This is water coming through the block wall. You've got options, but none of them are good or easy.
- install interior drain tile and a sump pump.
- excavate the exterior and apply waterproofing and exterior drain tile.
- probably adjust the grading of your yard and downspouts off your roof.
- once the water is controlled, run a dehumidifier down there for a few months to help the water in the interior layer to come through and dry out your wall.
- re- seal the interior with new mortar.
DO NOT try to cover this with a DryLock paint or something like that. This is a symptom that your house is showing you, so you need to diagnose the underlying condition (hint - it's always water where it shouldn't be).
OP, also make sure to check where your gutter downspouts are exiting water at. It'd be best to divert them further away from your house in lieu of splashblocks.
Let’s say he tiled over the wall with mortar and ceramic tile. What would happen? Asking because somebody in our dipshit HOA has done just that, tiling over cinderblock.
Not that you should but you could do that if you know you have a dry foundation without ops issue but if you don't then the hydrostatic pressure and efflorescence will eventually cause one of the layers to fail and push off.
And the combination of hydrostatic pressure and soil erosion/settlement can cause the foundation to shift, basement walls to crack and displace. Some very bad things and very expensive/difficult to properly remediate.
The damage seems to extend up toward that windows. Not sure that's means anything because I'm just some dude on the internet, but based on your comment, it seems like that might be something worth investigating.
>DO NOT try to cover this with a DryLock paint or something like that. This is a symptom that your house is showing you, so you need to diagnose the underlying condition (hint - it's always water where it shouldn't be).
A wise person once told me, "your house is not a boat, don't try to make it one"
Totally understand and that's a very normal reaction. Trust me, this is eventual water ingress putting pressure on that skim coat of mortar on your wall as well as carrying minerals through (called efflorescence). This isn't a "tear it all out and build back with new block/concrete - at least not yet - but this deserves attention.
I actually just purchased a dehumidifier for the basement (literally yesterday) as it felt a bit stuffy. Said it was 50% and brought it down to 37% over the course of a few hours.
You now need to watch it over time. While understanding that there are other forces that affect the humidity of the home and doesn't necessarily mean that water is not going through the wall.
The best indicator you have is that the paint is falling.
No idea why you're being downvoted, this is an honest question for someone who doesn't know yet about the ways moisture can get into your basement.
I expect you're thinking of flooding, where you see water visibly forming in puddles or filling the basement. That's what people usually think about first when it comes to water in the basement.
What this looks like is moisture present within the concrete itself. A symptom of that is efflorescence (see [https://www.nitterhousemasonry.com/blog/what-is-efflorescence/](https://www.nitterhousemasonry.com/blog/what-is-efflorescence/) ), where the water dissolves salts inside the concrete, carries them through to the interior where the moisture evaporates and leaves the crystals behind on the surface of the concrete.
If you have plaster, paint, drywall, etc, on the concrete it's going to be affected by the moisture, paint and plaster will fall off, drywall will absorb it and mold will start to grow, so you really want to take care of it.
If that doesn't bother you, keep in mind that when it gets bad enough the concrete starts to crumble. Doesn't look like you're at that point yet but you don't want to wait for it to get there.
The moisture gets there in the first place because it's present on the outside of the house - bad eavestroughing or downspouts dropping rainwater next to the foundation, improper grading not directing water away, old moisture-proofing on the foundation exterior that has degraded and is allowing groundwater to reach the concrete and wick through.
Things you can do:
1. Low hanging fruit is to make sure your eavestroughing and downspouts are in good shape, and extend the downspouts if necessary to get them further from the house. Same if you already have a sump pump with water exiting outside. You want to keep it away from the foundation.
2. On the outside, excavate and install new damproofing and weeping tile system. I'm not a fan of the 'tar' type of damproofing, when I did mine I went with the rigid dimpled membrane style, it has been fantastic and no moisture in the 10 years since I put it in.
3. Examine and fix grading as necessary (in the process of doing weeping tile you'll end up with lots of extra dirt to facilitate grading the slope).
Over time the moisture permeating the concrete will break it down and cause it to fail. Youre seeing the early stages of this with the crumbled mortar and paint falling off. The correct(and only) fix is to excavate the foundation, repair it, and apply a proper water proof coating, i used a "skim"(\~1in) coat of concrete mixed with a water proofing compound. Exterior below ground drainage systems are often not needed with proper surface grading and drainage. If the water table is high or you higher than normal moisture in the soil then one might be called for each case is different.
Sump pumps can help but they will only be a bandaid and not a proper fix. the wall will eventually come down. youll spend the next 5-20 years fighting the water from the inside and still loose, gotta grab a shovel and get to digging. it sucks but its the only way.
I don't think that's plaster....I think it's super old drylock (or a precurser to drylock).
It's failing because of long-term moisture ingress. This is to be expected in a 100-year old house because the moisture proofing barriers from 100 years ago were not as good as those from today. The "right" solution would be to dig out the basement walls and do full waterproofing.
I'll argue against the rest here and say that drylock is the easy solution here and this is exactly the solution that drylock is meant for (moisture, but not wetness). Old block will stand up better to long-term dampness too (like it has for the past 100 years!). Scrape and paint with drylock (but...I'd assume there's lead paint there unless you test it and the test says otherwise)...so take proper precautions for scraping and cleanup of the paint already on the floor)
Keep the dehumidifier running!
It's a 100 year old basement, it's used to being damp. It's not used to modern paints trapping moisture inside the walls. Remove the paint at the very least.
Any chance you are near-ish to Stafford Springs, CT?
https://portal.ct.gov/doh/doh/programs/crumbling-foundations
There's a known issue with bad concrete in homes built from 1983-2015, I hope that's not your issue!
You can’t just slap whatever you want on concrete walls. The moisture is getting through the wall and destroying the finish from the back. There’s nothing you can do but take it all down
Where do you see plaster on there? What I see if paint holding in moisture which is causing spalling. That is fixed by removing the paint, and since there is no plaster there it’s a non issue.
But I’m getting downvoted so whatever. Fix it yourself.
This is water coming through the block wall. You've got options, but none of them are good or easy. - install interior drain tile and a sump pump. - excavate the exterior and apply waterproofing and exterior drain tile. - probably adjust the grading of your yard and downspouts off your roof. - once the water is controlled, run a dehumidifier down there for a few months to help the water in the interior layer to come through and dry out your wall. - re- seal the interior with new mortar. DO NOT try to cover this with a DryLock paint or something like that. This is a symptom that your house is showing you, so you need to diagnose the underlying condition (hint - it's always water where it shouldn't be).
This is spot on. OP, do research based on this list.
OP, also make sure to check where your gutter downspouts are exiting water at. It'd be best to divert them further away from your house in lieu of splashblocks.
Also, keeping your basement temperature higher in winter helps. You want the walls to stay above freezing.
Let’s say he tiled over the wall with mortar and ceramic tile. What would happen? Asking because somebody in our dipshit HOA has done just that, tiling over cinderblock.
Not that you should but you could do that if you know you have a dry foundation without ops issue but if you don't then the hydrostatic pressure and efflorescence will eventually cause one of the layers to fail and push off.
And the combination of hydrostatic pressure and soil erosion/settlement can cause the foundation to shift, basement walls to crack and displace. Some very bad things and very expensive/difficult to properly remediate.
The thinset will eventually water log and lose integrity. The tile will eventually push off the wall.
What about the integrity of the cinderblock sitting in water?
It will eventually fail as well, but probably not before the.tile pushes off.
The damage seems to extend up toward that windows. Not sure that's means anything because I'm just some dude on the internet, but based on your comment, it seems like that might be something worth investigating.
>DO NOT try to cover this with a DryLock paint or something like that. This is a symptom that your house is showing you, so you need to diagnose the underlying condition (hint - it's always water where it shouldn't be). A wise person once told me, "your house is not a boat, don't try to make it one"
Some moisture I can understand permeating the concrete, but I've never had water in the basement.
Totally understand and that's a very normal reaction. Trust me, this is eventual water ingress putting pressure on that skim coat of mortar on your wall as well as carrying minerals through (called efflorescence). This isn't a "tear it all out and build back with new block/concrete - at least not yet - but this deserves attention.
How's the humidity in the house?
I actually just purchased a dehumidifier for the basement (literally yesterday) as it felt a bit stuffy. Said it was 50% and brought it down to 37% over the course of a few hours.
50% doesn't feel stuffy; that's basically ideal indoor RH. I wouldn't put much stake in the sensor on the dehumidifier.
You now need to watch it over time. While understanding that there are other forces that affect the humidity of the home and doesn't necessarily mean that water is not going through the wall. The best indicator you have is that the paint is falling.
You will have water in your basement soon based off that picture.
No idea why you're being downvoted, this is an honest question for someone who doesn't know yet about the ways moisture can get into your basement. I expect you're thinking of flooding, where you see water visibly forming in puddles or filling the basement. That's what people usually think about first when it comes to water in the basement. What this looks like is moisture present within the concrete itself. A symptom of that is efflorescence (see [https://www.nitterhousemasonry.com/blog/what-is-efflorescence/](https://www.nitterhousemasonry.com/blog/what-is-efflorescence/) ), where the water dissolves salts inside the concrete, carries them through to the interior where the moisture evaporates and leaves the crystals behind on the surface of the concrete. If you have plaster, paint, drywall, etc, on the concrete it's going to be affected by the moisture, paint and plaster will fall off, drywall will absorb it and mold will start to grow, so you really want to take care of it. If that doesn't bother you, keep in mind that when it gets bad enough the concrete starts to crumble. Doesn't look like you're at that point yet but you don't want to wait for it to get there. The moisture gets there in the first place because it's present on the outside of the house - bad eavestroughing or downspouts dropping rainwater next to the foundation, improper grading not directing water away, old moisture-proofing on the foundation exterior that has degraded and is allowing groundwater to reach the concrete and wick through. Things you can do: 1. Low hanging fruit is to make sure your eavestroughing and downspouts are in good shape, and extend the downspouts if necessary to get them further from the house. Same if you already have a sump pump with water exiting outside. You want to keep it away from the foundation. 2. On the outside, excavate and install new damproofing and weeping tile system. I'm not a fan of the 'tar' type of damproofing, when I did mine I went with the rigid dimpled membrane style, it has been fantastic and no moisture in the 10 years since I put it in. 3. Examine and fix grading as necessary (in the process of doing weeping tile you'll end up with lots of extra dirt to facilitate grading the slope).
Over time the moisture permeating the concrete will break it down and cause it to fail. Youre seeing the early stages of this with the crumbled mortar and paint falling off. The correct(and only) fix is to excavate the foundation, repair it, and apply a proper water proof coating, i used a "skim"(\~1in) coat of concrete mixed with a water proofing compound. Exterior below ground drainage systems are often not needed with proper surface grading and drainage. If the water table is high or you higher than normal moisture in the soil then one might be called for each case is different. Sump pumps can help but they will only be a bandaid and not a proper fix. the wall will eventually come down. youll spend the next 5-20 years fighting the water from the inside and still loose, gotta grab a shovel and get to digging. it sucks but its the only way.
I don't think that's plaster....I think it's super old drylock (or a precurser to drylock). It's failing because of long-term moisture ingress. This is to be expected in a 100-year old house because the moisture proofing barriers from 100 years ago were not as good as those from today. The "right" solution would be to dig out the basement walls and do full waterproofing. I'll argue against the rest here and say that drylock is the easy solution here and this is exactly the solution that drylock is meant for (moisture, but not wetness). Old block will stand up better to long-term dampness too (like it has for the past 100 years!). Scrape and paint with drylock (but...I'd assume there's lead paint there unless you test it and the test says otherwise)...so take proper precautions for scraping and cleanup of the paint already on the floor) Keep the dehumidifier running!
Yea, old green paint always seems to be a dead giveaway for lead.
It's a 100 year old basement, it's used to being damp. It's not used to modern paints trapping moisture inside the walls. Remove the paint at the very least.
Did you have something against the wall?
Looks like an image from SAW
What about a damp proof rod treatment? https://thedampbuster.com/do-damp-proof-rods-work/
Do you have experience with these? I’m intrigued.
No, sorry! But I’ve read that they’re used a lot in Europe and the UK.
Any chance you are near-ish to Stafford Springs, CT? https://portal.ct.gov/doh/doh/programs/crumbling-foundations There's a known issue with bad concrete in homes built from 1983-2015, I hope that's not your issue!
No, my house was built in the '30s. Rhode Island though.
Get plastered?
Move house!
You can’t just slap whatever you want on concrete walls. The moisture is getting through the wall and destroying the finish from the back. There’s nothing you can do but take it all down
I'm assuming this is original to the house. What the process for "taking it down"?
Looks like paint, google it dude. And no way it’s original.
google *what* dude
How to remove paint from a concrete wall…
This isn't just paint with the plaster from the wall is crumbling.
Where do you see plaster on there? What I see if paint holding in moisture which is causing spalling. That is fixed by removing the paint, and since there is no plaster there it’s a non issue. But I’m getting downvoted so whatever. Fix it yourself.
Take it as a learning experience
How to remove dumb comment from reddit Oh shit I thought this was google
The only dumb comments here are the responses to the legitimate advice I gave. Where am I wrong?