground, you wouldn't be seeing it in the kitchen unless the earth is built up around your outside wall to that level (unlikely).

__________________
“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” - Jane Jacobs

Thanks for your suggestions! Actually, the basement is the kitchen -- it's a trinity. Sorry to be unclear. Has anyone ever dealt with a basement waterproofing company? I found a few online, including the Basement Doctor: http://www.basementdr.com

We're relatively handy, but I'd probably feel better having a professional check it out.

Who to call really depends on the source of the water.

You might need a mason, you might need a roofer, you might need a landscaper, or you might simply have to clear the gutters and downspouts.

It sounds like water is coming in from between the basement floor and a basement/fondation wall.

Is the wall where the leak is a party wall- shared with another house?
Is the wall where the leak is facing the street or the alley?



GROUNDWATER
The big question is the hardest- where is the water coming from?
Is it "ground water" - i.e. the water table, South Philly is mostly gravel and sand, dig down far enough and you hit water- just like digging a hole at the beach. If the water is leaking in because the ground all around is saturated, you've got 2 options-

A) make the house water tight like a boat bottom. The problem is that a totally watertight house foundation can act like a big concrete boat
- that's why you never empy a swimming pool in wet weather, it will float-
A house foundation can also shift around in high water table area if the basement is totally water proof. Normally, paints and epoxy are simple fixes- thopse fixes will leak before the house starts to shift, but they may not deal with the basic problem- where's the water coming from?
The basement is dry, but the foundation is waterlogged - not good long term.

B) install a sump pump/bilge pump.
If the groundwater problem is failry small, and the house has a floor drain nearby, sometimes you can limit the problem by chiseling out a 1/2" groove where the leak along the junction of wall and floor are, then epoxy or grout the junction. To keep the water pressure from pushing out the epoxy, first checking where utilities are, then get a masonry drill and drilling through the wall-floor junction or slab to create a drain hole.
Epoxy a pvc pipe with a hose connection, then run the drain hose to the floor drain.
really


RAIN
Sometimes the wet basement is due to rain pooling around the house.

Go outside and look at the gutter at the top of the leaking wall,
and the ground at the bottom.
The gutter should not show signs of over flowing.
The ground should slope away from the house- so water runs to the street or alley.


Look your down spouts and porch roof.
Are the gutters blocked? A tossed soda bottle, a roofer's forgotten water bottle, or errant tennis ball can plug a downspout so the water runs down the wall, then soaks the ground around the wall, and then seeps into the basement. Does it look like runoff from your neighbors is running over and ponding along the wall?

Is water ponding against the wall of the house?
Did you put down mulch around the leaking wall ?
Mulch combined with an overflowing gutter will trap water near the wall.

It's a new house- did you remove any big shrubs from that wall?
Thinks like Willow and succulents can remove alot of water each day,
several gallons- removing them effectively adds more water to the soil.
Also, when you remove shrubs near a wall, the roots die and rot out.
When the roots rot, they leave hollow spaces in the ground- which can act jut like a pipe to lead water to the foundation wall.

Often, the road or alley are sloped towards your house- then you might consider a french drain around the house, sometimes that's hard- impossible, so some people dig a rain trench around the perimeter.
That's simply a 2 shovel deep trench, hand dug, lined with geotextile - but burlap works well for a few years, then 1 shovel deep of gravel, 1/2 shovel of sand, 1/2 shovel of soil, and plant small shrubs.
The perimeter trench intercepts the water flowing over the yard before it gets to the wall of the house- also helps keep the plants alive by storing the water.


Hal

Wow. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions.

I apologize again for my lack of clarity -- the homeownership is the new part; the house is actually about 150 years young.

The wall with the leak is not a party wall; it's an exposed wall that faces a narrow pathway separating our house from our neighbor's. The odd thing is that it slopes towards his house, so all the water seems to pool on his side.

The former owners installed a sump pump in the corner where the leaking occurs (I was just looking at it last night and wondered why there was a narrow groove cut into the tile leading to the pump -- thanks for clearing that up, Hal). When we have a heavy rainstorm, I can hear the pump kick on several times, but we still get the water.

Sounds like we might need to check the gutters then consider calling someone to help us determine the source of the water.

Thanks again!

I had so much problems with them and if you search the web you will find others like myself.

This is the experience I had with them:
1) They were very expensive but promised superior technology and service
2) They sent out sub contractors to do the work
3) The work was unprofessionally done and in fact did not work. My basement is currently worse off now than it was before they came in. They fraudulently covered up a piece of my basement where they pretended to put down a pipe but never did. There are other issues I could go into ... pm me ... and I will tell you
4) When asked for them to resolve the issue as promised by their guarantee they did not fix it
5) I went back and tried to get payment back through the credit card ... they claimed that I wouldnt let them back in the house
6) When asked for a refund they refused.

I have been trying to deal with this issue for the past year. My basement still leaks and I have been unable to finish it. I cant do anything until this matter is closed or I decide to write off the money I paid them and get someone else to come in and totally redo all of their work

I would suggest steering clear of Basement Doctor. If you go with them it is at your own risk ... consider this a warning.

Second the advice to steer away from Basement Dr. They did a horribly messy job, with household items missing (hey I'm not accusing, just stating the facts). After shelling out $5500 for this fiasco, we still had water and mold problems. Their phone reps give you the runaround with repeated no shows. Still waiting on the attorneys to figure this mess out.

I just happened to find this on the internet and was wondering if anyone had any knowledge of crawlspaces.

I have one that is really a CRAWL space and it seems to be pretty damp down there. When I first moved in I spent $$$ to have a new vapor shield put down and was told that I needed to close up the vents and get a dehumidifier. I did this, but because of the small space down there the dehumidifier can only fit in the very front corner and I don't think gets to the entire crawlspace. I am thinking that I need to open the vents to get air circulation down there, but I don't know. Any suggestions?