What we've been up to

A leak in the basement led to the discovery of a crack in the foundation.  Uttering epithets like "By cracky!" (only not as polite) we proceeded to hire Mike Quail to dig up the foundation with his stunning, world-class backhoe.  More on Mike later.  For now, this is what the dang hole looked like.

Comments

[Abi]

Yikes,now that is one deep deep hole, you've dug up!

[Eric]

I am sure that you have an excellent contractor and that his work is insured and guaranteed but I thought that I might suggest that your contractor consider the following technique to solve your water influx problem. Prepare cracks by opening into a V shape, clean out debris, pre-drill holes at tight regular intervals in preparation for placement of pressure injection nipples and then pressure inject with Rezi-Weld LV epoxy resin manufactured by W. R. Meadows of Canada in Milton, Ont and available from D. Wayne Wiegand Sales Ltd. into the visible cracks. Rezi-Weld LV has physical properties which included the following: 2 day bond strength of 17.25 MPa, 14 day bond strength of 22.08 MPa, tensile strength of 41.4 MPa and flexural strength of 75.9 Mpa. The “Rezi-Weld” has a tendency to exhibit viscous flow out of the crack prior to its cure so it would be a good idea to first seal the crack using fast-setting high strength concrete “speedcrete” also available from W. R. Meadows. This product has a specified 1 hour compressive strength of 1.0 Mpa and a 24 Hr. strength of 17.2 Mpa. The Speedcrete serves the purpose of preventing the Rezi-Weld when pressure injected into the crack from running out prior to cure. I might also suggest that the “repaired” concrete be sealed using Sealtight Mel-Rol waterproofing membrane available from W. R. Meadows of Canada Ltd and suggest that you refrain from backfilling with native earth but instead consider backfilling with an engineered backfill of 3/4"(-) free draining crushed stone and using a geotextile filter fabric to prevent contamination of the engineered backfill from the native earth. Don’t forget to use extensions on roof drainage down-spouts to direct roof runoff water away from the foundation and to slope backfill away from the house. Oh, and keep an eye on the contractor during construction to make sure that if he doesn’t use a trench box, that his excavated trench side-slopes out at 45 degrees above 4' from the bottom of the trench for safey and Ministry of Labour code compliance. Please don't hesitate to contact me should you feel you could benefit from a free courtesy consult.
best wishes,
Eric

[Abi]

Hey Mag
I hope you got your leak situation fixed. How long have you had this leak?
take care,
with Love
Abi

[Abi]

Mag,

I had something happened to our house before, twice in like I believe in two weeks that our basement got flooded The first time it happened I was the first to see the water when I went downstairs. I called my mom and told her what had happened, to make a long story short we called the plumber to have it checked out. We were told it was the toilet too many toilet papers inside the you know what was causin it to flood our basement. Mag this had happened twice in like two weeks, so it wasnt easy for us. And plus the expenses too was like crazy. I think my mom said 5,000$ just for havin it fixed and so forth. Dont feel bad Mag or discouraged,cause it had happened to my family and I twice,so your not alone on this one!!