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Water in the basement

P8riot

Active Member
952
39
Carbon, In
When I moved in, water was getting into the basement near the fireplace. I have a fireplace in the basement 😑 I saw the gutter was broken at an inside corner and it was flowing down next to the chimney and puddling. I put up a tarp to catch it and divert it away from the chimney...no more water.

Fast forward and I hired a roofer to put up new gutters and fix the flashing around the chimney because the Amish didn't replace the flashing and it was rough looking. First big rain and I had water flowing out from between the firebrick and face brick in the basement. I had hooked up a downspout that wasn't when I moved in and it clogged really bad. I have downspouts that go underground and daylight...I don't know where.

I called the roofer back out and he said he couldn't see anything that would be causing that. We figured the downspouts underground were clogged.

I jetted out the downspouts to try to clear it. I have 6 downspouts that all drain into a 4" corrugated pipe. They arw all connected. I put 100' of that jet hos down and it never came out. I couls atill hear it in the tube. WTF...The woods are only 70' away!

So I eliminated that system and put 6' extension on the downspouts. It looks bad, but I won't get water...so I thought. I know i have some negative grading to the house. Its next on my list to fix.

Last night big rain...still water. This water is crystal clear which makes me think its not coming in contact with dirt. There is a valley on the roof that goes straight to the back of the chimney, piss poor design.

There is no standing or puddling water near the chimney outside. If it had anything to do with groundwater i would think it would be muddy. Unless the channel is so compact, it doesnt pick up dirt.

Any ideas? I mean it flows! It comes out of a hole betwèen the fire brick and face brick and looks like a garden hose is in there at a low level. This isn't saying seeping, this is saying that valley/flashing is wrong. No water before the roofer, water after the roofer. What could he have done up there?!
 
I plan on getting up there after work. I'll take a few. I didn't think I had to and left it to the professional.

I'm so tired of having to do everything myself, but unfortunately its the only way it gets done right.
 
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The flashing from the ground does look OK. The Amish really did a number on it though. Iy looked like someone beat it with a hammer. I mean he did fix what they "screwed up", BUT it wasn't leaking before he messed with it!

The Amish installed a new metal roof and didn't replace the chimney flashing. There was an asphalt roof on it before. The roofer said he would do what he could without needing to remove any of the metal panels. I'm thinking that might need to be done.

I wish I had before pictures. The home inspection should have pictures but that jack wagon was useless. There is so much stuff not on his report I have come across. I'm not a professional but I know when something is F'ed up! 20 amp breakers with 14 gauge wiring and 15 amp outlets that are charred. Never caught that!
 

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Not making fun of you. Sorry for your situation. Water can do strange things when flowing in and around a house. I've seen it run the length of a roof from the leak then show up at the opposite corner...

Even seen it wick up ice shield and enter in that way also. How it makes a siphon that way I haven't a clue!

I've seen a hole drilled in a basement wall 4" up from the basement floor under enough pressure to allow a steam of water shoot about 8 feet before it hit the damn floor!

The water that flows into my sump pump catch basin is crystal clear also and it is ground water in the rainy season. At that time my sump pumps (2) can run every 5 minutes. In 24 years I've only seen them dry 1 time.
 
I am not a roofer, but I get on roofs a lot and have seen plenty of inadequate flashing jobs that were causing leaks. I repair that water damage to interior walls and ceilings from those leaks, and sometimes I'm asked to find the leak. I've seen some shoddy ass flashing, but yours is right up there. That looks completely fucked up to me. That chimney flashing should be tight to the brick and completely sealed at its top edge with silicone or urethane caulking. Best as I can tell from the pic, you got neither of those things going on and water may be running straight down your chimney into the house.
 
I am not a roofer, but I get on roofs a lot and have seen plenty of inadequate flashing jobs that were causing leaks. I repair that water damage to interior walls and ceilings from those leaks, and sometimes I'm asked to find the leak. I've seen some shoddy ass flashing, but yours is right up there. That looks completely fucked up to me. That chimney flashing should be tight to the brick and completely sealed at its top edge with silicone or urethane caulking. Best as I can tell from the pic, you got neither of those things going on and water may be running straight down your chimney into the house.
Not his house.
 
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