Sewer lateral through foundation wall is weeping, work is 5 months old.

[houndzilla]

I had my sewer system upgraded as part of a basement renovation, new overheard sewers were put in.

The Village requires ductile iron through the foundation wall, and the plumbers exterior sewer subcontractor used hydraulic cement to plug up the gap. The hole through the foundation was made with a wall mounted coring drill.

Prior to the gap being filled up I spoke with the sub and we discussed how the hole was going to be sealed, and I had expressed my concerns about future water infiltration. He told me that they use hydraulic cement and that they've never had a problem, and that it would withstand hydrostatic pressure. There is rigid insulation board going up so I want make sure I don't leak behind it.

I watched them pack the hole on both sides (I was lugging buckets of dirt out), and it appeared to be a proper and clean job.

Fast forward 5 months, the cement had shrunk and cracked and with the big storms this weekend it has been steadily weeping water.

 

[FullySprinklered]

You got physically involved in the job? Best way to throw the tradesman off his game.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[houndzilla]

That's a nice productive response. Nevermind the fact that you don't know anything else about the project, so you immediately pile on the owner for getting in the way. I would love to have the time to draw an overly detailed set and provide a project manual full of product and performance specs but most residential guys either add an extra "0" or laugh and say "you don't do that in residential work." It's not like they'd read it any, as a good number of high dollar GC's can't be bothered to read the project manual anyway.

I drew and permitted the job because I'm an architect. I'm only subbing out work to the plumbing and electrical trades, everything else I'm doing myself. I've worked with a lot of contractors in my 10+ years as an architect (and childhood helper for my father who was a builder) and been involved with some expensive and complex buildings.

I know all that isn't the same kind of experience a true Superintendent would have, but if everyone's going to blame the Architect anyway I might as well be on site calling shots and answering questions.

I never actually asked a question in my OP, has anyone ever had sucess in cleaning out a bored hole and installing a Link Seal? http://www.gptindustries.com/en/products/link-seal

 

[Jadnashua]

What is your water table in the area, and have you been experiencing a lot of rainfall or (maybe late in the season) snow melt?

Cement is pretty water resistant, but often, not waterproof. Is the foundation wall cast concrete or block? What's on the outside of the wall? How are the gutter downspouts run? Is there a French drain? Is the soil sloped away from the house? Are you sure it's ground water? If they require metal through the wall, but you've got plastic piping elsewhere, maybe they did not properly support or torque the couplings.

 

[Craigpump]

We always seal our penetrations with hydraulic cement and then liberal amounts of roofing tar.

 

[WorthFlorida]

Back in 1981 I moved into a new home in Algonquin, Illinois and about six months later during the spring heavy rains, I heard water pouring into the basement. The watermain and sewer pipe where sharing the same hole through the cement poured wall. The space between the the two pipes didn't get enough cement and that was where the water was seeping through. I had some foam for pipe insulation and I jammed it in the hole with a screw driver to stop it from pouring in like a open garden hose. The next day I coated it with hydraulic cement and it never leaked after that.
What I did realized living there for a while is the heavy clay soil when dry will shrink quite a lot. What happened over a dry period the clay soil pulled away from the wall and with a gutter down spout nearby allowed water to flow down the wall. This might have happened here after a dry winter the soil pulled from the wall and rain can run right down it. After a while the soil will settle more tightly against the wall even when dry.

I would chip out as much as you can and refill it with hydraulic cement. You can call your contractor up and he may fix it for you. That Link Seal does look like a nice product but it will take a lot of pounding to get the hydraulic cement out of the hole. Since the hole was cut with a core drill the walls should be smooth and the hydraulic cement may not have stuck to the cement wall to hard.

 

[FullySprinklered]

One major peeve of mine is having to deal with a customer who has me in just to confirm him in some Bob Vila fantasy that he's having with a project he's doing. They're generally pretty good on some stuff, but flounder on the plumbing and electric.

The friction in my brain arises when I show up with a full head of steam trying to get the job done, and done right, and then move on to the other two jobs I have scheduled for the day. Dude, it's a trade and it's a business. The fact that you jumped in there and "toted dirt" to me, means that you got involved in a job that you hired someone else to do to prove that your bikini underwear holds more than fur. If they don't do it right, too damn bad. Unlucky you.

Life is good after all.

 

[Craigpump]

I never let a customer help, he doesn't carry the tools, clean up, drag out pipe. Nothing. That's my job. And, my insurance company doesn't want him helping either.

The last time a customer helped, he rolled up my 100' extension cord wrong, got it knotted & twisted. NOT happy

 

[Cacher_Chick]

I'm with Jim. If the roof has an overhang, thr backfill is properly capped, the yard poperly graded and the water from the roof piped away as it should be, there should not be bulk water on the exterior foundation walls.

 

[FullySprinklered]

I apologize for the unkind response to your post. You are not the target. I had just spent the day removing a tub that the customer could not remove, and installing a new tub that the customer could not install. Had some pent up frustration left over for you. The customer was all in it and it put me off my game. Just turn me loose and let me do the job. Tell your friends you did it all by yourself. I don't give a hoot.