Do we have to tear up our patio to stop the leaks?
The people we purchased our home from had built an extended cold cellar in the basement on the back of the house. As the roof of the cold cellar, they built a concrete patio. We have major leaks on these walls of the cold cellar. Is there a way of repairing these leaks and waterproofing the basement where these leaks occur without having to tear up the patio? Would it be possible to waterproof the cold cellar from the inside? If so, can you please provide the step by step instructions on how to do this? We have had a couple of quotes but the cost of having someone else doing it was cost prohibitive for us as we are a single income family. I would try to repair this myself if possible.Any information that you can provide will be greatly appreciated.
Expert
Maestro
Without knowing exactly how the cold cellar was constructed, it is difficult to give you a reasonable answer. It is not clear from your question whether the roof of the cold cellar is simply concrete, or whether there is a waterproof membrane over the concrete, with a patio built over the waterproof membrane. Similarly, it is impossible to know what is on the exterior walls of the cold storage room, in terms of waterproofing. You may be able to reduce the moisture penetration through the walls by having excellent grading away from the patio, so that surface water runs away from the wall surface.We suspect that this would reduce water penetration, but it would not eliminate it. We fear that digging, dampproofing, installing a drainage layer, and a weeping tile system would be the only way to totally rectify this problem. As you have already learned, this is expensive.
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