Water in basement help!!

[Mr. Sandman]

At this point if the crack is big I would fill the crack with hydraulic cement. You can put this on while it is still leaking. That should stop the leak and fill any void. But if it is really tiny you many have some difficulty and have to open it up a bit.

IMO the best way to stop leaks is to work the problem from the outside, ie fix the drainage. Do you have good drainage? Is water pooling near the foundation? Do you have gutters? If you fix this most of the time you can keep the area around the house pretty dry and keep the water pressure from working on the foundation. If it is still a problem one way to insure good drainage is to install a perforated PVC pipe in a gravel filled trough all around the perimeter of the house with drain pipes running away from the house . Its a job but you will have a dry basement.

Lots of houses in NE don't have gutters and most NE'er hate gutters....but many NE'ers also have damp and wet basements and just use the place for storage they don't finish off the lower level. If you go down south...most people have quality living space down there and finish off to the same level as the main living space. Builders take a lot more care about drainage. (Just a personal observation from places I have lived)

Bottom line, fix the drainage so there is nothing to leak in. If it is not a drainage issue (surface run off) and is coming up from below...ie you live in a area with a very high water table, you have to punch a hole in the floor and dig a big pit, fill it with gravel and install a good sump pump and go what I call the "bilge pump" approach. If that was my house I would install all this then move. I don't like water pressure coming up from below. It is just a matter of time before you have a major foundation problem.