Are you effing kidding me?! (Water in my basement)

[Exterous]

A bit of a read but I'm hoping people might be able to chime in if they think I'm on the right path.

So I was down in my home theater room today putting on the first coat of paint when I noticed some water on the floor. Mildly concerned about what has otherwise been a completely dry basement for 2.5 years I stuck my hand through one of the access panels I made and fished around in the insulation. This quickly turned to dread as small parts of the insulation was wet too

Doing my best to feel around given the almost complete state of the basement was somewhat difficult but the water seems confined to a small section about 14' from the east side of my house. There is no plumbing in this area. The main water line comes into the house about 3' to the left of the puddle\wet areas and heads in the opposite direction. I can feel the first 90 degree bend in that line behind the ceiling and the water meter area is still accessible and both those areas are dry. My assumption is that if that was leaking the water would drain down the pipe leaving the area immediately surrounding it damp.

With all the mudding I have been doing the floor has been very dusty until just this Saturday. There has been no staining or indication in the drywall dust that it ever got wet. I'm thinking that drywall dust getting soaked would leave a very visible residue\stain\appearance. Also the drywall has been hung for months so its not like I'm moving anything around, drilling or cutting.

So - I turn to any potential external water events of which there are two. The first is the sprinkler system. Including the last running on Sunday there have been a total of 7 times the sprinkler system has run over the past several weeks and the watering program has not changed. Because it has run several times with no apparent water I am thinking this is not the cause but the next watering is Thursday so I can check then.

The next is that we did have a very hard downpour with strong winds yesterday. I feel like this is the most likely candidate. 14' coincides roughly with one of my front door side windows. Looking at the outside of my house there appear to be some gaps in the flashing(?) (Mostly where the silver plate meets the gray wood trim)

Immediately on the otherside is a corner against the bay window where rain might accumulate and sit.

Normally the door would be protected by the walls and overhang but if the wind was right it would get pelted. Unfortunately I was not home during the storm to know if the rain was hitting in this direction though.

So I'm thinking I seal that opening and then just hit it with a hose for a long time and see what happens? Any other thoughts? I'd really like to avoid tearing down the walls I just finished putting up if I can avoid it.

 

[Exterous]

Thinking about this a little more maybe I should let it dry - hit that gap by the window with the hose and see what happens. Then if it does result in a water issue I know fixing it should resolve the problem

 

[Greenman]

Other than saying "leaks suck", I can't help. I think you're on the right track though.

 

[PowerEngineer]

You might also consider the possibility that water could be seeping through the brick. That turned out to be our problem when we noticed damp carpet near our brick fireplace. We had a chimney maintenance outfit apply a sealer to all our exposed brickwork and that seems to have fixed our problem. Just a thought... Good luck!

 

[DooKey]

Also, check your water meter to see if it is running. Your sprinkler system might have a leak in it close to the house.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Ouch. That brick and concrete work.

 

[13Gigatons]

Don't bother with the garden hose it will never come close to the amount of water that a storm can drop. The storm simply overwhelmed your anti-flood system. Water can seep in from the smallest opening. Most basements are not 100% water proof. The brick should not really be touching the ground either, it can seep water.

Also putting drywall and wood in a basement is just a bad idea.

 

[Exterous]

Good news! (relatively anyway)

No issues after using the sprinkler. Stayed dry as a bone. So I set the hose down on the concrete porch and turned it all the way on for 10 minutes. Basement still dry. Moved the hose to hit against the window and within 1-2 minutes I could feel water in the basement. Its sprinkling a little outside but as soon as it stops I'll reseal that area and try the whole things again

Something here is leaking:

 

[WilliamM2]

Who decided to have that brick work extend beyond the threshold of the door? Water should run off the threshold, not behind it. Windows are just caulked too, no sills, you will eventually have issues there as well.

You'll have to keep re-caulking the entire thing every few years, what a pain.

 

[Greenman]

Good news! (relatively anyway)

No issues after using the sprinkler. Stayed dry as a bone. So I set the hose down on the concrete porch and turned it all the way on for 10 minutes. Basement still dry. Moved the hose to hit against the window and within 1-2 minutes I could feel water in the basement. Its sprinkling a little outside but as soon as it stops I'll reseal that area and try the whole things again

Something here is leaking:

That's an incorrect flashing detail. Water getting in that opening should end up on the concrete, not in the wall. It's great you found it, but that's going to be a regular maintenance item. You'll also never know if you're getting minor seepage until there is serious framing damage.
I'd pull that door out and correct the problem at it's root.

 

[snoopy7548]

That's an incorrect flashing detail. Water getting in that opening should end up on the concrete, not in the wall. It's great you found it, but that's going to be a regular maintenance item. You'll also never know if you're getting minor seepage until there is serious framing damage.
I'd pull that door out and correct the problem at it's root.

I agree with this. It's gonna be a pain in the ass but you'll eventually get rot in your door frame (you're lucky if you don't already have it) and likely have to replace the whole thing... hopefully before you get wood-boring insects. Might as well do it now.

The builder of my house didn't caulk between the exterior basement door sill and the frame, so eventually the bottom ~6" rotted. I started trying to fix it but gave up and installed a brand new pre-hung door with vinyl frame.

 

[13Gigatons]

Good news! (relatively anyway)

No issues after using the sprinkler. Stayed dry as a bone. So I set the hose down on the concrete porch and turned it all the way on for 10 minutes. Basement still dry. Moved the hose to hit against the window and within 1-2 minutes I could feel water in the basement. Its sprinkling a little outside but as soon as it stops I'll reseal that area and try the whole things again

Something here is leaking:

Don't ignore the fact that the mortar is pretty bad in that corner. I'd probably go over board and buy 20 tubes of 100% silicone and some vinyl sheets or metal flashing and seal the hell out of that whole area. Just have to make it look nice and pleasing to your eye.

 

[WilliamM2]

Don't ignore the fact that the mortar is pretty bad in that corner. I'd probably go over board and buy 20 tubes of 100% silicone and some vinyl sheets or metal flashing and seal the hell out of that whole area. Just have to make it look nice and pleasing to your eye.

Gonna be hard to seal since they poured concrete over the face of the brick, and the brick also runs below ground all around the house. Then there is the windows without flashing...

No inspection before purchase?

 

[Exterous]

Gonna be hard to seal since they poured concrete over the face of the brick, and the brick also runs below ground all around the house. Then there is the windows without flashing...

No inspection before purchase?

Yeah I was thinking about that but also that it would probably be better than nothing? We did have a home inspection. He didn't say anything about the porch that I can recall. He did note the brick running to the ground issue but its just in the front. From watching new subdivisions being built the landscapers love building up stuff so it hits against the brick. The builder usually hands off the home buyer to the landscaper with a credit to use and walks away. At least 75% of the houses in this area are in that same situation

 

[13Gigatons]

Yeah I was thinking about that but also that it would probably be better than nothing? We did have a home inspection. He didn't say anything about the porch that I can recall. He did note the brick running to the ground issue but its just in the front. From watching new subdivisions being built the landscapers love building up stuff so it hits against the brick. The builder usually hands off the home buyer to the landscaper with a credit to use and walks away. At least 75% of the houses in this area are in that same situation

It can be fixed to some degree. Brick Sealer would be very helpful to start with. Then use 100% silicone along all seems with flashing or vinyl to protect the silicone. Most of the front of the house can be changed if it's causing problems during heavy downpours. Houses are built to be water resistant but not total waterproof so making sure it shed's water away from the foundation would be a good start.

 

[NoCreativity]

Have you checked your gutters? I got some water in my basement and happened to look out my window while it was still raining. There was a torrent of water overflowing out of the gutter which was right above where the water was coming in the basement. Cleaned out the gutter and haven't had a problem since.