I had an addition built to my house, the concrete was poured in the middle of winter, and now for the first time I’m noticing the concrete wall is damp at the corner floor and near the base of one wall
The room in under the garage. Looking at the attached pictures the wall to the left corner is located under the drive way and alond the base of that wall it’s damp. The wall to the right of the corner is the utility room.
The contractor is telling me this is natural concrete sweating was as it cures.
I’m not in the business and very much appreciate second opinions as to what the likely cause is.
I want to fair so if you comment on this could you please indicate how strongly you hold your opinion.
Very much appreciate your help,
Thank you,
Rod
Replies
at some point perhaps someone will be along to resize those photos so that they can be viewed by a larger audiance...
till then how about some guess after you tell us how the foundation was back filled and what steps were taken to enhance drainage....
what type of foundation water proofing and or methods were used...
and BTW....
welcome to BT...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
also knowing yur geograhic location and climatic conditions will help...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Thank you. I'm not sure about resizing the images, in my browser , Firefox , the images appear as links and the appearances are ok from here.The house is located in southern Ontario, relatively temperate this tiime of the year. The outside of the garage wall basement has what appears to be black tar , but must be a synthetic of some sort, and nailed over top of that is a heavy black plastic shield with lots of holes well punched out to enable water to flow to the bottom, and drainage tiles at the bottom.The fill would be a mix of gravel and chunks of limestone scaled off by the excavator.Here's some additional pictures.The wet corner is under the deck.
I'd agree that concrete doesn't sweat when it cures. There is water back there. "Sweating concrete" was really a pretty poor answer on his part. While it looks like things were done right (Damproofing, dimple membrane, etc), the landscaping looks like it needs to be corrected so that it isn't sloping into the house. That could well be your problem right there. You're dealing with a basement, not a boat. Enough water gets in there, it will leak.Whoever is responsible for landscaping needs to get there and get a slope away from the house with topsoil and sod. Gutters might help too, if you don't have them already. These are the kind of things your builder should have told you, not dodging responsibility with "sweating concrete".
Thank you Marson.I not sure why it's taking so long to landscape, that could be it but under the deck the ground slopes more away than towards, still it needs to be remedied.The wetness seems to be a bit too concentrated.
Well, judging from your pics and your post it looks like the wetness is on the uphill side of the basement. I have recently seen this in a new house, and when we added some dirt to that side, to get some drainage from the foundation, the problem disappeared.Do you know if your drain tiles are daylighted? If so, are they clear and is water running out of them?
The tiles are not visible. Landscaping will give a better picture of whether there's a problem, thanks again
"The tiles are not visible."Where do they discharge?On splope like they they should discharge to daylight.The end might have been buried and not extend out.Had that happen on my house..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Sorry, should have explained more fully Bill and your comment has me thinking more.The contractor tied the tiles into the tiles of the existing house.The lot is irregular in 3 dimensions, and the house is an 800 sq foot octagon to make thing interesting. The top level is street level. The addition is build at street level and nests into the slope so that the bottom level has minimal fill at the back, and the back of the addition ties into the existing house which is on a level bench. There is an eight inch tile at the back where it's open and drains downhill but I cannot tell if the tiles around the older house ties into it. The existing house had an opening for the eight inch tile to drain the front of the house.
The images are fine, they're just big. Most of us use Picasa or Irfanview to resize to .jpg and 480 wide at 85%.
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Forrest - don't know about the leak
Edited 6/16/2008 9:01 pm ET by McDesign
Looks like a dehumifier would help.
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Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
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Concrete does not "sweat" as it cures. That's BS. Concrete will "sweat" if its surface temperature is cooler than the dewpoint, which will allow water vapor to condense on the concrete. This is pretty common during warm, humid weather.
It's hard to tell from your photos, but based on the location of the damp areas (at the base of the wall), I'd guess ground water (or roof runoff) is weeping into the joint between the wall and the slab. Would this wall be on the uphill side of your house by any chance? Heavy rain lately?
How long has the staining been evident?
Just noticed this for the first time this week end.Yes, it is on the uphill side.
First thing your downspouts are spilling all yer roof water about 6 " from the foundation , thtas alot of water right where you don't need it,they should be hooked up to the perimeter drain or directed away from the house.Rik
Good point, thanks Rik
never tie your gutters into the perimeter drain. thats really putting water where you dont need it.
gutters need their own path out
Thanks Maverick, it looks like that will help a lot
there no vapor barrier
There's no interior vapor barrier, for now it's a storage area.My concern is whether there will be an issue with the same wall that's inside the house, there's vapor barrier there but would water / moisture accumlate?