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Ar30la OP t1_jad03b5 wrote

House was built in 1955 the downspout no longer go into the ground, and this was this morning after the couple of days of rain. I know Pittsburgh homes basement were made before the idea of waterproofing but just want to make sure this is what you guys are used to seeing.

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WhenRobLoweRobsLowes t1_jad16rw wrote

That ring around the bottom of the wall is a sure sign that basement will flood much worse than this regularly.

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i_am_nk t1_jad1wxh wrote

Its best to see a house when or right after it rains. Fortunately in Pittsburgh that's most days. Always check the basement for smell and touch the walls, some owners just put new paint in the basement rather than Drylock, it will have a different feel. Look at the floor joists overhead for mold, most people forget about that when they are cleaning up the basement for sale. Always look at the bottom of items in the basement, water heater, stair landing, any posts etc.

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SWPenn t1_jad2cjd wrote

I've bought two houses and have never seen anything like this during my search.

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konsyr t1_jad2i0m wrote

Only one jackpost? That's pretty solid as Pittsburgh homes go! I remember visiting a couple that were more support than not down there, and were still droopy.

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matty_m t1_jad30sk wrote

This is a fake picture, there is no toliet in this picture like a proper Pittsburgh house.

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HeyImGilly t1_jad37ur wrote

Pretty par for the course. Gonna need to fix up your drainage and seal the walls. But yeah, as soon as I saw that picture, I could imagine that wet basement smell.

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FjordFace t1_jad381l wrote

You’re going to throw your shoulder out applying dry lock. Fyi

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Bolmac t1_jad4go2 wrote

In that case you really don’t know if there is a significant problem or not until the downspout is fixed. This might be simple and cheap to resolve.

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weavs13 t1_jad5lp9 wrote

On our final walk through for the home we were purchasing we found the entire basement flooded. Luckily we quickly figured out the issue was the drain in the driveway. It the low point of the front yard and during heavy rains would back up into the basement via the drains. Raised the driveway drain and haven't had an issue since. Honestly don't even know why they put a drain there in the first place.

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69FunnyNumberGuy420 t1_jad5z7z wrote

The shitty housing up for sale right now, and the shitty prices at the current high rates, has made me feel really thankful for the place I already own.
 
The entire thing with low interest rates over the past decade was that once rates went back up, housing prices would go back down (because people look at a monthly payment, not a total price). That hasn't happened at all.

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advena-curiosa t1_jad65dv wrote

Houses all over the area can and often do get basement flooding if they're not waterproofed but it's waaaay worse in some areas than others. I like to use this tool to see if a house is in a flood zone: https://pafloodrisk.psu.edu . In addition to waterproofing, a French drain and/or sump pump in a basement can help, particularly with groundwater.

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pedantic_comments t1_jad80oy wrote

This is normal and if you live in a house like this you’d just make sure everything drained and run a dehumidifier.

A heat pump, forced air furnace or AC unit running would suck this up in no time. I don’t treat most Pittsburgh basements as living space - you’d have to excavate and waterproof from the exterior to really solve the problem - Drylock on the interior is rarely a good idea.

That being said, lots of homes here have clogged/no gutters and no drainage plan. I kept my basement dry by improving the downspout layout.

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malepitt t1_jad8f4w wrote

Needs more "Pittsburgh potty"

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hypotenoos t1_jad9c1w wrote

Pretty common, but not necessarily something you want to see either.

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sopabe6197 t1_jad9gps wrote

Before buying my house we made the seller install an interior french drain and sump pump. The water has never been bad enough for the pump to kick on.

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BeMancini t1_jad9t01 wrote

My father in-law’s house looked just like this. You’ll have to fix the gutters, redirect the downspouts away from the house, and build up the soil around the outside foundation if you can. Put a dehumidifier down there and you should be 100% Well, more like 98%, or whatever percent is acceptable in a Pittsburgh basement built in 1955.

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Jmyles23 t1_jad9y5l wrote

This is literally what basements in older houses were designed for. Depending on the age and placement of the house, frankly I’d be a little concerned if I didn’t see some water seeping through.

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PeanutHakeem t1_jada7z0 wrote

just my opinion but that water looks like its seeping in from all 4 walls. A broken downspout could account for one wall or corner flooding but not water coming in from all sides.

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Aggravating_Foot_528 t1_jadaut2 wrote

we got 0.6" of rain yesterday so a lot of pgh basements are like that today. best fix is an inside trench and a sump pump.

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Restlessannoyed t1_jadaz0s wrote

Just FYI I sued over this being done to my house. It doesn't actually fix your problem, it in makes it worse. Water gets temporarily trapped in the bricks, and when it freezes, causes cracks in the bricks and mortar due to expanding. And it will do this every time it hits freezing temperatures. The product warranty even says it's invalid if the temp goes below 55.

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Bolmac t1_jadbqwa wrote

What I see is that there is enough water to cover much of the floor, and as such the picture does not tell us where it is coming from. For example, the raised part of the floor next to the wall on the left is dry. It is still quite possible that all the water we see on the floor flowed in from one place.

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yolorelli t1_jadceqt wrote

First thing I did when I moved into my house was install a French drain, and my basement hasn’t flooded since.

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kittywampos t1_jadcrh2 wrote

Architect here: Drilok is not the product that should be used here. Everyone thinks that is the solution, the water is behind the painted coating and will push it away from the surface it may last 5 years before you would have to redo. I would do the downspouts analysis and regrade the soil so it slopes away from the house then apply conproco fiberglass based cement coating to the interior.

https://conproco.com/product-categories/below-grade-waterproofing/

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JAK3CAL t1_jadeht3 wrote

This has been mild compared to everyone I’ve ever lived in here. Sump pumps are your friend; and everything goes up on pallets or cinder blocks.

I rented a house in mt Washington that basically had an active river through the wall of the basement lol.

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skfoto t1_jadewjb wrote

And if the basement looks suspiciously pristine and fresh, start snooping. Even a “good” basement in a well-maintained home should have a little grime here and there.

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kellytop412 t1_jadf4e3 wrote

And given the market has started to transition back to a buyer's market, you might have a shot at getting a few of these things. But french drains can be pricey. And my parents have had so much trouble with their sump pump and the resulting flooding...hearing "sump pump" immediately gives me nightmares

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buttkelbasa t1_jadg9ew wrote

Lmao I'm in Bloomfield with mud floors that hold like 5 inches of water with a good rain. Also with old uncut logs as jackpost.

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evil_iceburgh t1_jadgbcq wrote

Rainy days are the best days to tour. You know if you’re going to have water or not

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4000Tacos t1_jadhi1b wrote

Our basement has a sub pump and it’s never once kicked on in 3 years. We got new gutters and downspouts before we moved in and have not had a single flooding problem.

As a fun side note, there was a hole in the side of our home from someone stealing the coal shoot door. We had to have that bricked up… but the previous owner literally did not give a single solitary fuck. Soooo that could have been some of the water too.

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Willow-girl t1_jadipgs wrote

Making me glad to live in a mobile home with NO basement!

Growing up in a suburban tract home with a basement that flooded regularly made me wonder why anyone bothers with those things. Usually they're uncomfortably cold and musty; anything you store down there picks up an odor that's hard to get rid of. WHY GHOD WHY?

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BurghPuppies t1_jadixhp wrote

I’m wondering about the curb & sidewalk that goes around the actual basement slab. What’s the point of that?

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pburgh2517 t1_jadixqx wrote

Am I the only one in Pittsburgh with a 100+ year old house AND a completely dry basement? I would think this is not normal but based on the comments it sounds like it’s me who has the abnormal basement.

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thricethefan t1_jadjcj2 wrote

Growing up in western PA, I didn’t realize until I Moved away that it wasn’t normal for your basement toilet/ foundation to flood regularly.

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cpr4life8 t1_jadlaaq wrote

It's for sure not something that's very common. I've seen it in older homes in Wisconsin...but it's still kind of a rarity. If a basement toilet were to back up and overflow you wouldn't have to worry about any of that getting on stuff that's sitting on that ledge.

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SidFarkus47 t1_jadlbkh wrote

Yeah I have like a half basement (because of a hill my basement exits on one side to the ground level), and I do run a dehumidifier pretty much all summer, but I've never had an issue with water down there in ~7 years

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kniki217 t1_jadlluc wrote

Right? Everyone saying that is normal for a house built in the 50s? I have a finished basement. I had water come in once the entire time I've lived in my house and it was while the entire region was flooding from crazy amounts of rainfall. My grandma's house was the same. One time from hurricane Ivan. My parents basement is semi-finished and the entire time we lived there we never had issues until the yard was dug up to replace a busted sewage pipe. The company that did it messed up the French drain and now they are getting water in the one corner but it's slightly damp block. Not flooding the basement.

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cosmonotic t1_jadmt8c wrote

Best get your French drain diggin boots out

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SuziQ855855 t1_jado3nq wrote

Hey, hey, hey. This is how I warsh my basement floors for Spring redding up.

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mmphoto412 t1_jadonqa wrote

That’s not a jack post. That’s the post put in place when the home was built to support a steel beam.

Jack posts are put in later to prop up a saggy beam or floor

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Suspicious_Growth560 t1_jadowei wrote

Don't forget you can always ask the seller to fix things when you're making an offer. I wouldn't skimp on inspection either.

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Tedadore97 t1_jadphxe wrote

I live in a home built in 1865 half of it is dirt and stone the other half is cinderblock. Lets just say my furnace, hot water tank, washer, and dryer all all sitting on blocks 6in off the ground

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Red_Scare867 t1_jadpv7g wrote

If you buy this house I’d definitely get that post inspected. Older support posts are hallow steel posts and this one has obvious signs of rust which could lead to problems down the road.

Ideally you’d have a footing poured to raise the bottom of the replacement concrete-filled post off of the ground to avoid the replacement rusting.

3

NotBlaine t1_jadqxjo wrote

As a question (a question is not a challenge)...

I thought you didn't want to block off moisture coming into the basement because the hydro-static pressure will eventually start to push the foundation? Basically better to have wind blow through the sails then move the boat.

Only reason I ask is I had all our gutters and downspouts redone and, sure as hell, still getting moisture in the basement. Pretty much just resided myself to this fate. If you're saying there's an alternative, that'd be great news.

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NotBlaine t1_jadreyr wrote

Our house is creeping up on a 115 years* and it gets damp in ours. We're super super downhill though. We just don't keep anything near the one wall.

*an estimate, apparently before 1910 hard to tell how old a building is.

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toripearson_19 t1_jadrxmu wrote

Honestly it's better to look at homes when it's raining so you can see obvious issues like this. We had our inspection done in the rain and luckily the basement is in good shape, but a couple gutters were obviously not.

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kittywampos t1_jadszqa wrote

Conproco is a contractor grade product and can be purchased by a non contractor. There are several locations in Pittsburgh area. It is correct to first deal with the hydrostatic pressure by removing as much water as possible. Such as redirecting downspouts etc. if you were planning on making this space livable then it would be a completely different answer. Plus a lot more money to mitigate the problem by excavating the exterior, waterproofing, backfilling with gravel stone, the list can go on but if you did not choose to do that, I would at least recommend conproco.

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Username89054 t1_jadtcqu wrote

My house isn't 100 years old but I've had zero flooding issues in 7 years. My house was built in the 50s. My neighbor flooded multiple times until he put in a french drain. It does get quite humid in the spring though, but the dehumidifier handles that.

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JAK3CAL t1_jadvguq wrote

I have probably 50+ turner tea orange crates and they aren’t stolen; I found a business who throws them away and offered them to me. Incredibly useful (keep in mind I lived on a farm here so I’m not taking about a normal residential property lol). But everyone should grab some!

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Horror_Financial t1_jae5klf wrote

yeah moving from the citys trendy spots to the inner rings trendy spots will save ya but not enough i guess considering that basement...was it the god awful blue one with the partially green roof ? kida saw puddles in that house from driving by so i doubt it.

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UnprovenMortality t1_jae89mc wrote

I wish I took a picture of the one place I toured a few years back. The wall was bowed in by almost two feet.

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shortthem t1_jae8d0c wrote

That 10’X12’ toilet with bloody stripper pole tells a dark story

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turp101 t1_jae9sp9 wrote

Additionally - it looks like some of the moisture could be coming from around the footer area. (Hard to tell sources versus destinations for the water.) One of my places in Carnegie has a high water table due to a spring on the hill behind it. I needed an interior french drain to keep the underground flow from coming up around the slab whenever it rained.

​

Also, hard to tell, but it looks like there is a gap between the water and the wall. So the water may not be coming through the wall. I don't see any moisture on that raised footer. Assuming the hot water tank or other plumbing isn't leaking - I would definitely look at a "bath tub effect" as the cause. (No clue the technical term, this is just what I always called it.)

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SNIPES0009 t1_jae9vax wrote

All the gutters and downspouts do is redirect water from your roof away from your house. They'll do nothing if the groundwater table or the general grade slopes towards your house. Maybe that is the source of your problem.

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turp101 t1_jaea3dr wrote

>planning on making this space livable

I have to go with Jeff at HomeRenovision DIY YoutTube channel on this - you shouldn't plan to make any basement before the 1960s livable as they just were not designed for it - mainly for moisture, height, and fire escapes.

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turp101 t1_jaeapq4 wrote

Are you on a hillside or valley - if so, then you might be alone.

I see them when on top of hills since water is draining away. However it is rare for me to find a place in flood plains or on a hillside that doesn't have some minor penetration at least.

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skfoto t1_jaeba3g wrote

I grew up in a house built in 1925. My parents now live in a house built in 1926 and I currently own one built in 1923.

None of these houses have ever had a drop of water enter the basement.

If your house is old enough to have a natural stone foundation and/or dirt floor basement, sure, expect some water. But any house with a modern foundation and poured concrete basement floor should not regularly have water coming in.

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turp101 t1_jaebisx wrote

Fairly appropriate.

If you look to have a perimeter drain put in, I have used the companies below previously and you can take my comments however you want. Always talk to at least 3 companies around here, 5 is better. I have fixed water issues from things as simple as running all downspouts to the low-grade end of the house to $20k repairs. You would be amazed at the # of options you can get.

>Bakers: Good work, not horrible pricing
>Keystone: The most expensive you will find
>Basement Guys: Decent price, decent work
>Advanced: Decent price, decent work
>Premiere: Good pricing, questionable work

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saltyt00th t1_jaebwm6 wrote

How did you get a photo of my (rental) basement?

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turp101 t1_jaec1pn wrote

A lot of it depends on where your house is compared to the path of water. I have been in lots of 40s-50s houses with wet basements. Probably more than 75% of the ones I go in have some moisture. Drainage tile was still kind of new then, and lots of it has failed. It wasn't until you got into the 60s and 70s that homes seem to have gotten a lot dryer in general. The post-war era was really just the beginning of standards in the building industry so there is a lot of variance.

0

lefindecheri t1_jaegmfo wrote

A lot of new-builds in Pittsburgh area don't have basements. I was under the impression that northern houses HAD to have basements so the foundation would be below the frost line so it wouldn't expand and contract? Maybe they're putting in crawl spaces instead?

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Excelius t1_jaekazx wrote

> Are you on a hillside or valley

My first thought was lucky placement that avoided most groundwater intrusion issues.

My second thought: survivorship bias

The 100+ year old house in the lucky location not to have that issue, is more likely to survive to be that old.

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BorisTheMansplainer t1_jaekcpb wrote

What if the basement floor is a 1-inch slab poured over dirt? ;)

The house is a hundred years old and the basement frequently got water, but redirecting surface water got rid of everything but the summer humidity from being in contact with soil.

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EvilOne187 t1_jaeknxq wrote

Least your seeing it up front.

Bought our house back in 2002. During the viewing asked about a sump pump in the basement and was amazed how "clean" the basement was. All walls were painted with a really heavy latex paint. Floor was clean. Owner said their mother was paranoid about water damage and it was just for piece of mind.

Yeah.... I really really should have paid more attention. Thats all I have to say about that!

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TiesThrei t1_jaele5t wrote

Don't forget the first and second rules of fight club

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Reasonable-Let2885 t1_jaemmih wrote

Dig out around the foundation, coat exterior block with waterproofing. Install perimeter french drains. Patch interior wall cracks with hydrolic cement. Seal gap with cement caulk. Sump pump. Paint two coats of drylock on the wall. If it still fails, interior french drain..

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pburgh2517 t1_jaeofjl wrote

One front corner of my house is ground level then the hillside slopes downward in all directions ending up with a walkout basement in the back.

It may be due to the upkeep done by previous owners. It was a very well maintained home by the same older woman for many many years.

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leadfoot9 t1_jaepi2v wrote

Hmm.... I never thought of that. I did notice that some cheap, crappy developments out toward Bridgeville didn't have them, and predictably, those homes have way too many cracks for their age. I also heard an offhand remark a few weeks ago by someone that "most homes in X neighborhood don't have basements" (they absolutely do, indicating that the speaker was in a different social class than me and was probably looking at far newer homes that I could never afford). Now, new buildings being out of compliance with basic codes is very common... inevitable, even, but surely oversights THAT big don't happen, right?

It turns out there are actually FOUR methods for frost protection:

  1. Founding below the frost depth.
  2. Extending insulation into the ground, such that the heat of the building will keep the ground under it from freezing.
  3. Building Per ASCE 32
  4. Founding on solid rock

Now, #3 would probably require involving an engineer, so I doubt it's done for cheapo houses, and #4 would be absurdly expensive, so I assume that #2 is the normal practice.

With that being said, many types of insulation degrade with time, and #2 involves a pinky promise to keep the house at 64 degrees minimum year-round. So, I guess look for newer houses to occasionally get f***ed when they're vacant/for sale in the winter or there's just a winter power outage.

FYI: Crawl spaces don't help with frost protection. The don't affect the foundation depth, they just raise the living area off the ground. They're so that the plumbing under your house is accessible for repairs instead of being encased in a solid concrete slab. Like a basement, but cheaper.

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SnooDoubts2823 t1_jaeq7vb wrote

I've been blessed owning two Pittsburgh area homes, one built in 1955 and the other I live in now in 1956 and both bone dry with no additional work since construction (that we know of). Both finished.

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vivamario t1_jaesc5v wrote

I've turned Pittsburgh basements into living space. It's brutal, expensive work but possible. You have to install perimeter drains/sumps, reroute the utilities into the joists, cut in egresses, demo the interior concrete slab and then dig until the floor is low enough. If the foundation is too shallow, then you have to underpin. Then you have to set new center supports and pour new foundations for those, pour a concrete slab, and waterproof.

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NewAlexandria t1_jaetqli wrote

excavate around the foundation, dry the wall, paint with sealant like tar, dig under the base of the wall by 6 inches or so, place architectural-sheeting from above ground level and tuck under the base, do that all along the wall, sealing the architectural-sheeting together per manufacturer spec, the re-bury it all. Do this along any side of the house that is on the uphill side, or just do it on all sides. Carefully fold and seal a piece around each corner of the house foundation.

also, not sure how it was told to you, but no, you are nto going to reduce hydrostatic pressue by letting your basement be leaky.

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whaler76 t1_jaeuptw wrote

Buddy of mine had that problem, had a company come in and install sump pump with weep? system waterproofing etc, they were unbelievable did an AMAZING job, did it in a day $5G pre-covid

1

InfraredDiarrhea t1_jaevpxb wrote

103 yr old house here. Previous owner installed french drains and a sump pump. Bless their heart.

The bone dry basement is what made me choose this one over all the other mold factories i toured when buying.

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Kielbasa_Nunchucka t1_jaexcur wrote

yeah... I once checked out a place that had 5 holes bored into the concrete with 5 pumps hooked up to an elaborate drain system... it was dry down there tho...

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delyonli t1_jaf3bh0 wrote

I toured a house in SQ hill and the basement looked just like this

1