Relentless

2007.12.02

Uh oh…

Well, here we go again.  The first thing I tried was Drylok caulk along the base of the wall.  But of course, how can the caulk cure and harden if it’s saturated with incoming water?  It just turned into a mess.

2007.12.03

Next step: hydraulic cement.  It’s designed for this very thing, plugging a hole while the water is coming through.  First I had to chisel out along the base of the wall and the floor to make a channel for the hydraulic cement to pack into.  Ideally you want something like a long dovetail groove so when the hydraulic cement hardens, it presses against the existing concrete and can’t pop out.  I couldn’t get the ideal shape, especially with hand tools, but I did the best I could.  I packed the cement into the channel, and then put more on top, making a 45-degree slant transition between the wall and the floor.  Chiseling out the old concrete was incredible work, so I only ended up doing maybe four linear feet in all.  Especially as it seemed that as I plugged the holes with hydraulic cement, the water just moved down to the end of my patch.

2007.12.04

After the hydraulic cement had dried and hardened, I swept up the debris and painted.

2007.12.08

I caulked along the base of the foundation where the sidewalks meet, as well as any major cracks in the sidewalks (along the south and west sides of the house).  At least it was a sunny day, but unfortunately it was so cold out there that it was all I could do to get the caulk to even come out of the tube, much less come out neatly in a nice bead.  I did the best I could.