Water leaking slab foundation
by
Terri
+8
My home was built in the 80's. I live in Okla., last month with all the rains I started getting water coming in and soaking carpets. I have a slab foundation. I pulled the carpet up and found no cracks. I thought the water was coming in where the air conditioner lines and hot water lines run into the house. I sealed all of that but when it rained again I got more water. Could it be I didn't get the bottom sealed good? When it started raining yesterday we more carpets became soaked. I am not home, a friend is house sitting and cleaning up the water now. I took out a section of the drywall last month also and there was no water damage behind the wall. And the water looked like it was getting in around the hole for the lines. What is best to seal this area with? There is a rock garden outside of that part of the house. I actually have pictures with me of the outside . Any suggestions
10 answers
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Sounds like your grading around your house could be sloped wrong. We had this problem, but we have a basement. We had all the grading fixed (to slope away from the house) and also make sure that all your gutters are clean. This is the first step. Otherwise call a professional - this is something that may be bigger than just a DIY project.
Janel
on Jun 18, 2015
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I had a company run a drainage system along side of the house with submerged sump pump that pumps water out into the yard. when water reaches a certain level after rain storm.. It cost a little but not having a wet smelly house for weeks after a rain is worth it.
Judy
on Jun 18, 2015
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Great advice above. One definite is that your gutter drains at the house. It should drain further away from the house. Second, after extending gutter, be sure it is flowing away from house and not back to it. If these don't work, time to call a professional in. But definitely get as much water away from your home!
Hope Williams
on Jun 19, 2015
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First the very heavy rains are causing water to pool around your footings and water could be coming over the footings of your foundation. Any sloping in your yard or neighbors yards could be causing water to pool there. Gutters need extensions on Downspouts to direct water away from foundation. You may need to have french drains installed, or resloping of the ground next to your foundation. There are various things which can be done but until the right thing or combination of things are done you will continue to have the problem. We live in an area with sloping yards and get a lot of run off from higher yards. Almost all of our neighbors and us have had to have landscape company out to do dirt work to reslope, install drains and so on. Since you are getting water inside your home it is important to have professionals out to give advice as to what to do. We also live in Oklahoma. Our town just got national attention for the heaviest rainfall from Bill. Our vacation property, also in Oklahoma has a different kind of problem....soil literally washing away. I am ready for a very long dry spell myself. Good luck!
Merryheart
on Jun 19, 2015
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From what I can see in the picture, it looks as though your landscaping (rocks) come up over the foundation. I don't know where solid ground starts, but if it is too high on the foundation, this could be the problem. Most houses have what is called weep holes in the brick. The water could be coming in that way.
Txstout
on Jun 19, 2015
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We live in Madill, Oklahoma between Ardmore and Lake Texoma. We just bought this house and we were getting water through our floor HVAC ducts. Surprise! First thing we did in the middle of this mess is put 5 ft. Extensions on the gutters. With a shovel, hoe, and rake,we went around the house and open up or trenched any place where the water was pooled against the foundation. These two things helped tremendously! As soon as the ground dries some we will go around the house and pull the dirt back to the foundation if possible and check the first layer of brick. This is where the "weep holes" are found. When they lay brick the first row has verticle slits in the brick every so often. This prevents water from seeping in and prevents bricks from flaking. Long term, we will do like everyone else suggested.... Get a professional to prevent any more problems. By the way.. Makes you wonder if there was a problem before if they put all the gravel next to the foundation. And last, if you don't get the water away from your house, it can ruin it. The foundation can heave and that will ruin a house!! Good luck and we can hope this is over.
Brenda
on Jun 19, 2015
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Also, if your ducts are under the house they can fill with water. We had to have ours put in the ceiling as well as the furnace. We had to have a recovery crew pump out the water fro the ducts as they were caving in and air flow was now bad. I live in Oklhoma City and under stand completely..Mary C
Mary cynova
on Jun 19, 2015
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Ever time it would rain our bedroom would be flood.My husband took and put alot of dirt on that side of the house and it stop it. The dirt gets wore down in time and by doing this the water starts coming in.You've got to keep the dirt level up or it will flood your room.Hope this helps you. Midwest City,Okla. Good luck!
Sherry Curtis
on Jun 19, 2015
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I would try building up the dirt against the house to slope away from the house first before anything else. It appears from the picture that water drains toward the house, everything will rundown the lowest spot. Cheapest, easiest thing first. We had this problem for awhile and this solved it for us.
Sue Kabourek
on Jun 19, 2015
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Txstout right on. Get leaves, dirt and such back below where house meets foundation. Then run some silicon or such.
Janet
on Jun 25, 2015
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