It's poured foundation not blocks. It's not leaking so pointless to spend money to dig along the exterior. I already spoke with several people who build homes for a living like my buddy who is coming with the camera and they all agree is moisture otherwise it would be more then just damp along the bottom. I was just looking for a way to get rid of rain but I already had it verified the most logical and inexpensive way is to lay thick tarp on the outside with wood chips on top and change it every 5 years or so to keep it dry on the outside and prevent moisture... If I stay here that long. A tarp with a half foot of wood chips is a lot cheaper then renting an excavator to dig along the foundation when there is nothing wrong with the foundation.
How to stop rain water from soaking into the ground?
- Thread starter pepper
- Start date
It's poured foundation not blocks. It's not leaking so pointless to spend money to dig along the exterior. I already spoke with several people who build homes for a living like my buddy who is coming with the camera and they all agree is moisture otherwise it would be more then just damp along the bottom. I was just looking for a way to get rid of rain but I already had it verified the most logical and inexpensive way is to lay thick tarp on the outside with wood chips on top and change it every 5 years or so to keep it dry on the outside and prevent moisture... If I stay here that long. A tarp with a half foot of wood chips is a lot cheaper then renting an excavator to dig along the foundation when there is nothing wrong with the foundation.
I've installed what are called "French Drains" round churches to keep the worst of the water away from the walls. Basically a trench with a perforated pipe buried in gravel. The pipe takes the bulk of the surface water to a lower level away from the building.
I did have pics on my old website but I think google deleted it
I did have pics on my old website but I think google deleted it
My theory of the rain is starting to sound bust anyway. I think it's condensation on all the water pipes and central a/c on that side of the house dripping down because I keep the house so cold. I'll know this week once the video camera goes into the wall. Most likely I just happened to notice it after it rained but it's probably been doing that since I've been cranking the a/c in this hot weather. It's acting just like a dehumidifier works. Collecting condensation on the pipes.
Great to hear. Nothing wrong with poured foundation.
Did you get a level and see if the exterior ground level slopes away from the house? Perhaps all is needed is to remove a little bit of dirt so the water naturally flows away from the house.
The tarp idea sounds like a bad idea because if the slope is towards the house. The water will still collect near the exterior foundation.
So you build houses for a living? You seem to know everything about everything lol
I will stick with what I've been told by people who build homes for a living but I appreciate the advice.
I've done a lot interlocking work and reno work in all fields. Seen and repaired enough messes by house builders.
I know a lot because I'm humble enough to admit my mistakes and learn from them.
You keep committing the same logical fallacy of appeal to authority and groupthink.
I remember speaking to an HVAC inspector who was previously an HVAC technician and he even admitted his frustrations with the amount of people in the trades who have worked for 30+ years and have no clue about what they are doing in their respective fields. The number of mistakes they keep making and the same lame excuse 'because they've worked at their job for x number of years' as if it makes them an expert.
It's a tablespoon of water on my carpet lol. If you see a tiny bit of dampness and decide to do thousands of dollars of work to fix it before even taking the time to investigate it like I'm doing with a video camera made for exactly this then more power to you. I'll stick with common sense and figure out the problem before fixing what doesn't need to be fixed. If it was a leak in the foundation there would be a **** of a lot more then a half inch of dampness at the bottom in the carpet, it doesn't take much sense to figure that out.
I've installed what are called "French Drains" round churches to keep the worst of the water away from the walls. Basically a trench with a perforated pipe buried in gravel. The pipe takes the bulk of the surface water to a lower level away from the building.
I did have pics on my old website but I think google deleted it
I found out part of the problem, or a problem. The down spout for the roof was disconnected so instead of the rain coming from the entire side of the roof flowing out the pipe 20 or so feet away it was going straight down into the foundation. I fixed it but also googled the french drains you mentioned. Not what I was picturing in my mind. I am going to do that to help get rid of excess water. Thank you for that suggestion.
I've got a similar situation. But in my case the problem is obvious and the solution is obvious.
My property slopes, my neighbor property slopes, both towards the west side of my house. When it was built 4 decades ago a shallow swail was dug in and funneled runoff to a drain tile.
Over the decades, the ground has shifted and the swail is no longer directing the water away and in one spot is sending it towards the house. You can see this during a storm.
The solution is to redig the swail. That's on my to do list this fall. I've got my own mini excavator but you should be able to find someone to do it for you.
Another possibility is clogged footer drains. A plumber with a drain camera can check.
My property slopes, my neighbor property slopes, both towards the west side of my house. When it was built 4 decades ago a shallow swail was dug in and funneled runoff to a drain tile.
Over the decades, the ground has shifted and the swail is no longer directing the water away and in one spot is sending it towards the house. You can see this during a storm.
The solution is to redig the swail. That's on my to do list this fall. I've got my own mini excavator but you should be able to find someone to do it for you.
Another possibility is clogged footer drains. A plumber with a drain camera can check.
I think that drain pipe that had come unattached was sending enough water down the side of the foundation to fill a large swimming pool. So far there hasn't been any more moisture but I've turned off all the a/c vents to the basement to keep it not so cold and have a dehumidifier running on 12 hour cycles. It rained again the past couple nights and it's dry but I'll know better when there is a heavy all day and night rain again. In the meantime I am going to put in those french drains zigs mentioned. If there is moisture again I'll have to suck it up and find someone with a mini excavator like you mentioned, or rent one.