WEEPING BASEMENT..... has me weeping!

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

Well here's the situation, and its got me.
I purchased this home with a basement the previous owner tried to refinish. Unfortunately, though its a decent basement, it has a problem with weeping
By this I mean, it doesn't flood, but water occasionally--- 3-4 times a year, will seep, causing the carpeted floor to get sopping wet, and then the water trickles into the septic drain and out.
Its just enough to make the basement unusable for storage, or anything.

Now. I had this exact same problem at my 'old' home, this weeping, and I solved it. At least there, permanently. Oh, they told me it would never work.... but it did for at least 10 years and is still working. This is what I did.
I first made an incline with dirt running away from the house. Then put plastic sheeting down, then piled rock on top. This made a waterproof barrier. Lucky for me, the ground from the basement to the neighbors driveway was only about 5 feet. So, the water flows to their driveway, then runs down their driveway, and out.

Fast forward to this place. This is what is different, and makes this such a challenge.
Instead of a driveway next door, there's another house with a basement (see pics).
So there's about a 7 foot wide, 30 foot long strip of land between the two houses.
I racked my brain over this. Digging some sort of trench in the middle seems impossible- there isn't enough slope, and that may fail anyway.
My thought was, why not just plastic from house to house, and completely cover this area between the buildings with sheet, and rock on top.

I checked with the neighbor, and they're okay with me doing this if I pay for it. My thinking is, it will keep the water out of both basements. But I just don't know. I can't seem to build an appropriate slope, but the ground does tip up going to the edge of each basement.
The basement windows limit the ability to pile much of a slope.
My house is on the left (white), neighbors is on right.
So. Plastic sheet going from house to house, rock on top, all 30 feet between the two buildings. Water can't get into the ground, so it won't seep into the basement.
The water definitely seeps from this wall side.
Will it work??
Anyone????

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Comments (8)

PRO
JudyG Designs
4 years ago
Why does the white siding not cover that exterior wall?

My friend's solution to her problem which is the same as yours:

A French Drain.

https://www.houselogic.com/organize-maintain/home-maintenance-tips/french-drains-when-you-need-them/
PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
4 years ago
Call the basement waterproofing guys please.
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suedonim75
4 years ago
Why does the white siding not cover that exterior wall?

Because there is brick/stone there.
PRO
JudyG Designs
4 years ago
Get it...looks like exposed wood clapboard on my monitor. Thought it could be part of the problem.
kandrewspa
4 years ago
When we were looking for our first house, all of the houses we saw in this one area (early to mid-20th century builds) either had French drains or water damage in the basement. Maybe it's the way they built basements then, or a high water table, or the combination of the two. But based on what you're saying, I recommend you look into it. I don't think it will be inexpensive, but it beats dealing with wet carpet all the time, or even just four times a year.
CeeWhy
4 years ago
Were your previous neighbors okay with you rerouting your water drainage to their property? Our city ordinances allow us to slope our property for proper drainage, but we can't let that drainage become our neighbor's problem.
mandelbrotr
4 years ago
We have a high water table. The great but expensive solution was drain tile.
3onthetree
4 years ago
Here's the thing about water: it seeks level. So in the ground, that you can't see, water will travel horizontally under your plastic sheeting. You got lucky at your last house (and had an agreeable neighbor as @CeeWhy points out). It's just a matter of how much water is infiltrating the ground, how much already exists (water table), and how quickly it can drain to somewhere lower (within the soil strata). If you are experiencing a climate now like most areas, it's not that rains may come more often or less often, but that either case is more extreme when they happen. So when it rains, there is probably more times you have to move a lot of water right away and your plastic sheet cover (or concrete slab, or any impervious surface) doesn't account for what can happen below it.

Your basement won't stop leaking unless you dig outside and redo the entire foundation with waterproofing measures, which is unrealistic for most. Attacking it from inside with those so called "basement experts" has so many negatives, those methods should only be a very last resort. You can start with outside measures like addressing existing grade slopes, downspouts, swales, and french drains. If you only have extreme rains 3-4 times a year, those methods may be enough. Each property is different though, so much more information would be required to advise on exactly how those methods would be conceived.