Leaking birdbath

Plumbing Forums

Help Support Plumbing Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Izia

Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2010
Messages
7
Reaction score
1
Location
Bethesda, MD
I have a regular concrete birdbath with a nice fountain which used to hold a couple of inches of water but now leaks at the edges and consequently hold only an inch of so at the center. The concrete, which is a couple of inches thick, evidently cracked during the winter. What's my best bet? Sealing on the top? Or from the bottom? or a liner? if so, which product(s) should I best use? Thanks!
 
Depends how big the crack is. For larger cracks there are a ton of different sealants that can be applied with a caulking gun. Ask at your local hardware store and they should be able to direct you to the one that would wokr best for you.


If they are hairline cracks that you can barely see you may want to consider a product such as Drylock; a waterproofing paint. I've used this on weeping concrete walls for about 15 years now and have never had a problem.

Sealing the inside of the bath would be your best bet, since sealing the outside would mean that water sits in the cracks and adds to the problem. Sealing both sides would trap existing moisture in the concrete and lead to further cracking.
 
I have one that leaked right off the get go. Made up a thin mix of tile grout and painted the inside of the birdbath with it. It sealed up the cracks and the porosity in general. Been a few years and still holding.
 
Tile grout will work great and bond very well to the concrete, you can also use Rapid set grout or mortar mix with great results. We use it to seal up storm drains so I would think it will work great for a bird bath.
 
I have one that leaked right off the get go. Made up a thin mix of tile grout and painted the inside of the birdbath with it. It sealed up the cracks and the porosity in general. Been a few years and still holding.

I did the same thing just a couple weeks ago - working nicely so far.
 
thank you all for your suggestions. I eventually used a quick setting mortar mix for the large cracks and missing pieces, and then sealed it with the tile grout mix some of you mentioned. Bottom line, bird bath sealed and problem solved. Thanks to you and to the Forum!
 

Latest posts

Back
Top