I am looking for the best material(s) to apply to my exterior foundation walls to waterproof them. It's an older house in the Boston suburbs w/a concrete foundation and walkout basement. There seems to be some spots where the concrete is porous, as though there were air pockets between the concrete and the forms. Instead of a sheer concrete face, I can see the small stones and air pockets in those spots. There's not many of them, but it looks like an easy way for water to get in. I have owned the house since last summer and I noticed then that my front basement wall gets some dampness/weeping after heavy rains when it was very humid. I have to correct the grade as it slopes toward the house, but since more than half of the walls are exposed, I would rather expose the entire wall and treat it before backfilling and raising the grade. This way I will feel more comfortable when I finish the basement. Thanks in advance,
David
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I am going to assume you are going to dig out the rest of dirt by hand down to the footing...I would use hydraulic cement to fill any openings in wall before using a very Thick Tar over entire wall w/visqueen and then backfill with 100% peastone(have dirt-soil hauled away) from the footing up to within 6 inches or so of grade. Just dont use a THIN tar..like the brush-on kind..that would be like having a thin coat of paint on your walls,nowhere near enough to last very long.Just in case ya dont know...sometimes...walls can get dampness and-or seepage from other outside-direct-openings which could be ABOVE ground level..gl!















