Fix a Leaking Wall in Basement

Learn how to fix a leaking wall in the basement. Find out how improving drainage can prevent a wet basement, and how to patch a hole in the basement wall to fix a leak.

LESLIE: Let’s head on over to Ann in New Jersey who’s got a hole in the basement wall. What’s going on?

ANN: I was in my kitchen and I heard water running down in my basement. I go down my basement and there’s a hole. It’s like 34 inches – I measured it – from the corner and about 25 inches up from the floor and it’s coming in like a faucet.

TOM: OK.

LESLIE: Huh.

ANN: Now about ten years ago I had my basement waterproofed. There’s a drain pipe on the corner and I’m wondering could that have broken or something.

TOM: Ann, let me ask you a question. What was the weather like when you found this? Had it rained recently?

ANN: It had started pouring.

TOM: Yeah. Well, this is an easy fix, Ann. The good news is that the reason that the wall leaked is because you have poor drainage conditions right outside the wall. And by that I mean that the gutters are blocked or the downspout is not directed far enough against the foundation or the soil is flat and holding water against that.

Now the solution is two-fold. First of all, we want you to fix up the drainage conditions outside and if you go to MoneyPit.com and search “wet basement” you’ll find everything you need to know to do just that. Secondly, in terms of that hole, that’s just a simple repair. Go to a home center, pick up an epoxy patching compound and fill that hole in. It’s kind of like you’d spackle a wall; it’s just a little bit stiffer material. And those two things will stop that from leaking.

Ann, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT. 888-666-3974.