Gutter Over Flow

You would have to re-create the same conditions that were present during the initial leak.

Either by using a hose and spraying water along the wall at slab level or by isolating small areas with sand bags, bricks, cinder blocks anything that would allow the hose water to pool against the wall.

I suspect that the leak occurred between the wall footer (most likely a 2X4 between the veneer/siding and interior wall) and the slab.

If you have brick wall or brick veneer it should be relatively easy to find.

If you have siding it may be difficult to find the precise spot and repair it without removing a section of the siding.

Another option (but may be a pain in the arse) would be to keep the gutter and gutter drains clear.

Good Luck!

FYI - Yes it is brick

Hi Jessica

That is a precise describing technical term for a task you really don't want to do.

The overflowing gutters might not be the only cause of the standing water against the house. The slope of the stand on that side could be the problem.

Casting a slab with a slight outward slope around / on that side may be required to keep the water away.

It's a figure of speach - pain in the rear.

4 - 5 " of rain would mean about a cubic meter of water for every 10 m2 of roof or land.

You need to divert the water around / away from the house. depending on the soil earth filling may also help.

I alway say that control of the water affecting a building is the number one issue to address. It is not called a roof over your head for no reason.

If simply actively making sure that the gutters and downspouts direct water away from the foundation can be accomplished, and is all you have money for, do that.

The foundation ought to have been tarred and cement coved, and ditch graveled, and solid piped to perforated pipe from high to low sides.

I have had to do interior tarring and ditching, plus sump pump holes when the client did not want to tear the deck off the high side of the house.

Water is very powerful. Water is the universal solvent. Water goes down hill.

A cheap 4 or 6 foot plastic spirit level will tell you either in a ditch, or on the ground where the water will flow, and you can do the work to control it according to the information apparent.

Inspect the gutters and downspouts periodically for debris and correct the grading.

The soil near the foundation should fall away from the house; in effect the level needs to be higher at the foundation about 4 to 6 inches higher than at 6 to 10 feet distance from the side of the house. Then if gutters overflow water will drain away from the house.

I had a similar problem but the water went into a soakaway and that was blocked with silt etc. Moss and stuff washing off the roof gets in it. I dug it out and filled it with clean stones, and covered it with Terram (that's fine porous plastic material if you're not familiar). Been OK now for several years.

I've heard since that it's even better to surround the stone fill completely with Terram, maybe if it happens again I'll do that, if I'm not too old.

Cheers............Codey

You may want to consider looking at the exterior wall where the problem is occuring. If there is standing water this will definitly create a problem. Most walls on homes are not made to act as a "sea wall" and standing water can create some major problems. One inexpensive idea is to build the area up with dirt and add a durable grass to help with erosion. One other thing you may want to consider is to first remove all the soil at the wall where the wall and slab meets. Purchase some UGL Drylock and paint that exposed area. Then take a piece of plastic 1-2ft wide and lay over the painted area. Cover all this up add your extra dirt and grass. Problem solved. This process is called a moisture barrier

One thing I did not add. If you expose the slab and wall meeting area and find large cracks then this process will not be that effictive. I wolud follow some of the guidlines that other people have suggested. You definitly need to divert those gutters and dispurse the water to other locations away from the house. A roofing professional can usally solve this and you may be suprised it is not that expensive.

Thank all of you so much!!! I'll be able to take all of your advise and come up with something!

Thanks again

I may have made a mistake in my earlier post. In the ditch against the mortar coved and tarred foundation, it is slotted sock pipe covered with gravel. Directing flow away and down, use solid pipe.

In cases where there is no fall off, I have had to slope ditches with pipe ending with a large hole filled with gravel.

Thanks for the info that you've got a slab home, but it seems that the moisture is coming from the top down, and not from the bottom up. But, hey, who's to know.

So, lemme see now if this is correct;

1. You've got moisture in the interior of the second story bedroom wall, and, at the same time;

2. You've got moisture in the interior of the first floor livingroom wall directly below the same second story bedroom wall.

If this is correct, we proceed further.

So, as to your comment that; "We found out that the down spouts that go into the ground were clogged and was making the gutters over flow - resulting to standing water against the house.".

I would humbly offer this suggestion, in addition to, and not in any way imply that other posts also offer a more positive corrective action to your problem.

The issue may be that the gutters are installed too high, relative to the roofslope, therefore, allowing water to backup under the roof shingles.

1. The gutters may/are not properly installed, in accordance with that shown in Architectural Graphic Standards(AGS).

2. Said standards depict the recommend distance that the top of the leading edge of the gutter to be below the slope of the roof. Distance varies with roof slope.

3. Sadly, this recommendation is many times not respected by many 'architect/builders'.

Assuming that your expertise is not of the nature to give any info, as to roof slope, facia width, gutter width/depth, etc., so to make, a quick-and-dirty check to see if the gutters have been installed according to AGS. Simply lay a straightedge (board) onto the roof,past the gutter and measure the distance between gutter and board to determine if this is according to AGS.

Also check under the roof shingles for the installation of a metal drip edge and ice shield material that would prevent water incursion.

I think Hornetson has captured well what the situation may well be.