hydrostatic lateral foundation wall pressure

Have a poured concrete foundation with walk out basement. North foundation wall is below grade and South foundation wall is above grade. After heavy rain a very small water stain appears about 5’ above slab in north east foundation corner where visible crack runs from slab floor to top of wall. stain appears to migrate down to slab floor.

Got lots of quotes from basement waterproofing companies that want to install interior perimeter drain. They say the one I have is not performing. It was unclear to me how an interior system would relieve exterior hydrostic pressure. They said they drill 3/8" holes diagonally into joint where foundation wall meets footer to relieve pressure through footer keyway. The seam at footer key looking at it from the outside seemed to me to be a very high resistance flow path for relieving exterior wall hydrostatic pressure.

They want to do nothing with my exterior footer perimeter drain but did say in addition to new interior system they would dig down at NE corner and seal this one weeping crack from outside,

Even if they do properly seal crack from outside will the footer key relief holes drilled from the inside be enough to reduce exterior north wall hydrostatic pressure?

Read lots of posts here suggesting interior systems do NOT properly relieve hydrostatic lateral foundation wall pressure. So what is the proper way to do this? Seems like one would need to improve performance of existing exterior perimeter footer drain tile.

By the way i am not convinced my interior perimeter 3.5" ADS builder installed system is underperforming as at the sump basin water level never gets higher than a foot below where the ADS pipes discharge into it. There has never been any cove joint seepage. Only dampness is at the NE corner crack where again it starts to seep in 5ft up from slab floor.

Hello Mike,

The first thing I would do is, on a dry day, take your hose and lay it on the ground 2-3" away from, aimed–AT the wall, the crack, and let it run up to 30 minutes, or of course until you begin to get water in. Turn it on almost full blast, NOT a little trickle but do not allow the water to hit/soak anything ABOVE grade. Just soak the top of the basement wall, top of the crack, down.

“IF” , you get water in on floor at–along the bottom of wall–floor meet or through the crack, your problem is the crack, waterproof the crack on the exterior…small job.

If you do not get water in after doing a good water test 30 minutes or so, wait another 60 minutes and look again. If still no water then it is possible water can ‘first’ enter through 1++ direct openings into the house ABOVE ground level such as small crack in bricks, mortar joints, openings in–around under basement windows, first floor windows, doors etc.

Video, poured wall vertical crack, and some leaky deteriorated rod holes… they were the problems… NOT any supposed hydrostatic pressure garbage, no.

When the SOIL is SATURATED, that’s the type of pressure that can cause cracks in walls, walls to bow in, leak etc.

Saturated soil can force water through very small, hairline cracks in poured walls

“IF” there is a rod hole in the area you see moisture 5’ up from floor, you’d have to look, check… you may not, just bringing up the possibilities, but if you do then it may be deteriorating and allowing the water in, in that area 5’ up. You may have to grab a screwdriver and hit it with a hammer in—around that stained area to see if there’s a rod hole beginning to deteriorate, leak

In 40 years i have never, not once, waterproofed a crack on the exterior and the homeowner had some supposed lingering hydrostatic pressure problem, if anything, they had a two part problem such as, the crack… and a clog/blockage etc in their lateral line aka clean out, simply needed a plumber to snake/rod through the clean out

I would do the water-test with a hose before you spend 2 cents. Water doesn’t lie, humans lie, like the ones you’ve had over!

Michael, where are you located?

As an FYI, John (aka, Mark) is an expert at sealing basement water entry in SE Michigan…and, you would do well listening to his advice.

Good luck.

P.S. Sealing leaks from the OUTSIDE is the way to be happy down the road and a lot less $.

if you like, you can post photos or a video (of the crack etc) or send it to my old azz n i’ll check it out, up to you.

Hi Larry, lol, thanks man

Thanks John and Larry,

Here is a link to my pics:

Foundation inspection - Google Photos

The 1st pic you see is the corner leak after a heavy rain. The other two pics were of me trying to sneak a look at my interior drain tile system that wouldn’t require me busting a hole in my slab. This hole was already there as part of the plumbing stub-outs. All I had to do was cut the vapor barrier and scoop out the gravel. After the heavy rain I saw water pooling up to and barely touching the bottom of the ADS. I am assuming my interior system was at least doing a good job of preventing water table from building up too high underneath my slab … at least at that point. I showed all this to contractors and they all still want to rip out my existing builder installed system and put theirs in. Quoting proper slope, larger diameter ADS and more pumps!

I live in MD an will do flood test this weekend. After having read lots of your posts I’m a bit embarrassed to say I did regrade, extend downspouts and added a plastic “foundation roof” under my mulch extending ~4ft from the foundation wall. After I did this I still saw the corner leaks but they didn’t appear as high as they used to. (I know, I know… now):slight_smile: Anyway when I do my hose test should I pull back my plastic “foundation roof” and lay the hose on the soil right up against the wall? I’m assuming so as I guess the point is to quickly saturate the backfill against the foundation and see what happens. Just checking.

Mike,

You could pull it back a little, then run the water/hose test right where the crack is. Some of the hairline cracks don’t penetrate through the wall so just want to be sure this one does, if it does it will begin to leak.

If it doesn’t it will not leak and so that would mean the water is first getting in elsewhere, usually through direct openings into the house above grade, sometimes the opening(s) are a little to the left or right of a crack and for those who have x-amount of bricks and mortar joints ‘below’ ground level, there can be openings/gaps where the water gets in and then… feeds onto the top of the F-wall, gets into top of crack and then can be seen inside the basement several feet below grade, similar to what you see.

Brick house Mike? If so, any bricks below grade?

Video, Crack and openings in bricks and in mortar joints below grade, along grade level and above grade level…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dpGpiB7kQI)

Mike, next two videos poured wall cracks but also, very important… openings along and above grade in bricks and mortar joints and water can first get in through these other openings and then feed into the top of crack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyVA73ILPUM)

Crack plus ‘other’ direct openings/gaps ABOVE the crack and to the right of the crack, deteriorating bricks n joints… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7jprh5f2p8)

Mike,

video, i did a water test here, see the location of the hose… I ran the water directly on the outside of where she FIRST gets, sees, water inside. She has grass right there so most often when there’s a crack etc below grade and only grass/dirt then the water usually comes in fairly quick.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-GaOiWZPYM)
See, nothing much to it, you can even have a coffee or brew or smoke etc while one does a water test.

You don’t want to wet/soak anything above grade AT FIRST, in the beginning, just the top of the foundation wall down. See if you get water in, through crack, up high, wherever.

Like this lady, video, she ALSO has openings above grade, cracked, open, deteriorated mortar joints etc so you do not want to soak any of them, at first.

For those who have a horizontal piece of concrete up-against their vertical foundation wall then, one needs to get the water UNDERNEATH the slab(s) to deduce if they have a crack etc that allows water in… those often take longer, have to run hose a bit longer to get water under the slabs or porch etc

Thanks for the additional video and comments. I have a brick front and it is all above grade. While I wait for the weekend please allow me a few more questions.

Let’s assume the external crack is below grade and I find a reputable company out here to properly seal it. It still bothers me that even though sealing prevents water from entering from the foundations walls it does not appear to me to reduce the hydrostatic pressure.

In your experience what levels, if any, of hydrostatic pressure against my foundation walls should I be trying to stay under?

I do have soil that appears to have high clay/silt content which I believe does alot of expanding and contracting. The Yoder article you provided talked about the dangers of this water saturated soil pressure causing future cracks which is why I am concerned and want to better understand and quantify the problem/risk before evaluating solutions.

if there are no exterior cracks or other openings then no water can enter regardless of x-amount of lateral soil pressure or if your flood that area of wall.

what can reduce pressure is backfill with most–all gravel, that’s what we have done for 4 decades.

some homeowners who have clay soil may see one + wall bow in due to lateral soil pressure, during or after a long heavy rain… had that wall been waterproofed and backfilled with all gravel then the wall would not have bowed in as there wouldn’t have been swelling-clay-soil pushing/expanding against the wall.

some homeowners have trees, underground roots that cause cracks, problems.

Donan eng’s, Basement Wall Failures - Donan - Forensic Engineering Experts
in-part they write, 'Typically, the failure is NOT from hydrostatic pressure but from the SOIL re-expanding…

to me, hydrostatic pressure is… water pressure, like a flood, no soil.

lateral horizontal soil pressure is WATER in-the-soil, saturated soil, expanding of the soil, causes a lot of problems… some people use the term wrong or like to misled when they use the words ‘hydrostatic pressure’.

just because someone gets water through a crack in foundation wall, it’s not hydrostatic pressure, it’s later soil pressure, saturated soil forcing water through the crack.

If the crack was ABOVE ground level and ONLY water was soaking, flooding up–against the crack then yeah, guess one could call that hydrostatic pressure, just water.

Fairfax county VA… page 6, 7 Damage to foundation walls…

2nd paragraph, i don’t always agree with this former builder, how he describes hydrostatic pressure…
Forces Harmful to House Foundation & Footers - Ask the BuilderAsk the Builder
…“During heavy periods of rainfall the situation intensifies. Many soils absorb vast quantities of WATER, and this added water, COMBINED with the soil pushes against your foundation wall. This force is commonly REFFERED to as hydrostatic pressure”

Again, for me, hydrostatic pressure would be a fluid only, water, not water IN the soil, swelling/expanding that soil hence its really lateral soil pressure in my book.

What many try to do and are quite successful at it is… confuse homeowners!! Yes sir.

If you had a few cracks in the basement floor and one day you come home while its raining and see water coming UP through the floor cracks then, for me, one could call that hydrostatic pressure. Water accumulating under a floor, say from the city not being able to handle the amount of rain and that water eventually rises under the floor and then comes up through a floor crack, yeah I guess one could call it hydrostatic pressure. Sand is under many floors and there’s usually a gap of air, of nothing, between the bottom of the concrete floor and the sand/soil under it so likelihood for swelling clay soil under a basement floor is possible, and if it occurred it may cause same type of problems but I YET to see that here in 40 yrs , it’s highly unlikely for most, not all… much different with foundation walls and clay soil, just my 2 cents, just the way i perceive it

Michael,

There are several components to your water leak issue. Soil type, surface drainage, subsurface drainage, backfill material, exterior foundation drainage system, interior foundation drainage system, exterior dampproofing, form-tie holes, shrinkage cracks, stress cracks and water level in the soil. Every basement leak is unique but the root cause is typically a combination of the components I listed. So unless you live in a desert every builder and homeowner has to deal with water.

So the basic idea is to keep the water away from the foundation, i.e. no water, no leak. But realistically that’s a difficult task, so the next best solution is to minimize the water that reaches the foundation and to quickly drain any water away that does. So let’s start with the soil type, soil is composed of several layers of varying thickness and each layer can have different permeability or the rate at which water flows through the soil. Gravelly soils have a high permeability and clay soils have a low permeability. So when you consider sloping the soil to improve surface drainage next to the house you want to use soil with low permeability or incorporate some other low permeable material like concrete, asphalt, plastic sheets, etc. However, subsurface drainage through the soil flows by gravity and on hillside lots water may still reach the foundation underground even though you have good surface drainage. Your next line of defense is to design the exterior foundation drainage system to capture, collect and discharge the water away from the foundation as quickly as possible. Most contractors use the basic pipe, gravel, and dampproofing system. Pipe placement should be at or below the bottom of the footing, gravel should be clean (no fines). The pipe and/or gravel should have a geotextile fabric wrap as a silt barrier to prevent silt from plugging the drain pipe. The basement wall is typically coated with an asphalt sealant after the form-tie holes are grouted. Then dirt covers the top and shaped to drain. (Typically a minimum of 12" of dirt is needed to grow grass) Everything is good, except concrete cracks due to shrinkage or external soil pressure. Typically the dampproofing material is not elastic enough to bridge the cracks, so leaks will occur. So IMO the weakest link in this system, assuming everything else was done properly, is the standard dampproofing most contractor use. There are numerous products available that do a better job. My final comment on stress cracks due to external soil/water pressure. Hydrostatic pressure is water pressure, but when designing basement walls engineers use “equivalent fluid pressure”. The more water you add to dry soil the more fluid like it becomes. Wall cracks due to external soil pressure are due to poor wall design IMO. You can easily design a basement wall to hold back saturated soil.

Good thorough article here John McEwen, why to backfill with all gravel etc…
John McEwen
…down near bottom… Where is says, --From the inept to the out n out SCAMS,
“And then there exists an entire cadre of out and out FRAUD ARTISTS who will simply sell you an open trench in the basement with HOLES DRILLED into the walls. If you see the words “water control” “no messy outside digging” or “sub drain system” pay attention. If your building department has abrogated its responsibility, this is what CON MEN are allowed to do to your home…”

Mike, you had some at your place.

U S Army Corps, lateral soil pressure, backfill with gravel etc etc
http://www.amherst.ny.us/pdf/building/soilsstudy/TOASFS_section3.pdf
The first two page and…page 19… Backfill, lateral pressure problems are exasperated by using unsuitable backfill materials, usually from on-site excavation… expansive clay soil… generally NOT recommend for backfill

Page 21, modeling results demonstrate that granular backfills (gravel etc) can reduce lateral pressures

People will believe whatever crap they want, I’m just saying we’ve been around a looooong time, have seen a lot right up-close, on-site over decades… imo that far outweighs the bs I repeatedly hear, see on the internet etc from all the chumps, the self-proclaimed honest experts, pfffts, they’re NO experts except at cheating, misleading, bs’ing most people, yep.

Mike, this cost $$$$$$$ an interior drainage knothead system was installed, then the wall bowed in, more cracks etc. Interior systems don’t remove the clay soil, don’t remove any underground roots that can cause problems, they don’t waterproof the existing exterior cracks, water still enters, passes through the cracks and joints, all the above weakens the wall… then these screw ups remove the edge of the basement floor! The floor helps hold the wall in-place.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLjltBxHKfU)
And so some are going to try and tell me, these interior chumps are honest experts??? That they have the homeowners best interest in mind… really? bulllllllllllllllllllllllllll baby. They are full of themselves and the crap they lie n shuffle around and so too is anyone who pushes these companies to unknowing homeowners.

Randy and John, thanks for the additional details and links. You guys have been great and I have been doing much more reading as a result. The nuance I was failing to appreciate was the components of lateral wall pressure.

1.) pure weight of the soil
2.) swelling pressure of soil
3.) weight of water in the soil

The take away I am getting is walls are typically designed for 1.) but maybe not for 2.) and 3.)

Using proper gravel backfill instead of clay/silty soil goes a long way towards alleviating the wall pressure from 2.) by replacing material immediately next to the wall with stuff that doesn’t swell.

Gravel backfill reduces wall pressure from 3.) by providing a low resistance path for the water down to the footer drain tile BUT it only works if the drain tile can accept the water. If it can’t then water will build up against the wall in my nice porous gravel backfill and wall pressure from 3.) will not be reduced.

One response may be if the wall is properly sealed why does it matter?

The John McEwan article John posted states the following with regards to waterproofing membranes:

  1. It must be able to withstand repeated heads of water. Membranes are not designed to be under water at all times. They are designed to periodically hold water back. Properly applied that’s exactly what they do.

None of the contractors I spoke to so far want to talk about assessing the performance of my exterior drain tile nor offer up potential solutions for improving or replacing it if needed.

As a homeowner, what should I be listening for from a reputable company regarding this aspect of the problem?

Most walls were not waterproofed when built, block ‘n brick f-walls were at best parged… some of them damproofed. Poured walls were damproofed, some these days have a dimpled membrane against the walls and imo and John’s, dimpled membranes are not true "waterproofing membranes’ as they do not stick to the wall. If someone applies roofing cement aka tar on the walls and then the dimpled memb. then that would be much better. Most often they spray or roll-on a thin coat = damproofing, damproofing is not waterproofing, then add they backfill with the same soil that was dug out, mistake.

A true waterproofing membrane sticks, adhere’s to the wall, that’s why for 40 years, after we apply hydraulic cement, we then coat the walls with a thick roofing cement, then visqueen, then 90–100% gravel backfill.

Have never had any problem that some bring up time to time about what if there are no drain tiles or the water needs a place to go or it only works if the drain tiles accept it, say again, NO problems…anywhere, throughout 40 years.

Drain tiles are NOT why you get water/moisture in 5’ high on your foundation wall, they nothing to do about that, zero.

I wouldn’t call a soul over until you run a water-test against that corner on a dry day…and if no water appears inside then take the hose and spray the lower area of your bricks and mortar joints in that coner, re----create a heavy wind-blown rain with the hose, start with the lower bricks and slowly work your way up or until you get, see… water inside.

If you get moisture/water on your wall when soaking the foundation wall (below grade) then I’d calla few peeps and tell them you would like the corner waterproofed, not 1/2 the wall, not the entire wall, the corner. Tell them you want it waterproofed and backfilled with 90-100% gravel and ask them about a written guarantee. Ours is 20 years on… the part/area/footage of the foundation wall that we waterproofed.

“IF” it turns out the water that is entering is actually FIRST getting in through above grade openings then you don’t need any waterproofing, you’ll need to seal, tuckpoint, caulk whatever the problem, openings turn out to be.

I’ve had many homeowners who ONLY got water in through, around, above basement windows, sills, doors, milk chutes, open deteriorated cracked mortar joints or bricks, openings around service lines that enter the home, openings in chimney above grade, first floor windows etc etc, other homeowners who ONLY needed an honest exp’d plumber because they had a blockage/clog in their lateral line/clean out, and so they didn’t need to call any waterproofing contractor, zero need.

The actual problem (s)… need to be found, identified, determined…FIRST, then one knows what the exact problem is and so then they know who to call… many waterproofing companies/contractors do NOT do this, they either do not know how to…incompetent, or do not care, scumbags–cheats.

Homeowners with leaky basements are told ALL KINDS of crrrrap, lies, misrepresentations etc, yes they are. The previous homeowners in this video was told bunch of crap and bought themselves a piece of junk INTERIOR drainage system and sump, NEW DRAIN TILES!!! Cost many thousands, waaay more than the exterior waterproofing cost… and where is this company now, where is that supposed lifetime warranty?? loolol End of video you will see ONE of the homeowners actual problems where the water was first getting in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INFPk66SG1g)

This video, listen to the homeowner, my videos are real, most others are bs and scripted lies…listen to what the homeowners says about an interior system company who went to his house and gave est’s $15,000 and $27,000…’ They wanted to move water around, bust up basement floor’ etc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLzdt6wkS24)

Mike, you and everyone else obviously doesn’t need to believe me, you can continue calling the chumps and maybe, if you’re lucky, you’ll eventually get one honest experienced contractor who will tell you pretty much all the same things i am

Here’s one of my short ‘takes’ on exterior drain tiles… 1:30… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHqScpQQqZI)

Interior drainage system installed, has NEW DRAIN TILES… and little ‘clean out’… :25 see it? hahahhaa Why is the basement still leaking and more mold?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KFycoizC84)

Thanks again for the response and yes I am not planing on calling anyone else until I do your proposed water test.

For the record I agree with almost everything you have said. You have provide reputable links, testimony, video and other pretty solid documentation that logically makes sense to me. You no longer have to convince me that:

  1. An interior perimeter drain tile system won’t prevent water from saturated soil adjacent to my foundation wall from entering a crack 5ft up from the slab
  2. Exterior waterproofing of a foundation wall is a superior way to keep water from entering my basement through cracks below grade in m foundation wall.
  3. Using gravel as backfill is a superior way to relieve wall pressure from native swelling/expansive soils that the builder may have used instead
  4. Using gravel as backfill provides a superior low resistance path for water next to the foundation wall to get to a footer drain tile below

The one thing that I don’t understand is why you seem to feel the presence or absence of a well functioning exterior perimeter drain tile maters not as long as the above practices are followed. I suspect it is because your experience tells you it doesn’t matter hence why you wrote:

When I raised the point that “[gravel backfill for the purposes of hydrostatoc pressure reduction] …only works if the drain tiles accept it [the water]”, I was hoping for a link to a relevant informative study/article like you typically provide. Or at least a chain of logic detailing why lots of very slowly draining high hydrostatic pressure (from saturated gravel) against a properly sealed wall is nothing to be concerned about.

You hinted that this question has been raised before. I did put forth an honest attempt to find past discussions about this point but my keyword searches of your 1000+ posts was not successful. :slight_smile:

I hope you will be patient with me as I try to understand what about the science of water in soils and waterproofing material properties suggest that following the above practices 1-4 make a working exterior perimeter drain tile unnecessary.

Again I get why you can still have leaks through a crack with a functioning exterior drain tile (even a perfectly working drain tile probably can’t keep the exterior walls dry at the crack as the wetting front migrates downward during a heavy rain). But standing water next to a properly sealed wall, held there for long periods of time, intuitively seems to be a bad idea.

My intent is to finish my basement but I do not want to pour any money into it until I have an understanding, for each potential solution path, the chances of future leaks occurring.

Can you, Randy or anyone else think of a scenario where the above 4 practices are followed but an exterior drain tile remains clogged, and future cracks/leaks still appear?

  • which waterproofing techniques have the lowest failure rates when subject to long term exposure of water saturated gravel?

  • if I just seal the exterior corner crack and replace the backfill in that area with gravel, what are the chances of a new crack appearing somewhere else on the wall allowing the undrained hydrostatic pressure in that area to seep into the basement?

Thanks again!

Michael,

There is no benefit IMO in allowing water to accumulate near the foundation wall. Saturating the soil under the footing will likely result in differential settlement issues resulting in more basement wall cracks.

FYI - I attached a graphic showing a curtain drain to intercept surface and subsurface water flow in a hillside lot. Not sure if this would apply in your case.

You guys think all the water goes into the exterior or interior drain tiles? Who says water is accumulating? Where are all the supposed problems of this accumulation?

Mike, some water that gets down to the exterior tiles goes in them, long as they aren’t busted, fully clogged etc… some water is absorbed into the soil above the tiles, some water goes into the soil on the opposite side of foundation wall, some water is absorbed in the soil below the tiles…and if there are underground roots then some water is lapped up by them.

For years, decades…however old your house is or many of the houses in videos i posted were built in the 30’s—70’s (some in the 1880’s) some of the water get down to tiles and below the tiles… for decades, have yet to see one ‘settle’.

What about those foundation walls that were backfilled with most or all… SAND? All the water that goes through the sand does NOT, did not, go into the drain tiles, some of the water went BELOW the drain tiles, deeper down along the footings and below the footings… have many of them settled?

Even if it were possible to keep most or all water away from entire depth of a wall, from getting under foundation walls and footings imo you wouldn’t want to. Why?
Because you don’t want the soil to CONTRACT… see that Donan Engineering link again. If soil compacts, dries out, around & underneath a footing, what’s going to happen? The soil UNDER the footing helps hold the footing in-place, you don’t want it to dry out. Problems occur when soils get saturated AND when they dry out, drought occurs. When we are on a job, we check the lousy tiles and IF need be i’ll replace 'em but throughout our years of doing this, most often the exterior tiles are fine. Every now n then we get down to them and one or a couple of them have some mud or hairline roots etc in them, not often!

A Definition | Colorado Geological Survey
–Severity of problem… each year SHRINKING or swelling inflict $$ damages to houses, building, roads etc-- more than twice the damage from floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes…

The U S Army Corps link previously posted… causative factors… one is “shrinkage & swelling of clay”

It seems most are all about drain tiles, lots of time focused on drain tiles… drain tiles drain tiles drain tiles and little time or action spent on waterproofing the walls correctly, backfilling correctly, don’t build houses in swamps or on crap-land/soil etc, nope, it’s the drain tiles look out!

Hmm, ocean water pressure, take a boat out on duh water… any drain tiles out there? Any drain tiles around boats?
How would a boat, Titanic… begin to take on water, sink? Well, if 1+ openings in the boat occurs aka hits an iceberg! loll Let’s say we COULD put, install drain tiles around our boats, lets say the Titanic had BIGLY drain tiles around it… would the drain tiles keep the boats from taking on water, sinking? Lots of luck

Mike, I’m not the only contractor who has backfilled with most–all gravel for decades. There are a handful of others around our parts and for one, Dwight Yoder backfills with all gravel… he has no complaints last time I looked in over 30 years, neither does Capizzo, M Clark, myself here, no settling houses do to a supposed pooling of water along footings, nope. For DECADES on many, many houses… throughout many long, hard rains, water has gone through the soil above the drain tiles and eventually got down there AND below the tiles, alongside the footings etc

All due respect but you wanted some help, some answers on a leaky area in basement… i, some others have tried to provide that honest help and backed up what i could with other links or videos. We are spending time on drain tiles lollll and have yet to do a water test on that one small area, hmmmmmmmmm . Say again, drain tiles has NOTHING to do with your problem, leak… the photo of the crack/moisture in-on your wall has zero to do with drain tiles.

If you guys ‘could’ keep all water away from, from getting underneath footings, would you?
Drought puts cracks in homes - NZ Herald
All I hear, keep water away from the house. Have no problem anyone trying to divert some water away from f walls when their reason, worry, is to try and minimize the soil from getting saturated and possibly causing cracks in walls, bowed walls etc… but not this goofy notion that by raising n sloping the grade it’ll solve most leaky basements, nonsense… have posted numerous videos and tons of photos on exactly that and homeowners continued to leak.

40 years of friggin hand digging down to the footings, tiles… some of these jobs the soil was dry for most of the dig, most of the way down, even after a heavy rain. On some of the jobs, the soil was wet/moist most of the way down and on some the soil was wet, saturated all the way down… whether it just had rained heavily… or not.

Some of the ones that were, ‘wetter’ lol, can i use that hahaaa, there were sprinkler systems hmmm. And on many of those the grade was raised and sloped away, a real ‘fine’ PITCH away. They ALL leaked because they had 1+ cracks in their F-walls or cracked parging or openings/gaps around where the gas line or water line etc go through the foundation wall or had deteriorated rod holes etc, REGARDLESS of the grade sheesh

Many want to talk about drain tiles or re-------grading, raise and slope the grade, mudjack slabs etc INSTEAD of, finding, deducing, determining how-where-why the stupid basement leaks.
Like in this video, the concrete slabs are pitched away, the homeowner sealed the perimeter, the edge of where the concrete meets the house… did that identify the actual problems and did that fix/waterproof the actual problems? Nope.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4Ozr64HKsc)

Again, NEW drain tiles installed here, many say, claim the drain tiles are most homeowners problems, pffftt. Interior drainage system installed with new tiles, so WHY does it STILL leak! hahahaa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owwskmlN388)
Some would answer, ‘Oh they didn’t dig the little trench deep enough or they used the wrong drain tiles in the trecnh’ etc etc, NONSENSE.

Here…is why-where it leaked, why water entered
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK6PW6AyHig)
And the seller, homeowner at the time… also added dirt to umm, get it a better ‘PITCH’
Anyone want to explain to my old butt exactly how drain tiles have anything to do with the fact there were exterior cracks, cracked parging that allowed water to get in… hmmm, this and many other basements dry after we waterproofed their cracks etc, not too often did we replace ONE lone drain tile hmmm

Randy, just asking, so your answer to leaky basements is a curtain drain and adding soil, regrading, pitch n slope?
We’ve run into quite a few curtain drains and swales or drain tile that was placed 1’ or 2’ deep near, along the foundation wall, they didn’t stop the water from entering because they didn’t seal/waterproof any of the exterior openings that allowed water to get in. Quite a few contractors charge as much or MORE for a curtain drain than what it would have cost to waterproof part or all the foundation wall, just saying.

It’s quite easy for some to recommend a, b,c supposed solutions when they have never had to guarantee these basements won’t leak after the homeowner spends $, shtt wish i could do that. Come on this board aaround 12 years ago, have sincerely tried to help anyone who asked for it or those searching for it and every now n then I catch some nonsense from some who are playing games or have never guaranteed their recommendations to homeowners and those homeowners spent $$$ and the supposed solution didn’t solve their problem.

Spent time, lots of it on here, other boards and on the dang phone or looking at photos, videos sent to me by homeowners… for free, don’t get much back…got that? Never charged anyone one damn cent. On the other hand Tim C, aka ask the builder charges people just to talk to them about their leaky basements, go ahead and pay him, call him. He will apparently even come to your house if you pay him $5,000…to check it out, NO guarantees on his supposed solutions either, pfftttttttttttttttttt

IF… some home inspectors or city inspectors or realtors etc etc HAD to guarantee their supposed solution for leaky basements, I know they’d be singing a different tune instead of this nonsense about raise n slope the grade or, 55 mile long downspout ext’s or mudjacking etc

I don’t claim to have the solution to every single homeowners problem, to every single leaky basement or crawl, NO, but i do claim to have most homeowners solutions, dang skippy. You want to believe the inside system companies, fine, all yours. Others want to believe some home inspectors claims, fine, all yours.