seepage from ceiling?

12 years ago

I have a partially finished basement in my Chicago townhouse. I've had water seepage once or twice a year from under my back door, which sits at the bottom of the back staircase. There's a drain there and it would sometimes drain too slowly to keep up with the rainfall. I had the drain cleaned, check it often to make sure it is not obstructed by leaves, etc., and have put a sandbag at the door just in case. This seems to have resolved the issue.

Last week, during a really torrential rain, water came in from the ceiling of the unfinished part of the basement, which is used for laundry/storage. It came from the wall that is at the front of the house in about 3-4 spots, that were more or less evenly spaced. Since I was in the basement keeping an eye out for water, I was able to mop it up with my emergency stash of towels--so the amount of water wasn't huge. I'd like, of course, to make sure that this doesn't happen again. Any suggestions about what the cause is and how I can resolve this?

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Comments (4)

worthy
12 years ago
Assuming the ceiling is above grade and this is rain water, not a plumbing leak, it's likely the water is running down the wall of the home from leaking eavestrough or downpipes onto the wall and into the home. Next time it rains, go outside and you will likely see where it's coming from.
suzan30
Original Author
12 years ago
Definitely not rain a plumbing leak. The seepage ended as soon as the rain did. The basement ceiling is below grade. My house is a modernist rectangle (really!) with a flat roof. There are not gutters or downpipes. It has never leaked like this before, so I could just cross my fingers and hope it is a one off, but I am interested in understanding what caused it.
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worthy
12 years ago
As usual, pictures would help. The answer is usually a combination of poor grading--which may have settled over the years--clogged gutters and/or downpipes. And, in your case, maybe no gutters, so the water just runs off the roof a foot or two from the foundation.
suzan30
Original Author
12 years ago
Dear Worthy,

What kind of picture would help? Of the front of my house? or of the basement ceiling where the water came from? I can't do much about the latter--pipes obscure the area where the water came from, but I've attached an image of the townhouse. As you can see it really is a box: it was designed by quite a well known modernist architect, I. M. Pei in the late 50s.

I checked with several of my neighbors (identical units to my own) and no one has had this problem. (Like me, they have had the water through the back door issue.) As for the grading issue, there is only about 3 feet of "front yard" (planted with ground cover) to the sidewalk. I'm not sure how much regrading could be done!

Any ideas would be welcomed!