How can I stop water entering under porch and seeping through basement walls?

[hell0w0rld]

I recently discovered water is seeping through basement walls from under the front porch. Posting this to get fact-checked and read your suggestions on how to address the issue.

Given how close to water main the seeping was, I suspected the underground water was seeping through the foundation hole made for water main. Upon digging, I realized I might be right as the hole in foundation wasn't patched at all (see pictures below).

I dug the mud under the water main, in the hope of proving that hypothesis at the next rain day (dug today, so waiting for it) if the basement wall remain dry during/after heavy rain. Is that any useful?

I've showed the issue inside the basement to 3 companies, all tried to sell me in-basement perimeter drains. Which I do not think would solve the moisture issue and especially not solve the root cause.

Note: this is not a water main leak! I have verified that hypothesis multiple times.

Below are some pictures that demonstrate findings:

View of the front of house from street:



Side and front lawns are both slopping toward the house. Side lawn seems to discharge to a sump pump in corner of the house, front lawn is so that I suspect water passes under the porch foundations via the bushes. I verified that with a hose running for a while. I suppose I should be regrading both side and front lawn.

View of under the porch 'crawl space':



Mud under porch slops negative towards foundations. I guess I should revert that, or make sure it’s at least flat? Could it be an issue with gas/water lines?

Location of water accumulating against basement wall (this corresponds with where the moisture is found in basement):



This was the only spot that appeared soaked to start with. The rest of the mud alongside that same wall seems dry. This made me think the water could be coming through a hole in the front porch underground wall. Anyone know of porch foundations go as deep as basement walls?

I dug the mud at the problem location to see if water does not seep through at next rain day:



Below is the moisture visible on basement wall:



My plan

To prevent water under porch to accumulate against wall and seeps through cracks:

1. Patch water main hole on basement wall under porch with hydraulic cement
2. Paint over that patch with some waterproof layer
3. Regrade mud positively under porch
4. Patch potential similar issue on front wall under porch

To prevent water to seep under porche:

1. Remove bushes and check if hole around water main needs a similar fix
2. Regrade both side and front lawns to have a positive slope towards home foundations
3. Re-plant some bushes.

Some questions

• Is it fair to think my front porch front walls to not go as deep as the basement walls? If so, that means the water could be passing *under* those walls and my above solution won’t prevent water from seeping under the porch.
• Should all of the above fail, what would be your suggestions? I’ve read about something called Hydraway, some sort of a membrane that leads to a sump pit, though not sure what it's worth or where I would evacuate that pump.

Any different thoughts or suggestions to address the issue?

Thank you very much for reading! I will update this post if I received requests for clarification.

 

[XR250]

I would attack this by trying to manage your surface runoff. Looks like you could use some better grading. Where do your downspouts discharge? Maybe also add a deep trench (French) drain in front of the porch. Also, this is not really a forum for homeowners to get advice.

 

[hell0w0rld]

I would attack this by trying to manage your surface runoff. Looks like you could use some better grading. Where do your downspouts discharge? Maybe also add a deep trench (French) drain in front of the porch. Also, this is not really a forum for homeowners to get advice.

The front downspout is draining on the left side of the house (opposite corner seen in the picture), I would be surprised if this had any influence. The back of the house one empties back right corner of the house, and water runoffs towards the back of the garden. Which made me rule downspouts as the issue here.

I thought of the French drain in front of the porch, which I could direct to the side of the house drain. I guess it would address overground water runoffs, but leaves me with the underground water movements.

Haven’t posted in a homeowner’s forum as I don’t think expertise is there, as you can see with my question

 

[JoshPlumSE]

There are easy ways to "plug" the hole as well. I had a similar issue with my parents' house 25 (or more) years ago. I went through the crawl space under the house looking for anywhere I could see "daylight". I had some self expanding foam stuff that I got from Home Depot and just sprayed it in two or three spots where it looked like rain water could get in. Of course, this wasn't a "structural" fix in any way. Just a moisture infiltration issue.

My first semi-engineering job while I was in college was working for a company that specialized in "building envelope" design. That mostly means that they investigate water leaks do to poor roofing or window design. There are cheap and easy solutions to many of these problems. But, those cheap and easy solutions are best viewed as short term solutions.

For my parent's house, I pointed out to my Dad where around the outside of the house the water was making it's way into the crawl space (and then traveling all the way to the other side of the house). And, said that he really needed to hire someone to re-grade the soil around this part of the house so that it divert the water away from the area that had been leaking.

 

[jhnblgr]

The best way to mitigate water is to prevent it from getting to the wall, footing perimeter drain backfilled with clean stone discharge to daylight or sump. You must have a way to legally discharge the water since it should not leave your lot, infiltration units. Maybe look into water proofing the exterior walls with a membrane system

 

[hell0w0rld]

The best way to mitigate water is to prevent it from getting to the wall, footing perimeter drain backfilled with clean stone discharge to daylight or sump. You must have a way to legally discharge the water since it should not leave your lot, infiltration units. Maybe look into water proofing the exterior walls with a membrane system

Waterproofing the exterior walls would only stop the water from penetrating the wall but wouldn't stop the water from pooling against the wall, so I don't see that as a solution; at least not a complete solution.

Footing perimeter drain would probably help evacuate the water away. Did you mean at basement footing or front porch footing?

 

[hell0w0rld]

There are easy ways to "plug" the hole as well. I had a similar issue with my parents' house 25 (or more) years ago. I went through the crawl space under the house looking for anywhere I could see "daylight". I had some self expanding foam stuff that I got from Home Depot and just sprayed it in two or three spots where it looked like rain water could get in. Of course, this wasn't a "structural" fix in any way. Just a moisture infiltration issue.

My first semi-engineering job while I was in college was working for a company that specialized in "building envelope" design. That mostly means that they investigate water leaks do to poor roofing or window design. There are cheap and easy solutions to many of these problems. But, those cheap and easy solutions are best viewed as short term solutions.

For my parent's house, I pointed out to my Dad where around the outside of the house the water was making it's way into the crawl space (and then traveling all the way to the other side of the house). And, said that he really needed to hire someone to re-grade the soil around this part of the house so that it divert the water away from the area that had been leaking.

Regrading the outside will probably be the most help, as pointed out by the post above. It will make sure this is done once I have patched the various holes in basement walls and possibly front porch wall.

 

[XR250]

I thought of the French drain in front of the porch, which I could direct to the side of the house drain. I guess it would address overground water runoffs, but leaves me with the underground water movements.

If deep enough, it takes care of subsurface water as well.

 

[jhnblgr]

Waterproofing the exterior walls would only stop the water from penetrating the wall but wouldn't stop the water from pooling against the wall, so I don't see that as a solution; at least not a complete solution.

Footing perimeter drain would probably help evacuate the water away. Did you mean at basement footing or front porch footing?

Reading comprehension is lacking here, you completely disregard my first sentence

 

[hell0w0rld]

Reading comprehension is lacking here, you completely disregard my first sentence

I'm not sure how I ignored your first sentence. I also asked a question about it, which *you* ignored:

"Did you mean at basement footing or front porch footing?"

If it seems like I ignored it, maybe it's just a misunderstanding on my side.

Thanks anyway!

 

[SWComposites]

First step in these type of problems is to get the water away from the wall, so move downspouts and regrade the outside areas.