Leaky basement walls
My basement has stone walls about 5 feet up and then block. The bottom of the wall has been leaking (through the stone). How do we fix this (quick fix until spring)? I don't want the basement floor to keep getting really wet.
Oh no! It sounds like you need to install a sump pump for starters. Can you see where the water is coming in? Is it just in one spot or is it on all the walls? You might have to apply mortar (like the brick mortar) for right now. In the spring, you will probably want to dig a trench outside around the house. This will help keep the water away from the foundation.
A quick fix would be concrete sealant for the inside. Keep in mind that this only protects water from coming in, and not through the concrete to get in.
When you have the time, take a ball peen hammer and lightly tap all of the effected walls. There is going to be a difference in sound between the weak concrete and the strong. It might take you some time to learn how to hear the difference. Mark around the weak spots. When you get that done, take a pneumatic hammer and chip away the weak concrete.
When that's done, do some research into the chemicals used to apply to the inside of that chipped away part. After that is applied and dried, fill in the rest with the same type of concrete used originally.
This can be a time consuming process for someone with no experience, and it can be very costly to hire this type of job out.
I did a job like this with a flume many, many years ago and that is the process we used.
This wasn't the project, but this will give you an idea of what is entailed. A basement wall is not nearly a project on the scale as that one, but the process is relatively the same.
I can definitely tell where it is coming in. My problem is, if I fix just that area won't the water just come in a different area? We are planning on fixing the ground outside in the spring. It literally slopes right down, right into the foundation!
