Rotting Behind a Cinder Block Wall
Q: I have a cinder block wall in a finished basement in a house built in 1978. Behind the paneling, the drywall and the studs were rotted out from moisture. A sump pump was added at some point before we bought it, but there is no evidence of standing water. There are hairline cracks in the wall on the outside, below ground level, but no large cracks (as far as I can tell). After removing the drywall and insulation, the cinder blocks were damp, not wet, but dried out eventually. Do I need to trench around the foundation and re-coat with waterproofing, or is waterproof paint on the inside good enough?
A: Solving such dilemmas can be frustrating because it may require a few different approaches to eliminate your water problems. You might start by just waterproofing the inside, since that is the quickest, easiest, least expensive approach, but I would wait to see if that works before replacing any of the interior building materials.
Trenching around your foundation to waterproof it would probably be the next logical step, but sometimes it's also necessary to alter the drainage around your home to divert water away from it. It may be advisable to see if that works before proceeding, or it may make more sense to work on the drainage at the same time. I recommend having an expert come evaluate the situation before you proceed.
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by Kathy Maynard, reprinted courtesy of HomeAdvisor.com