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How to fix leaky rod holes in foundation?

I have leaky rod holes in the basement (poured concrete foundation). The builders have not plugged some of the holes and now they are leaking whenever we have lots of rain or water on that side of the house (I live in a townhouse; between the houses, I managed to drain the gutters away from the foundation, but sometimes, when it is windy, the wind pushes the rain towards the house and then it starts leaking). I looked at some solutions like injection, but it quite expensive. A friend of mine fixed the same problem with some silicone in the holes. Any other solutions out there?

Public Comments

  1. You can fill the holes with some grout or a tube of epoxy should do the trick.
  2. Silicon will work but you should probably clean the holes out and fill it with expanding cement. It comes in a tube and is more permanent that silicone. the cement will bond better with what is already there.
  3. You will be very surprised if you take and have plastic pipe put underground from your gutter downspouts and run about 25 feet away from the house. Your basement will dry up and your sump pump wont hardly run. That has been my experience. Outside along the foundation is pea gravel that drains to the sump pump. If it rains you overload that pea gravel from roof drainage. So the solution, i believe is posted above.
  4. The good news is that you know exactly where the problem is. These problem areas were created when the foundation was built. After the forms were set up, metal rods called form ties or snap ties were slipped through small holes in each side and connected to temporary braces on the outside of the forms. After the concrete sets up, the forms are stripped off the walls and the ends of the ties are snapped off just below the surface of the concrete. This leaves a small pock mark in the foundation wall at every tie location, which should be filled with hydraulic cement to protect the ties still in the concrete. If water gets to the ties they’ll rust, and if they rust long enough they’ll let water leak into the basement. The repair? This Old House contractorTom Silva says to use a cold chisel and chisel around each tie location to create a hole anout 1/2 in. deep and a couple inches in diameter. Then clean out as much of the deteriorated form tie as possible and fill the area with hydraulic cement. Work quickly--hydraulic cement sets up in a hurry! Here’s more on hydraulic cement, as well as other ways to keep water from getting into your basement: http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/video/0,,20057861,00.html?xid=yahoo-answers&partner=yes
  5. try NuMetal epoxy putty
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