Waterproffing a stone foundation

[Rickster]

Our house was built in the early 1800's and has a stone foundation. A cement floor was poored in the late 1970's with drian pipes in it to direct water to a sump pump hole. Water seeps in from the stone foundation in a few different spots almost every time it rains. What is involved in waterproofing a stone foundation?

[JacobPM]

Stone foundations are one of the small joys of New England living. They bring so much character to the buildings that utilize them.

There are a few things that would go into waterproofing your foundation properly.

1.) Have it inspected carefully. In houses that are really older than 1950 should have the composition of the mortar holding the wall together looked at. For safety reasons it might be a good idea to have parts of the wall re-pointed. In this process they'll introduce new mortar into the stone/stone joints where it currently dribbles.

However this will not keep you dry forever.

2.) After addressing any stability and foundation safety issues a Vapor Barrier should be installed along the wall in order to redirect the water flow and trap the moisture behind it. From there the water can then seek its way into a drain that the Barrier would be channeled to. This drain is closed and re-cemented over to seal the floor back up.

The most common issue with stone foundation homes that have a "drain system" installed around the turn of the century and even up until the 1950s is that they're open channeled. This means there's an open trench around the perimeter of the basement to "catch" the water that "falls" into it. This leaves a mess and isn't healthy at all. Typically situations lead to many bouts with standing water. In addition there were no laws at this point that dictated the necessary separation of "sump basin" and "septic line".

I'll hope for the best for you and that it's some very minor changes that need to happen.

I would highly recommend having a full basement inspection done by Pioneer Basement. They're free, informative, and can save you a lot of hassle in the long run.

[JacobPM]

My in depth look at the waterproofing problems with Stone Foundations (http://www.pioneerbasement.com/forum/blog.php?b=19)

This topic got me really thinking the past few days. Stone foundation are a beautiful thing, but when un-attended to they can start causing some very serious and life altering problems around the home and the basement.