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Fri 28 May, 2004 05:37 pm
I will try to make this simple. We had a garage attached to the house that we had enclosed with brick to make another room. I didn't know this at the time, but there was no lip like you see around the rest of the foundation that they put the brick on. So, the old garage floor and the driveway that run up to the garage are level. When the brick was put on it was put on the level surface. Now, when it rains we are having a leak problem where the water is runnnig under a small crack between the brick and the concrete and it is coming into the room. I have tried concrete patcher and some sealant which is not working. Now, my options are to try another product to seal the place between the brick and concrete. Or to cut out about a 2 foot section of the driveway all away across. This will be cut so that we now have a drop where the brick wall is and the water can't stand in one place. Then we can use some sealant to patch up next to the brick so that the water runs off. My question is does anyone have any other suggestions to stop the leak, such as another type of sealant. I have tried home depot patcher and have purchased some 505 sealant but that is mainly for roof type structures from what I understand. I could also enclose the driveway with like a sun room, but don't want to do that either. Anything would be helpful. Thanks.
I think I'd try a 2 step approach before getting to drastic.
First, get a skill saw with a masonry blade and cut a groove about and inch wide and an inch deep along the driveway about 4 or 5 inches out from the wall. Cut all the way across the driveway to create a channel for the water to run off into the yard. If the yard slopes down toward the driveway you'll need to dig a good sized pit and create a sump there for the water to run into until the ground can absorb it. The basic idea to prevent any water from standing against the wall to begin with.
Once you have that done I'd use a sealant such as
http://www.mfgsealants.com/MasonryProductsMain-Siloxsea.html to seal the bottom few courses of brick and the concrete between the brick and the groove you just cut. If that isn't adequate to seal it you might have to go with an epoxy paint.
Thanks for the reply. We finally figured out the problem. After your suggestion I went ahead and cut a small channel in front of the brick. Still got a leak. I then cut from the inside of the wall so I could see the brick from the inside. I then hooked up the sprinkler to see where the water was coming in. It was coming in from a billion different cracks in the brick wall! Well, you can guess who I am calling out to come fix their mistake.
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