[Summit] waterproofing houses -- continued

[Kate Sanders]

John, you asked yesterday:

> 
> Hey neighbors. Has anyone looked into exterior foundation waterproofing? That means excavating and sealing basement walls from the outside. After a third flood event in as many months, I'm wondering if it's worth the investment.
> 
> John
> 

Hi John,

I've been meaning to put together a summary of the responses I got a month or so ago on the topic of water-proofing -- it's included here below. Thanks to you John, and also to Greg Gerritt, Elizabeth Grossman, and Robert Garzillo! 

We're now considering (1) a better shop vac (the one we have no longer pumps water, just collects it into a reservoir); (2) a sump pump; (3) having the house checked out from gutters to basement (have an appointment to have the gutters checked on Monday); water-proofing the exterior of the foundation; water-proofing the interior of the basement; and/or anything else that seems reasonable, after spending hours emptying the shopvac again and again and again on Tuesday and Wednesday ...

Having the yard re-graded seems like a possibility, except for one thing: it might work in our backyard, but on the sides, it might just direct the water into our neighbors' yards. In other places (not Providence), I've seen gutters built into sidewalks that direct rainwater towards a drain. If added to re-grading, a gutter built into the side yard might do the trick. Has anyone seen anything like that around here?

Kate

----------------- Summary of previous water-proofing ideas ----------------------------------

On Thu, 11 Jan 2024 22:54 PM, John Bazik wrote:

Hey neighbors. Has anyone looked into exterior foundation waterproofing? That means excavating and sealing basement walls from the outside. After a third flood event in as many months, I'm wondering if it's worth the investment. John 

On 12/20/23 9:16 PM, John Bazik wrote: 

Hi Kate.  Years ago I managed to reduce the number of times I saw water in our basement by regrading my backyard and diverting my gutters away from the house. Since then we get water once or twice a year, and usually only during a three-day rainstorm. Still, water in the basement sucks, and I bought a waste water pump and a dehumidifier and a fan, and I already had a wet-dry vac. In our case, I'm pretty sure the sequence is wind-driven rain runs down the side of the house, saturates the ground and enters between the slab and foundation walls, along the seam. My current plan is to divert water away outside all along the foundation wall. This is a thing: > > https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/an-underground-roof > > I think the usual mitigation is a french drain and sump pump in the basement, but I'm trying to avoid the expense and disruption of that. > > John 

On Tuesday, December 19th, 2023 at 3:04 PM, Elizabeth Grossman posted:
We had a problem because soil had been compacted next to house basement so grading was toward house rather than away. Had more soil brought in and compacted and everything is much much better. Also had some work done so bulkhead doors were better sealed. 

===========================
On Tuesday, December 19th, 2023 at 2:52 PM, Greg Gerritt posted:

Building Science Enclosure on N main St is specialists in this. greg 

===========================
On Tue, Dec 19, 2023 at 2:05 PM, Robert Garzillo posted:

I'd recommend a sump pump. Ours was running yesterday and we had no water in the basement. We bought our house in the summer of 2009, the sump pump was already there so I can't recommend anyone to install one. Since summer of 2009 we've had water in our basement three times, the most in March of 2010, and most recently this past 4th of July. Without the sump pump I'm sure we would have had more issues. With the sump pump it's not standing water but just a wet floor that needs some mopping and box fans to help dry it out. Good luck!

===========================
[On Tue, Dec 19, 2023 at 1:57 PM Kate Sanders   posted a question about water-proofing a house.]