Leaking Underground Garage Wall at Base
Leaking Underground Garage Wall at Base
(OP)
Please refer to the attachment.
An existing 2 story below-grade parking garage (below a superstructure office building) built in 1955 was leaking in the lowest storey in a number of locations around the garage. There is most probably the remains of the old soldier piles and lagging on the exterior side of the wall.
Within the last few weeks the leak locations were injected with polyurethane (several times) and that seems to generally have stopped the leaks except very near to the bottom of the wall. Have not determined if the leak is:
a) from above the top of the floor slab-on-grade, thru the wall, or
b) from below the top of the floor slab-on-grade, thru the wall, or
c) through the joint between the floor slab-on-grade and the wall.
The exterior side of the wall is a municipal sidewalk up tight to the wall and then the city main street. Digging down would be very expensive and disruptive.
Any suggestions on how to stop the leaks that are very near the bottom of the wall?
I wonder if drilling down into the wall, below the level of the top of the floor, with injection holes that are at an angle to the plane of any potential vertical cracks and injecting, would help?
Could possibly also urethane inject the vertical joint between the edge of the slab-on-grade and the wall.
Or would chipping out the metallic grout and placing crystalline grout in the reglet be better than injection?
Is there anything that could be injected behind the wall by drilling thru the wall from the interior side?






RE: Leaking Underground Garage Wall at Base
an idea that i've pitched a couple of times in recommendations but haven't seen anybody take the bait. how about putting a continuous curb in? maybe an 8"x8" member... or 12"x12". waterproof the joint with a compatible crack repair (i.e. crystalline grout) and waterproof the curb faces of the existing wall and floor with crystaline (Xypex)... maybe even tool in waterstop(s) into the slab (and maybe wall too) to be cast into the curb... provide anchorage to hold the curb into place. waterproof all the construction joint breaks in the curbing. i'm keeping it a little vague in this post since there is structural movement considerations out there.
RE: Leaking Underground Garage Wall at Base
An excellent point about the danger of filling a drain with the urethane, especially if they inject into the earth behind the wall.
I like your idea of a watertight curb, but it would have to have a drainage outlet somewhere...but I suppose that could be arranged.
RE: Leaking Underground Garage Wall at Base
I'd try to live with it. Add some floor drains.
RE: Leaking Underground Garage Wall at Base
a watertight curb/wheel stop water barrier is also an approach if you can make a place to collect and pump from but i would bet that the Owner will want dryness if they are going to spend money.
RE: Leaking Underground Garage Wall at Base
Adding some floor drains is what is currently contemplated, but requires breaking up the slab on grade and installing drain pipes below. Thought that perhaps with some thought that something a little more elegant and/or cost effective could be devised, but maybe not.
To darthsoilsguy2 (Geotechnical)- not sure I understand what you describe. Are you saying that the new curb would be cast against the interior face of the existing concrete wall, and that you would somehow make the vertical interface between the new curb and existing wall face watertight? Similarly for the joint between the bottom of the new curb and the top of the existing slab-on-grade? That is a tall order. The water would just come our somewhere else I expect.
RE: Leaking Underground Garage Wall at Base
RE: Leaking Underground Garage Wall at Base
RE: Leaking Underground Garage Wall at Base
To: oldestguy (Geotechnical): I rather like that idea. I'll give it some thought. Thanks. Although this is a commercial building and not a house, maybe it would still be acceptable.
RE: Leaking Underground Garage Wall at Base
RE: Leaking Underground Garage Wall at Base
By the way I don't see any sump pits in this building so I suspect there may not be any perimeter weeper system.
RE: Leaking Underground Garage Wall at Base
RE: Leaking Underground Garage Wall at Base
RE: Leaking Underground Garage Wall at Base