We used Nudura ICF products sold by Holdfast of Ohio. The house was completed last July. Since day one we moved in, there were some water problems along the wall on the floor. Some of the wall were water damaged so the builder removed the drywall and replaced the new ones. Each time when it rains, just about 1" rain, there are wet spots on the basement floor. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
JB
 

Where does the form-a-drain drain to? Do you have rain gutters ? Where do they drain? Is your lot graded to take rain water away from the house?

Thanks for replying my message.

Our house has been raised 18" above the ground to avoid water problem. Our landscaper sloped the dirt around the house to take rain water away. We also have rain gutters and all the down spots were buried and extended 30 feet away from the house. Thanks for your help!
JB

 

mike,
I take it your basement is completely in ground, with no walkout areas?
Also is you sump cistern located in the basement area?
In looking at your photos, it appears that some of the water seeping through the drywall higher up on the walls?
I can't tell by the photos, are the areas of leaks congregated in a 20-30 area of wall or are they spread around the entire perimeter of the house?
Basement leaks are the most annoying, pain in backside things to fix on a home. Sometimes the solution is very simple, once you find the cause.

1. Yes, our basement is completely in ground without walkout areas. It's about 9' in height. Since we raised the foundation 18" higher, there is only about 7' in the ground.

2. Subpump is in the basement

3. yes, we have a landing area where tons of water leaked out from the top. I will try to put a picture link for you to view later. Later, the builder fixed it (let's hope they fixed it), and now the water are basically down in the bottom.

4. Since we have a 36' X 25' concrete patio in the back of our house, the basement area of that side never has any water problems. Only the front of the house. All the area in the basement (under the front of the house) have water problems.

I love to hear your simple solution. That will be prayers anwersed.
JB

Do the drains that extend out from your house drain "to light"? That is do they come above ground at some point and drain away from the home? Is your Form-a-Drain connected into your sump pump? Is the Form-a-Drain on each side of the footing connected?

I don't understand a lot of the building terms. All I know is the drain tile (?) around footer is routed to inside of the basement's subpump pit. It drains to outside community drain tile. All the downspots were connected to the extended pipes and were buried under the ground. The landscaper used pop up stuff for the end of each extended pipe. Is this what you are asking? Perhaps my husband could answer this question when he is back from work. JB 

Do you have a dimple board membrane installed over the peel and stick waterproofing? If not this should be installed and will help prevent water pressure from accumulating against the wall itself and allow the water to flow freely to the form a drain. Unfortunately if this wasn't installed in the beginning and needs to be installed now the exterior will require excavation to install.

Also...before you do anything...what is the exterior facade? Check ALL caulking around ALL windows and doors as well as penetrations such as HVAC vents, hose bibs, etc.

JB,

You mentioned that your soil was clay.  Were the basement walls backfilled with clean gravel?  If so, did the gravel just cover the footing drain or did the gravel extend almost to the top of the ground?  Ideally, in heavy clay soil the gravel should extend to at least within one foot of the surface (finished grade).  In addition to the gravel backfill, using a dimple membrane on the basement walls would also relieve the hydrostatic pressure generated by the wet clay.

I know some parts of Indiana has a high water table.  Did you notice water collecting in the dug basement before any concrete was placed?

My husband and I were so very overwhelmed and grateful by the support you guys gave to us. Thank you all very much!!!


JB

Alton,

I will ask my builder for this question. I do remember from my picture collection that they put some gravel around exterior footer area, but not very deep, perhaps 1 foot??? I will ask them. They add Nudura water proof membrance. However, from the grade level to the bottom of the basement, it is about 8 feet deep, the membrance was only about 5 feet high. Then they pushed the dirt directly to the ICF forms. Most of the forms' cracks were not sealed.

I watched the NUDURA'S demo CD, remembered the membrance was hanged a lot higher and after that, it was added some water proof concrete mud stuff (can't recall the exact name of it).

The builder dug down the front of the house, added some brown color dimple fiber glass water proof stuff over the Nudura membrance sheet, then they pasted some concrete mud over to seal the top. Those concrete mud later fell apart. I believe that might be one of the problems.

JB

I did suggest to our builder to add dimple board membrane before they pushed the dirt back filled, but he said we did not need it. So we did not insist. We took every word he said and trusted him to do a great job.

We will double check the items you mentioned. We installed Marvin casemen windows. From inside, they have no problem.

Thank you, Chris!

JB

 

The reason I said to check the caulking was in your photo's I saw water damage where the ceiling met the wall at the floor system...the floor system is (I assume) above the grade. So I suspected a caulking issue above grade. You may have more then one issue. Check all possibilities. To check windows use a garden hose directly on them. And yes, your peel and stick should have been up higher. I would recommend 6" above grade and cover the exposed area with parge coat. Dimple board to grade.

If they open it up and add peel and stick watch and make sure the horizontal lap is a minimum of 6" on to the existing, 2" is acceptable on vertical seems.

Sounds like you may be closing in on the cause of the problem, insufficient waterproofing.
To summerize,
The peel and stick should come all the way up the wall to above the finish grade.
The dimple board and 'clean' wash rock serve the same purpose, to break the water pressure against the walls, however, the dimple board provides the added advantage of providing a physical barrier to protect the peel and stick.
The gravel and/or dimple board should come up to within a foot of your finished grade.
Your mention of the fact that you have no leaks on the wall where the concrete patio exists tends to indicate
that the problem is not general ground water but caused by specific defects such as leaks in gutter drains. Because it has been my experience that ground water leaks are more prevalent in walls that have outside concrete slabs poured next to them.

Chris,

I did mention caulk around the top entrance area to the crew member when they came to fix the water problem.

Thanks, Wes. It's very helpful.

Thanks! JB

aha another tricksy brickledge.
I'm getting to sound like a busted record!

Was the brickledge flashed/waterproofed? Are there weep holes in the brick at bricklege elevation, and is the brick ledge above grade? Probably not, we rarely experienced proper brick install protocols in your area.
I'd say this is a big part of your problem, it appears brickledge may only on the one side of the home with the water problem??? Water gets in at the brickledge horizontal plane, and has no chance to go anywhere but into the home, as the peel and stick has sealed the moisture on the interior.
Some have solved this moisture intrusion problem by sealing the brick; There are two kinds, a water based and solvent based, both roll or spray on. As mentioned double check window caulking and flashing to limit moisture entering behind the brick. But remember, brick especially the new brick, is extremely porous and will let moisture pass right through it!

Kevin

Kevin,

You nailed it!!! Since the dirt was pushed directly to the forms, the bricklege area were all uncovered. Later, they used mortar to cover it, however, the water could get into the mortar I guss causing wet area in the basement floor.

You are right, this water only happens in the front of the house where the brickledge of the forms installed.

We will ask the builder to work on this one, too. We have landscaped the front of the house.... we just hate to unearth all the plants and stons.....

Thanks, Kevin!

JB

JB: I would remove all your peel and stick as it is a "water trap"
Your install was done too low and would probably never "patch" successfully.

Once water gets behind the membrane, it has nowhere to go but to the inside of your wall.
Water follows the path of least resistance, think about it :-)

Install an "AirGgap" system such as "System Platon" or "Cosella Dorkin" or other similar.,
and sleep at night, knowing all exterior water has a direct path to your perimeter tile and sump.

If you have a large quantity of water flowing around and under your basement floor, and you have no thermal barrier ( ie rigid insulation)
under the basement floor, you may also be suffering from the "ice cold beer" effect.
That is, moist humid air condensing on your cold basement floor.

Best of luck.