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daslog
Dec 10, 2008

#essereFerrari
Hi Goons,

My foundation has a leak around the cast iron sewer pipe that goes through the wall. I made a video for you. It only leaks in the springtime,and I have lots of nice new French drains put in 2 years ago. Looks like the previous homeowners tried and failed to patch it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC07-CgluI8

It's about 3 feet deep, but I would prefer not to dig the outside up if I don't have to. I've pretty good at DIY around the house, and I do have a 80 gallon air compressor and a hand chisel attachment so I I need to chip out around it to do a repair I can manage it.

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Dr Cox MD
Sep 11, 2001

Listen Up, Newbies.
This is a sewer pipe, not your water main? Does the water leaking out around it appear to be clean(er)?

French drains and spring time. Does the leak volume increase when you have rain?

kid sinister
Nov 16, 2002

daslog posted:

Hi Goons,

My foundation has a leak around the cast iron sewer pipe that goes through the wall. I made a video for you. It only leaks in the springtime,and I have lots of nice new French drains put in 2 years ago. Looks like the previous homeowners tried and failed to patch it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC07-CgluI8

It's about 3 feet deep, but I would prefer not to dig the outside up if I don't have to. I've pretty good at DIY around the house, and I do have a 80 gallon air compressor and a hand chisel attachment so I I need to chip out around it to do a repair I can manage it.

Those 2x4s around your basement perimeter were put there as spacers for exactly that reason you mentioned: so that any incoming leaks will get funneled to the sump pump, keeping the rest of the basement floor dry. So no, they weren't an idiot.

What does the grade look like on the other side of that wall?

Also, I wouldn't use power tools just yet, but definitely clean out that gap better. For now I'd just use a screwdriver and maybe a cold chisel with just your hand. Work all the loose pieces out and post a picture of the crack after that.

daslog
Dec 10, 2008

#essereFerrari

Dr Cox MD posted:

This is a sewer pipe, not your water main? Does the water leaking out around it appear to be clean(er)?

French drains and spring time. Does the leak volume increase when you have rain?

It only leaks in April when it rains. It's totally dry the rest of the year. It's definitely the sewer pipe.

Edit: There was no sump pump in the house until I installed one.

Dr Cox MD
Sep 11, 2001

Listen Up, Newbies.
It sounds like the contours of your land are such that water pools behind your foundation and leaks thru the pipe's entrypoint.

You already had french drains installed outside?

You've got water flow issues. Look into swales, contour swales and rain gardens.

Now that I think about it there's a good chance you have a gutter that is dumping water too close to the house.

daslog
Dec 10, 2008

#essereFerrari
No gutters, it's massive runoff that is bringing the water to the foundation. Before we had landscaping done that flat area near the house was a hill sloping right into the house. When we had it leveled, we had a French drain added right in the middle of the flat area. They even put connections to the drain where a future gutter could be added.

The hope was that the drain would solve the problems. However, the water just sits there on the top.

I could have them come back and install vertical connections that link the surface to the drain

Dr Cox MD
Sep 11, 2001

Listen Up, Newbies.
It's hard to give advice without seeing the lay of the land, but it sounds like you're getting close.

Look into swales, contour swales and rain gardens. Specifically swales.

Totally level doesn't sound awesome, there's no where for the water to flow, it just sits and eventually sinks. You need a good downward slope from the house, and a french drain can do a good job of avoiding the situation in the picture from my previous post.

When it's really pouring, try to go outside and see where the water is flowing. Put on a raincoat or just a bathing suit and get out there and observe the water flows. You might have some luck observing the errosion patters after a heavy rain but really if you can see it while it's happening that's way better.

daslog
Dec 10, 2008

#essereFerrari
Just to follow up. I had my friend who owns a landscaping company dig up the entire sewer pipe.

The first 10 feet from the house was Cast iron pipe. the next 15 fee was "tar pipe", folllowed by some proper white PVC, then more tar pipe, then Green PVC. I'm sure I'm getting the name wrong but whatever.

All that is gone now, replaced by my plumber friend who also raised the pipe where it goes through the wall a few inches for better flow. He also fixed the crack from the outside, and replaced the last of the cast iron stack with white PVC.

Dr Cox MD
Sep 11, 2001

Listen Up, Newbies.
What is a tar pipe?

JBark
Jun 27, 2000
Good passwords are a good idea.

Dr Cox MD posted:

What is a tar pipe?

Probably this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orangeburg_pipe

quote:

Orangeburg pipe (also known as "fiber conduit", "bituminous fiber pipe" or "Bermico") is bitumenized fiber pipe made from layers of wood pulp and pitch pressed together. It was used from the 1860s through the 1970s, when it was replaced by PVC pipe for water delivery and ABS pipe for drain-waste-vent (DWV) applications.

Yeah, that sounds like a wonderful idea, lets make pipes from wood and tar, what could possibly go wrong?

tetrapyloctomy
Feb 18, 2003

Okay -- you talk WAY too fast.
Nap Ghost
It probably actually works great; I mean, it's just a waterproof composite weave.

daslog
Dec 10, 2008

#essereFerrari
It looked just like this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNCNda832Ns

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SoundMonkey
Apr 22, 2006

I just push buttons.


tetrapyloctomy posted:

It probably actually works great; I mean, it's just a waterproof composite weave.

i sorta get nostalgic for building methods / materials from years past, there's some really neat / creative stuff

i mean it's nice that now it's pretty much "we're going to use this product that's harder than diamond and more flexible than overcooked pasta, that'll be three million dollars but it'll outlast the solar system" but it's cool to see what we came up with before we had a massive array of extremely fancy plastics

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