The mysterious basement leak

11 years ago

We have a finished basement room that sits directly beneath our living room on the front side of our home, and discovered a massive leak under the carpet after a recent semi-heavy rainfall. I know it's hard to describe in words, but basically, the wall that leaked is under our porch, and about three feet out from the porch above we have a raised stone planter. Whenever it rains heavily, the water overflows the gutters (even when they are clean) and pummels down into the planter. The porch itself stays dry, but now we are wondering if the water is somehow going over the other edge of the planter and filtering down to the basement.

The reason I am confused is that from the layout, the edge of the porch/planter is about three feet away from what I think is the basement wall downstairs that is leaking.

I am wondering:

1) In the basement, do we need to rip out the drywall there to see if there's a crack? We ripped out the padding where the leak was (it was sopping wet, 10x3 feet), and trying to air dry the carpet, but I am worried about mold. And, of course, figuring out how the water is getting in. There is a 1/2 inch gap at the bottom between the drywall and the floor. There is no insulation behind the drywall. Or is ripping out the drywall at this point too extreme?

2) Has anyone else dealt with something like this (i.e. gutter overflowing leading to basement leakage)?

3) Should we just focus on the gutters first?

Thanks for anyone's thoughts!

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Comments (4)

Vith
11 years ago
Pictures of the exterior where the leak occurred would be helpful.

1. I would start with managing where the water goes outside. The amount of water coming out of a downspout is about as much as would come out of a running garden hose. All the water from a large surface area on your roof gets concentrated in one spot. You can run a dehumidifier in the basement where you are trying to dry out. Is the drywall fairly close to the concrete or is it attached to 2x4s? If there is a decent space for it to dry out then I wouldnt worry about mold. If its bothering you you can rip it out for peace of mind.

2. Yes, I had a downspout clogged and some water occurred in the basement in that same corner due to all the rain water going directly into that corner.

3. Yes
Jenni06
Original Author
11 years ago
Vith, thanks for the advice - yes, here are some pictures:

The drywall is attached to 2x4's, I think. We cut out a section of one area and it looked to be about 2-3 inches from the wall, and the wall behind it looked dry.

The last picture is something we found since I posted. The hole/crack is under the planter in our porch area, and when I put a flashlight into that hole, it looked like there was a 1 foot-tall space underneath the concrete porch slab, and gravel at the bottom. I am guessing now that the hole is where the water water was getting in - though it is still 3 feet out or so from the basement wall.

We are also planning on cleaning out the downspout before the next rain hits this weekend. We have one of those below ground spouts that forms a U-shape and feeds out a few feet away.
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Vith
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
Yup, address the hole and direct water far enough away from the house and you should be in the clear. I am not so sure about using a below ground spout, if it goes into your weeping system that just puts water all around your foundation, if it goes into the septic system it isnt supposed to. Some cities have a storm drain system and it could go in that if your city has that. Unless you know where it goes and that it is working properly, it may just be better to use a downspout extension and direct it away from the house.
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mdln
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
Had water leaking into basement, discovered they forgot to put end caps on new gutters that were installed (I had to pull out ladder & climb on roof to discover this). Once those were put on, water immediately stopped.