# Garage Wall/Floor Leak?



## Rayne (Mar 9, 2014)

I don't know if this is the right place to post this as I tried posting in the Home Refurb page, but for some reason, it rejected my post. Anyways, it is shop related as it's my garage shop and need help figuring out where to start. As you can see in the picture, there is water coming through and I have no idea what it might be. There is a PVC conduit directly on the other side, but I think this is for the irrigation controller inside the garage; not entirely sure to be honest. I see no staining on the outside wall, so do you think this is all happening underground? I'd appreciate any tips anyone could offer.


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## JBrow (Nov 18, 2015)

Rayne,

With the limited info posted it is hard to say for sure from where the water is coming. But my first step, assuming this is an outside wall, would be a visual inspection outside the building. The first thing I would look for is grading that would direct water from rain and snow melt toward the building. If water is directed toward the building, adding some soil so water would flow away from the building could mostly fix the problem.

The second issue I would check is where the water discharged from down spouts is directed. If water is dropped near the building, adding some downspout extensions to discharge the water from the roof at least 5' from the building could help. This could be helpful even if the downspouts are at the corner and several feet away from where the leak appears inside the building.

If nether of the problems exist, looking further into the use, purpose, and condition of the PVC pipe you mentioned could reveal the problem.


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## Rayne (Mar 9, 2014)

> Rayne,
> 
> With the limited info posted it is hard to say for sure from where the water is coming. But my first step, assuming this is an outside wall, would be a visual inspection outside the building. The first thing I would look for is grading that would direct water from rain and snow melt toward the building. If water is directed toward the building, adding some soil so water would flow away from the building could mostly fix the problem.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the quick reply. I don't have much to go on and I would take a picture outside, but it was already dark by the time I thought about posting here. I'll take one in the morning, but I like your idea of trying to grade the soil first. I have some left-over lawn soil. Will that suffice with an appropriate tamper?


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

I agree with JBrow above. Mis-directed downspouts can create a lot of havoc. Could be a number of different things. You may have to dig down from the outside to get to the problem, and re-seal the outside wall. May be a crack in the exterior somewhere below the ground outside. I feel your pain. Hope you get it resolved


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## JoeinGa (Nov 26, 2012)

Your profile says "Central Florida", so we can rule out frost heave or melting snow as the issue.

Looking at your picture it appears the bottom row of blocks to be shorter than the rows above it. So I'm thinking the block walls were laid first and the floor was poured inside the walls, is that correct? If yes, I'd almost bet that the contractor didn't use moisture barrier (plastic sheeting) when he poured the floor. I'm guessing the water is weeping up between the wall and floor.

The fix for that is likely what they call a "French drain", where you dig a narrow trench along that wall, making sure to slope it down to the lower side of the building, and then pour a foot or so of gravel in the ditch to act as a gutter along that wall.

And if the block walls were laid on top of the floor, then the water is likely seeping thru that bottom block. The French drain should cure that as well.


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## JBrow (Nov 18, 2015)

Rayne,

When dealing with my own water issues, I recall being advised that soil with a high clay content is best when directing water away from a foundation. This advice probably came from either landscapers or foundation water proofing companies at our local mid-winter Home Shows. But like you, I had some soil (nothing special) and used that. I saw an improvement. So my long winded answer is I would use what I had.


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## Rayne (Mar 9, 2014)

Thanks for the additional suggestions everyone. I'll see what i can do this weekend. Going to try to rent a tamper, use my soil, and slope it away from the home. If that doesn't work, then the french drain will be the next option. If I can see the separation, I guess I could also seal it first and go from there. I'll let everyone know what happens.

This is about where the center of the leak/seepage is coming from


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