JohnfrWhipple
BATHROOM DESIGN & BUILD
Yesterday I went into work for a half day and when I entered into the home I noticed a load of water in the one back room. The leak was on the North Wall of a new home I'm building two barrier free showers in. I hate seeing water on a basement floor! I had not done anything that could cause this leak so I went on an investigation to find out what the problem was before I set up.
What is the right thing to do here? I was hired to build a couple showers, not fix the exterior foundation waterproofing problems. That said it's Sunday and the builder is not around. It seemed silly to me to leave it another day (it had obviously been leaking a lot since Friday night) and the rain was just pouring down this weekend in Vancouver.
This is what I found.
I opened up the poly (6mil vapour barrier) and found water getting in from the plumbing waste line penetration.
The first thing I tried was packing in a little poly around the pipe. I then went and spread out wood chips and saw dust on the floor to pick up the water. The poly didn't work so I got my light set up and noticed a few saw cuts in the back. The saw cuts no doubt from the wet saw that cut the square hole in the foundation wall. Water was dripping in along these cuts and with my light I could see it clearly.
I was preparing the shower floors so only had a few tools and materials with me. Then I got an idea. I was told that Ardex's X32 could be used to fix tiles underwater last week at my supplier. If the X32 sets under water then perhaps I could use it to fill in the saw cuts and stop the water from getting in????
I tried it and I think it worked! I'll be checking this morning. It poured again last night and I will know soon enough if my patch worked.
So my questions are;
1). What is the proper way of waterproofing this penetration in a home's foundation wall?
2). Is it required to have flexibility in the design?
What is the right thing to do here? I was hired to build a couple showers, not fix the exterior foundation waterproofing problems. That said it's Sunday and the builder is not around. It seemed silly to me to leave it another day (it had obviously been leaking a lot since Friday night) and the rain was just pouring down this weekend in Vancouver.
This is what I found.
I opened up the poly (6mil vapour barrier) and found water getting in from the plumbing waste line penetration.
The first thing I tried was packing in a little poly around the pipe. I then went and spread out wood chips and saw dust on the floor to pick up the water. The poly didn't work so I got my light set up and noticed a few saw cuts in the back. The saw cuts no doubt from the wet saw that cut the square hole in the foundation wall. Water was dripping in along these cuts and with my light I could see it clearly.
I was preparing the shower floors so only had a few tools and materials with me. Then I got an idea. I was told that Ardex's X32 could be used to fix tiles underwater last week at my supplier. If the X32 sets under water then perhaps I could use it to fill in the saw cuts and stop the water from getting in????
I tried it and I think it worked! I'll be checking this morning. It poured again last night and I will know soon enough if my patch worked.
So my questions are;
1). What is the proper way of waterproofing this penetration in a home's foundation wall?
2). Is it required to have flexibility in the design?
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