- Q.I am working on a
house with a leaky walk-out basement. The house is
surrounded by a sidewalk on the three sides above the
walkout, and water seems to be seeping through the
control joints in the sidewalk into the basement. How
can the joints be sealed to stop the
leaks?
A.A pour-in,
rubberized crack-filler can be used to seal the
joints, but the joints may not be the problem.
Often the backfill has settled under a sidewalk or
patio slab, creating a void near the foundation.
Water can then run into and along this void from
any entry point. There may be a downspout or other
source that is directing surface water into this
void, or it could be soaking through the soil from
outside the walks. The void can be filled with
concrete using mud-jacking equipment. Mud-jacking
can also tip the sidewalk away from the foundation
slightly, in case it has settled toward the
house.
If the basement wall is concrete block, water
can enter almost anywhere and flow through the
cores to a leaky area of the wall. In this case,
first eliminate the surface water. If this does not
solve the problem and you can’t locate and
stop the water source, you may have to remove the
sidewalk, excavate around the foundation, and apply
a waterproofing membrane and adequate perimeter
drainage.