Water From Outside Wall!!!

Hey my name's Josh. I am new to this forum.

I am currently renovating my family's garage into an area to live in and have run into a problem.

There is water that is leaking into the carpet through two different walls. Both the walls have stucco and concrete. I was told it could be because the area has a high water table. I was also told it would be wise to dig 4 inches around the whole building getting rid of dirt and plants that are on the outside. At the same time there have been septic problems in the main house including the toilets and bathtubs backing up with brown water, presumably from the septic tank. My family is having the whole septic thing fixed, and i am hoping that will solve everything.

I plan on putting new carpet in but don't want to risk it until the whole water thing is fixed, thus saving the carpet. I dont think there are any other water pipes running in the area that is leaking, but i could be wrong. Is it possible the water table is high and digging around the building will fix it?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Josh

If your water table is at ground level, that is called a LAKE!

Stucco is a poruous material. In days past, it was not unusual that they ran the stucco coating down over the foundation to below grade level. That would tend to wick moisture up out of the ground. Certainly, the level of the outside ground should be below floor level and should slope away. Hard to tell from here what's up with that septic issue.
One more thing on the stucco, as I mentioned it should terminate well above grade, and the bottom of the stucco coat should terminate at a metal mesh called a weep screed. If the screed is not there, or is blocked up, the water which can get in and behind the stucco, has no place to drain out.

Water might "wick" up the stucco, but it would NOT then go onto the floor. You have given us absolutely nothing to base a diagnosis on, so we cannot give any suggestion as to the repair. BUT, if there is water on the floor and the floor is above the ground outdoors, then the leak is somewhere "above" the floor. If the ground is even with, or above, the floor, then it could be ground water entering between the floor and bottom plate of the wall.

hj said:

Water might "wick" up the stucco, but it would NOT then go onto the floor. You have given us absolutely nothing to base a diagnosis on, so we cannot give any suggestion as to the repair. BUT, if there is water on the floor and the floor is above the ground outdoors, then the leak is somewhere "above" the floor. If the ground is even with, or above, the floor, then it could be ground water entering between the floor and bottom plate of the wall.

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Well I have given you everything I know. What other information would help? There is water that has leaked about 1-2 ft on the carpet inside on two different sides of the building. The building used to be part of a garage so there is even concrete on the inside at the very bottom of one of the sides of the rooms. There is dirt all around the building that might be close to the same level as the floor but It is close. I am going to dig around the whole building to make sure the dirt is not too close. There are also plants around the building. I didn't find any mesh anywhere. The walls on the outside where the water got though (or at least it looks that way) are a little discolored and water stained. Is there anything else I can look for?

Are there lawn sprinklers that hit the walls? That is always bad. hj is correct that there is a difference between a damp, moldy inside wall problem, and water oozing across the floor, but not having seen your situation, then at this point I don't rule out anything.

Well it rained really hard last night and the trenches i dug got filled with water, which in turn leaked through the concrete, into the room.

I figured out the situation for the other side of the building which was due to the window being installed backward.

There should be a slope from the building to at least 10' away from the building. It's a good idea if the ground has some drainage capability (i.e., not all clay or rock). Gutters to direct the roof runoff may be necessary, and those must discharge away from the building. Hard to tell without being there exactly what's happening, but drainage is often the key.

jadnashua said:

There should be a slope from the building to at least 10' away from the building. It's a good idea if the ground has some drainage capability (i.e., not all clay or rock). Gutters to direct the roof runoff may be necessary, and those must discharge away from the building. Hard to tell without being there exactly what's happening, but drainage is often the key.

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Thanks for the advice!!

Theres a pool that is within 10 feet so part of it will be hard to drain out that way, but I'll figure something out. Thanks for all the info.