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nomadicdecorator

Basement Interior Drain Tiles & Foundation/House Movement?

5 years ago

Has anyone had issues with foundation movement & signs of wall/floor movement after installing interior drain tiles in the basement?


Back story: We installed interior drain tiles in early 2018. We had years of various water problems in the basement, solved by fixing basement wall cracks, clearing drains in an outdoor staircase and window wells. But in late 2017 our basement flooded and water came in from everywhere. Up from below the floors, through the walls, across the whole entire basement. Felt like a watery version of The Exorcist!


It flooded 24/7 for months, even when there was no rain for weeks. We had pumps going 24/7 constantly running.


The assessment was, the 50-year-old exterior foundation drainage was failing. External excavation was expensive and too invasive. So we chose interior basement drainage. Uh like that's not invasive.


For the past year, I see more & more signs of movement in the house. Some door frames moved 1/8" because I can see an obvious paint line - the paint used to be against the doorframe and now there's 1/8" of raw wall showing. Molding at the base of walls has shifted downward - 1/16-1/8" or so of wall showing where wallpaper doesn't touch top of the molding anymore. Doorframes don't touch the floor anymore for several second-story doors near the staircase & bathrooms. Some have 1/4" of space. Bathroom cabinets have moved slightly - there's now 1/8" of space between the cabinets and the wall and the caulk is pulling away from the wall. I can see other slight separation between tiles happening at bottom of walls, like only 1/16-1/8" but it's visible and a new development. Hardwood floors are creaking more.


The house is a 2-story colonial built in 1969 with a simple shape, like a four-square with a staircase in the middle of the house. I am mostly noticing this movement around the staircase and the ground floor and second story bathrooms that are right by the staircase. The two bathrooms are immediately below/above each other.


Maybe there's movement elsewhere and it's not as easy to notice.


Might seem like only 1/8" across a 2200 sq ft house is not a big deal? But this is new. We've been here for 15+ years. It's clearly visible and showing in several places, and I'm wondering if it's related to the basement interior drainage. I can't imagine you can do that without consequences? Of course I wouldn't expect the basement waterproofing sales guy to tell us. Now wondering if anyone else has seen this after installing interior drainage?

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