Help.... My walls are leaking

[Sasquatch]

Hi Guys....
Bear with me, cause this is my first post on this board. I have done allot of remodeling in the rest of the house, but never the basement walls. My house was built in 1920 and is a 2-story dwelling. It has a hairline crack in 2 different and around the incoming water supply line.
I only have the problem when it rains allot like in the springtime. Once the major rains subside. so does the river on the basement floor from two different directions.
What I need to know is, what is the "Best" way to repair this nasty problem. Just can't seem to kill it no matter what else I do.
What do you think of the epoxy that can be injected, Hydraulic Cement, Portland cement slurry or some other concoction.
I not too concerened with the cost, but I need to stop this cold once and for all!! I'm certainly not scared of anything that I need to do.... just not sure what to do....
So I'm asking for a big helping hand from the Pro's that know the way to go..... Thanks for all incoming replys, need all the help I can get....LOL

[roger g]

You probsbly already know what the best way really is but it is the most work. I would think you should try to find out whether the leak is from the water coming down from the rain or coming up because of the higher water level because of the rain. Easy to say but hard to do I know. You have two problems. Stopping the leak and getting rid of the water that maybe shouln't be there. By stopping it in one place could force it to find another weak spot.
I had a house with a similar leak and I took an easy way out. Where the waater came in I decided was a good spot to put in a sump hole and pump and in fact made it easier for the water to go into the hole. For whatever reason the water had found it's own route and I wasn't about to take all the time and money to fight nature.


Roger

[Sasquatch]

Roger-
I do agree with ya on the water level. Problem being that the said leak is right next to my workbench in the basement.... So the solutition you chose is not one that I'm going to explore. Thanks for the reply.....

[Rich]

When first seeing cracks and the like - most people want to apply some type of waterproofing to the inside of the wall. It doesn't work.
If the crack is big enough you should try and put the waterproofing to the outside of the wall. If not possible - dig up that area on the outside and apply the waterproofing there. Don't buy damp proofing. I don't know where anybody thought this was ever a good idea - buy waterproofing. The best stuff is spray applied - but it can be expensive. The next best thing is, if the crack is big enough, a bentonite tube that can be placed on the outside of the wall along the crack (or inside it). When water hits the bentonite it expands and seals the crack. The next best thing after that is bentonite sheating - this will need to be taped with bentonite tape at all the edges.
To increase the ability of all these systems you can place drain board over top. Drain board typically has a waffle pattern (plastic) on the backside (against the foundation) and a mirafy fabric on the dirt side to allow water into the board to flow down the plastic waffles and into your perimeter drain system.
I hope that helps.

[grumpydasmurf]

It early in the mornign and I didn't read much of any of the posts. Do ya have gutters to control the water flow?