leaky pipe in wall

Frank Fusco

Member
Messages
12,782
Location
Mountain Home, Arkansas
My shop is in an extra long one-car garage of a walk-out basement. At the end furthest from the door is where the pipe and wires come into the house for the well pressure pump. This is also right next to my lathe. Where the pipe enters through a hole in the poured basement wall is about four feet underground on the outside. It is also under my deck. When we get heavy rains and the earth is saturated, water leaks through the pipe opening. The opening was poorly sealed when this was originally installed with only spray foam insulation. :( It should have been tarred from the outside before backfilling. But to correct that now would be a very expensive option. I plan to dig out as much of the useless foam as possible and (try to) plug the leak with something else. Problem is: I don't know what that "something else" should be to seal properly and last. Ideas welcome.
 

Attachments

  • leaky pipe.jpg
    leaky pipe.jpg
    61.5 KB · Views: 17
Lets back up and address the water. Is there anyway to get the water to run away before it becomes a problem? Move a gutter discharge? Change the grading so that the water runs away? Add a drain box and drain line?

If there is a way, keeping the water away from the wall is the real cure. Of course that is not always possible and I realize that. But the leak is often a symptom, not the problem.

I had water getting in my crawl space which would eventually leak into my basement because my builder thought he knew more than me! And I backed down and shouldn't have, but that is another story. I installed a sump pump and that got the water out but didn't cure the problem, the reason water was getting in there in the first place. I rented a ditcher, installed a drain box and ran a drain around the house to the back. That solved the problem. No water in the crawl space anymore.

I don't have any good ideas on how to seal that hole. Is hydraulic concrete not porous? Would the water still seep in? Not familiar with it.
 
Lets back up and address the water. Is there anyway to get the water to run away before it becomes a problem? Move a gutter discharge? Change the grading so that the water runs away? Add a drain box and drain line?

If there is a way, keeping the water away from the wall is the real cure. Of course that is not always possible and I realize that. But the leak is often a symptom, not the problem.

I had water getting in my crawl space which would eventually leak into my basement because my builder thought he knew more than me! And I backed down and shouldn't have, but that is another story. I installed a sump pump and that got the water out but didn't cure the problem, the reason water was getting in there in the first place. I rented a ditcher, installed a drain box and ran a drain around the house to the back. That solved the problem. No water in the crawl space anymore.

I don't have any good ideas on how to seal that hole. Is hydraulic concrete not porous? Would the water still seep in? Not familiar with it.


No way to change flow of water. The ground slopes from front to rear with the rear being the 'walk-out' side of the house. The water problem isn't serious flooding but I do get a puddle.
I'll check further, but I believe hydraulic cement is water impervious once cured.
Tearing up my deck and hiring a backhoe is what I am trying to avoid.
 
I've asked around and many have said they have used Hydraulic Cement ( I think it's called water stop) for this. It seems that it really doesn't expand so much...but it doesn't shrink as much as regular cement. However I'd call Quikrete help line ...
1-800-282-5828 to find out exactly what they recommend.
 
I've asked around and many have said they have used Hydraulic Cement ( I think it's called water stop) for this. It seems that it really doesn't expand so much...but it doesn't shrink as much as regular cement. However I'd call Quikrete help line ...
1-800-282-5828 to find out exactly what they recommend.

Thanks. I just came back from Lowe's and looked over everything they had that could be squoshed or squeezed into the cracks. Everything except Quickcrete hydraulic cement warned not to use below water line. A bucket, which is about 20X more than I need only costs $10.00. Now, I'm looking for some kind of oversized syringe to do the squirting with.
 
...I'm looking for some kind of oversized syringe to do the squirting with.
Turkey baster, perhaps? How fluid is the cement? Is there a way to rig up a baster tube with an air fitting on the fat end? If the mud's viscous enough, you could pack the tube with mud, put the air fitting on the end, and push it into the cracks.

I've dealt with a lot of concrete, but have no experience with hydraulic cement. :dunno:
 
Yep, zip locks work well, but the other thing that works as well, is a whipping cream bag, it even has a tip that you can cut to whatever size you like, the disposable ones are not that expensive, and with the hard plastic tip on it, you can get into spots that the zip lock don't.

I've seen a product here, they told me they got it from the US, it is a spray on thing, like water, but it seals the concrete by going through it to the other side, it travels right through the concrete from one side to the other, making it water proof. I know it would not seal your hole, but I wonder if you do seal the hole, if the water would then seep through your actual concrete wall?

Water, as I'm sure you know, can be VERY destructive, sure it might cost you a bit now to fix this problem, but compared to letting it eat away at you house for another 10 years and then fixing it............???

Good luck!
 
Yep, zip locks work well, but the other thing that works as well, is a whipping cream bag, it even has a tip that you can cut to whatever size you like, the disposable ones are not that expensive, and with the hard plastic tip on it, you can get into spots that the zip lock don't.

I've seen a product here, they told me they got it from the US, it is a spray on thing, like water, but it seals the concrete by going through it to the other side, it travels right through the concrete from one side to the other, making it water proof. I know it would not seal your hole, but I wonder if you do seal the hole, if the water would then seep through your actual concrete wall?

Water, as I'm sure you know, can be VERY destructive, sure it might cost you a bit now to fix this problem, but compared to letting it eat away at you house for another 10 years and then fixing it............???

Good luck!


The whipping cream bag sounds like a good possibility. I'm going to check the veterinarian supply for a huge syringe. If that doesn't pan out I'll probably use one of those cooking devices.
The concrete wall is tarred so I'm not concerned about seepage and haven't had any problems previously. Whoever put this pipe through simply did not do their job before the trench was backfilled. And the spray insulation is/was not the proper remedy.
I called the help line for Quickcrete and it was suggested I use their 'quick setting cement' instead of hydraulic cement. I'm going to stay with hydraulic because I want the extended working time to make sure I get plenty squished/squirted through the tiny cracks.
It won't be easy or fun and there are no guarantees but I believe it will work OK.
We have been in this house for five years, it was six years old when we bought it and we love it. The upside is that this is the first construction defect we have encountered, otherwise the quality of the work was top-notch so I can't gripe too much.
But, I don't ever want to meet the single lazy lout that caused this problem.
 
Freezer bags will work fine, but you can also check into a grout bag at Lowes. Basically a funnel shaped bag for grout work. Roll the top and it's like putting icing on a cake (no pun intended). Good luck with the repair!
 
Top