How do I prevent flooding in a garage converted to a room?
by Jose
+9
Bought this house havent even moved in yet. It rained all day they converted garage door to wall with window. Put tile floor and didnt level garage floor with living room. Now came home and were garage door was there was like 1 1/2 of rain water. Now why is this happening? Left came back stoped raining and water level was decreased where is it coming from?
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This is a photo of water where garage was
Jose
Sorry this happened to you in your new home. Here are some ideas I found that might help you with why you are getting flooding. First of all you need to be sure this was permitted to turn the garage into a room. It could be from the slope of the dirt/landscape out front.
https://aerindustries.com/blog/2017/07/31/prevent-flooding-garage/
https://www.fleximounts.com/5-tips-to-protect-garage-from-flooding-and-flood/
Maybe you could get a contractor out to give you a free estimate or idea what is causing this. Good luck and hope you get it all worked out.
Hello. We’ve had two residences that have had problems with water penetrating, both homes had a slight downwards grade elevation —water would run towards the home. The first case we had to put in French drains with two sump pumps -inside the homes to stop the problem. Additionally the septic in front of the house was in poor condition and operational but I think the soil was saturated.
The second situation the exterior drains around the house had failed- the house is being remodeled and by placing new drains round of the perimeter of the house the problem is fixed.
I’m not too sure either these ideas would help solve your situation.
You may wish to examine your homes grade- extending gutter placement and look into French drain systems.
Since this was a garage, that would mean a slab foundation. It sounds like the slab was cracked and ground water rose up into your room because the slab was not sealed. That's my theory.
It would be of benefit to you to go there when it starts raining and actually see where the water is coming from. You might have a high water table and this flooding is coming from that.Unless some flaw is very obvious, the source remains a mystery.
Cheryl makes a good point about the permitting of a garage being converted to a room.
This post if more about you paying for damages. If you haven't even moved in yet contact the agent if you had one. There are implied warranties with a home purchase that may cover you damages. If you get no action from the agent and the seller's insurance, contact the Board of Realtors in your area.
Jose....You need to take your issues back to the realtor...maybe someone failed to release info you needed. Surprised that inspectors didn't find some type of issue when the inspection was done. These were issues that are usually left for the seller to correct or other negotiating can be done. Make pictures when these things are going on...guess it's too late for this one but hopefully you thought to do it! Good luck
If you had an inspection, I would start with the inspector. My best guess would be they didn't add gutters to the new addition or the downspout doesn't move the water far enough away from the building.
You may also need a French Drain to move water away from the wall if the property drains down towards the building. You can do both these improvements yourself. Look at some videos from the drainage experts.... Apple Drains has tons of videos.... https://www.youtube.com/user/appledrains/videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj6qFb5i2m0
I assume they built the wall right onto the garage slab without putting down any caulk or foundation sealer. The rain water is getting under the wood framing where it meets the concrete. The slight slope of the concrete floor lets water drain out when it stops raining. One thing I would do is use spray foam insulation and squeeze the thinnest tube between the wood and concrete both inside and outside. It will expand as it fills any gaps and be messy. Once it's hard cut out what expanded. Then use rubberized caulk to seal the gap between the wood and concrete. Again inside and outside.
Go back to your contract and see if you can recoup anything not previously declared. So sorry that you have that before moving in!
The base of the wall was probably not sealed off properly so as to avoid any rain from entering. Dig down outside and put in a corrugated water pipe over a crushed rock base to steer the water away from the foundation. The holes in the pipe are placed near the bottom, next to the gravel so the water is picked up and removed. Cover the top with more gravel and landscaping fabric.
Home inspector didn't catch that?
Call the Builders back to fix the problem! I take it you go all the building control permissions before the conversion?