soil against my back wall causing damp walls

Hi Guys,

I have some damp issues in my basement and is the rear wall which is the worst. My basement is about 5.5ft below ground level.

On the outside of the wall i have about 2ft of dirt which is continually sodden, then i'm into someone elses land.

My question is, is there anything i can do to stop so much damp on the back basement wall? I am thinking of something like digging a small trench along the back wall and maybe filling with rubble?? Would this work or even make it worse?

I know in never going to stop the moisture in the ground travelling through my basement walls but i'm just looking for any ways to reduce it slightly and protect my house from the elements as much as i can.

I have added a couple of pics to try and explain. Any help would be much appreciated.

The first thing I'd do is to check where the downpipe goes - if it's to a soakway then that may be part of the problem

edit

having looked a bit more closely - does the downpipe actually go below surface or just discharge onto the ground?

What is/was the other open pipe?

At the moment it doesn't go anywhere as a result of a cowboy guttering job, but it will be going in that drain to the left of it in the picture by monday night.

Well that might reduce the problem - to be honest, digging a trench isn't going to improve matters much (and might make it worse by allowing water to collect against the wall). The only real solution is to water proof the basement walls.

PS Don't let the sparks see your grey cable used externally!

Cheers for the reply.

Its ok, thats not grey cable, its the tube from the pump in basement for boiler condensation.

No problem - good luck

Must go and get my eyes tested!

Definately dig a trench and put in a land drain. Water will always follow the path of least resistance and so your rubble idea was spot on but use clean stone, there is no way water will try leeching through the wall rather than easily flow away through loose stone. Just give the trench a slight fall in one direction.

This of course depends on where you will be discharging the water! If that drain you are using for the guttering goes to a soakaway then problem solved. If it doesn't you should not really connect into it by putting a bottle trap gully that you can clear the silt from everyso often.

Do a search on land drains or look through the gardening section and you'll find much useful info.

Thanks for that, don't know anything about land drains so will defo research into it.

Ok, have had a look into things and i don't see how i could get a french drain to discharge into that drain pipe as the drain is about a foot above the ground level.

Would a simple layer of rubble, sloping away from the house underneath the top soil help move water away from the house.

I have attached two pretty rubbish drawings to try and explain myself

The first represents the back of my house against the soil now and the second is with a small layer of rubble put in.


What do you think?

anyone?

Could you not just dig out all the crap that's there? You could then put a french drain up against the wall, and hardcore/slab over the rest.

It's the two images above that seem to be baffling us all! Well me, certainly...

if you can dig a trench and fill it with coarse (no fines) stone, brick, broken concrete, it will drain better and hold less damp.

I see you have a basement so you will probably not be able to dig right down to the bottom

If you can put paving slabs next to the wall, with a slight fall, it will encourage rain to go away from the wall a bit

Arrange all your drains and downpipes so that water is not discharged onto the ground near your wet wall.

cheers guys, the pics sre pretty crude!

I'll get it sorted out next weekend. Will try and slab it after i've sorted out the drains but if not maybe just a top layer of concrete sloping away from the house.

thanks

Hi

These are probably the reasons to your problem

1. The water coming down the pipe from the roof.

You need to get the water to go at least 2-3 meters (6-9feet) from the wall.
That way the rainwater from the roof does not work as an irrigation system for the wall.

2. The rainfall might be absorbed to the wall

Make the land to slope away from the wall (as long as possible, few centimetres per meter is enough)
Or as JohnD said " If you can put paving slabs next to the wall, with a slight fall, it will encourage rain to go away from the wall a bit"

3. The ground next to the wall is wet and also works as a capillary

Change it to washed gravel.(gravel stops capillary) Go as down as the wall does. but make the top of the ground "waterproof" (see section 3) That really is the best solution. You should also install a drain next to the footing of the house that way you can be sure that ground water and some of the capillary beneath the building moves away.

4. The basement is not ventilated properly

You should have one fresh air ventilator per 40sq meter coming from outside. Also you should make sure that the "used" air is able to find it´s way out, since the air in basement is moist.

5. The basement floor is too cold. During winters at least, try to keep the basement warm. with warm walls, the cold ground is the easiest way for the moisture to go to. If not understood get a cold beverage in a bottle and put in on the table. u can see that the vapor in the room changes into drops at the bottle

This is One of the MOST important things

6. NEVER WATER PROOF THE BASEMENT WALLS!! That just encourages the capillary to rise even higher. You would probably get dry walls to the basement(if waterproofed from the inside), but the problem would just arise to the ground level.
Also if waterproofed from the outside the moisture coming underneath the house would have no other way to go but to the basement. Then you would have even more moisture there than before