Water leaking into basement at floor and wall joint after heavy rain

7/10/2020 at 11:01:54 PM

Hi Brenda: I also live in Edmonton and have the same problem as you; had some water in the corner of the basement 3 times this year with last night being worst.

Mine's an early '60s home in the west end. I previously broke up some of the concrete floor to add a laundry sink drain and found a small void under the cement & standing water beneath the void. Even if you have weeping tile that is working correctly if you have hydrostatic pressure beneath your floor slab that could still result in water coming in at the junction of the slab and the foundation wall. Today's building code requires 'waterproofing' instead of 'dampproofing' if there is hydrostatic pressure; the waterproofing would be required to envelop the floor slab. footings and foundation walls.

Options for verifying your weeping tile would be to dig it up in one spot and run a camera through it. If your home is like mine there are drains for the eaves troughs. Assuming they're interconnected with the weeping tile system you could try running a garden hose into them to see if they back-up.

I've noticed one other house in the neighborhood getting new weeping tile installed. Another thought is to install a sump if you don't already have one. Site drainage could also be an issue if you are in an older neighborhood. The city has strict requirements in newer neighborhoods. Also ensuring eaves troughs are working correctly

Perhaps a foundation specialist could offer some better advice.

7/11/2020 at 2:25:15 PM

Hi Brenda

The leak into the basement could be a grading issue which means water is running up against the foundation; could be weeping tile and sump pump not working properly; and it could be that you have a crack in the foundation.

Respectfully

Remi Corbiere

Remi's Handyman Services - RENO TEAM