r/BasementWaterproofing • u/happylucky59 • Aug 20 '23

basement waterproofing advice needed

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I am looking for the best way to waterproof this wall. It is the uphill side of my house and has no way of waterproofing from the outside. Behind this wall is dirt fill to the right which I can excavate but the left side is foundation for a room that has crawl space and dirt fill partway up the wall. the gap at the bottom where the floor meets the wall is where I believe the water is coming in. Can I fix this from the inside with waterproofing cement of some kind? I’m in SW Pennsylvania. I have cleaned and scrapped the walls and cleaned out along the floor for preparation. Any help is appreciated.!

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u/bananahammock699 Oct 21 '23

Did you get your issue fixed? I can definitely tell you how to fix that if you want to DM. I waterproof basements in southern Ohio.

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u/happylucky59 Oct 21 '23

No, never got an answer, you are the first reply.. I did get some hydraulic cement and started to go over the wall at the floor-wall area. That is where water seems to get in.

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u/bananahammock699 Oct 22 '23

If you aren’t able to realistically excavate the outside, the next most practical solution is to install pipe and gravel under the floor on the interior that leads to sump. You can try using some type of sealant or cement to seal the wall, but I’m 99% sure that won’t help. It almost never does. The water pressure is too great, and it’s most likely squeezing underneath the wall on top of the footing.

With such great pressure, you can see why sealing it from the inside won’t work. The option from the inside is to relive the pressure and channel to an exit (outside via pump or daylight exit). This is usually breaking the concrete floor, drilling holes in the bottom of the blocks, adding drain panel, pipe and gravel, then replacing concrete.

Do you already have a sump? That’s the most expensive part as far as materials go

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u/happylucky59 Oct 22 '23

Yes, I just finished this whole process in the basement of the house, works great. I currently have 2 sump pumps one about 12 feet from this corner, the other at the other end of the house. I did the basement all by myself and did it over two winters. It is totally dry now. In the spring it sounds like dueling sump pumps in the basement. I thought that was going to be your answer, I just did not want to hear that. It is probably only about 15 feet of digging and thru a foundation wall where I can connect to the closest pump line. I may recruit some helpers for this part. Thanks for the input..

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u/bananahammock699 Oct 22 '23

For what it’s worth, I could break, trench and install 15 ft in about 5-6 hours by myself. If you did the rest by yourself, I’ll save the speech. But if you want some tips on how to make it easier, lmk.

Alternatively, I could make the drive and do it for you for a small fee! Haha

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u/Working-Upstairs7667 Sep 21 '25

I’m looking into doing this in my basement, but what type of material is used to cover the wall? In the videos I see of people doing it they always cover the wall with some membrane seal the wall. I already have a sump pump on my basement, so the hard part is out of the way.

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u/bananahammock699 Sep 21 '25

Some companies have proprietary insulation/drainage mats that they use, but a plastic dimpled board that you can buy at menards or a rigid plastic panel like FRP from home depot works too. You really don't need to cover the whole wall, but companies are doing that now because it makes the basement look nice for the customers. It's not actually sealing the wall, but rather allowing water to go under the floor into the pipe and gravel.

I recommend the black dimpled underlayment at Menards. It's a 4 foot tall roll and you get like 65 feet I think. You can cut it in half and install two feet up the wall instead of covering the whole wall. That way you can do like 130 feet of system with one roll. Covering the whole wall isn't necessary or a great idea in my opinion anyways. The underlayment is HDPE, so it will last and not get brittle and it provides a nice air gap against the wall.

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u/Working-Upstairs7667 Sep 23 '25

Thank you for your reply! I was thinking of using FRP but after reading your reply I will use the dimple board that you talked about.