Basement waterproofing for concrete block.

A year and a half ago I had a concrete driveway addition in front of my house to make it wider and more accessible to our family. After the apron, my driveway slopes towards the house, and before adding it, I didn't consider the effect that it would have on drainage around my home. Soon, I noticed my basement was getting increasingly more wet. My problem was mostly the water that was staying in the block as it would be leaking even on dry, sunny days.

I began looking for solutions and found some suggestions from local retailers, and by browsing some forums online. I saw an advertisement for beaver baseboard drainage, and boy am I glad I did. I just wanted to say how happy i am with my beaver baseboard drainage system in my house. I ordered a DIY kit from their website last spring and installed it this summer in the problem area of my basement. It took me a while to get to it because I broke out the the floor and installed a sealed sump pump pit and pump that I had intended to plumb it to, but in the end, this system, along with the sump pump, and some zinsser water-tite, has cured my basement of the little rivers that used to run through it into the floor drains! I would recommend it to anyone with similar problems.

In the coming years, I will likely add a trench drain at the end of the driveway in front of the house running the length of the home to the back yard (my entire property is sloped) to further help alleviate the problems, but this was a very cost effective, quick, and easy solution in comparison.

Did you not water proof the outside of your wall, if that water is still in your wall it will slowly break down the strength of your wall.

Back home we use a black spray on tar, to first seal it then put the dimpled plastic water barrier, at the base of the foundation you put in weeping tile aka French drains to take the water away.

The pic will give you an idea what I mean

Where they just use the membrane we also use the spray on seal. The membrane had a hard plastic inside that the water hits and runs down, the outside of the membrane is drain cloth, allows water to pass through it then drain down the plastic.

The house was built in the 1930s and the block on the outside is coated, but I think the coating has broken down over time. I considered a weeping tile system on the outside of the house, but I think a trench drain would better handle the runoff and take care of the issue in the summer time. In the spring with freezing and thawing, a trench drain might be hit or miss on its performance, but the cost is lower than digging all the way around the foundation and installing a weeping tile system.

The beauty of the baseboard system is that it drains the water out of the block and keeps the block from breaking down. It might not last quite as long as if it never got water in it at all, but it will last longer than if it was full of water. Another thought I had was filling the concrete block with closed-cell expanding foam. It does not allow water permeation and it has great insulating properties. But then cost is a consideration as well.