I’ve been having some basement moisture issues in my recently purchased 1947 built home in Baltimore. Last year we had a ton of rain and had water puddling in on the floors. I dug out and installed French drains around the house to deal with the water, but this past week I tore out the drywall and framing in the basement as I knew there was rot. Well I found this hole in the basement wall. The house was “renovated” by a company flipping homes and they just framed and dry-walled over this hole instead of properly patching it. On the other side is an old boiler tank and that our front brick porch is built over.
My question is how to I properly patch this hole? I can’t access it from the exterior, so my concern is waterproofing it. Since we’ve had water come through this area in the past, I want to try and treat the exterior to reduce moisture penetrating through. Any advice would be most welcome.
Additionally, the basement wall is a mixture of both cinder block and stone.
Replies
Since it's under the porch are you sure it's leaking?
Maybe a SS plate cut larger than the hole with room for a big gasket. Run bolts through the plate to some cross pieces inside and tighten them down to compress the gasket.
Yeah that's where we had water coming in. It only happened when Maryland had unprecedented rainfall last summer though, I wouldn't expect it to keep happening. Additionally, I added in some drainage to help mitigate in the future.
Thanks for your reply. I hadn't thought of using a plate an gasket before. I'll have to look into that a bit more.
Hi there, My mason would remove the wood bucks from the opening, then simply block the wall up with brick or block. Hydraulic cement might be a good idea at all the new work to old wall joints. It won't be "waterproof", but probably just as "waterproof" as any other part of your foundation. Another option (more DIY friendly) is similar to what Florida suggested.... Take a peice of PVC trim sheet stock, cut it 2 or 3 inches wider and taller than the opening, put a very thick bead of silicone, Lexel, Liquid Nails, or a 3m Marine sealant around the outside edges of the opening, then pass the PVC sheet through the hole at an angle and bed it in the sealant. You'll need a handle of some type to hold and pull the PVC back towards yourself. A couple of partially driven screws or a cheapo gate handle would work. You'll also need to clamp it there until the sealant dries. Just a thought... Good luck