Crack repair – drainage layer

Interior · Wet Basements and Crawlspaces · printed page 372 (PDF page 373)

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Drainage Layer

Text in the illustration

Crack repair – drainage layer dimpled plastic membrane protects the wall from moisture and provides drainage plane (other methods may also be used) gravel fill next to wall to facilitate drainage adding drainage layer next to the wall helps to relieve hydrostatic pressure this method may be used when there are many small cracks, when it is difficult to identify the specific source of leakage, and when it is difficult to correct poor grading (such as a hill next to the house) drainage tile basement slab foundation wall
dimpled plastic membrane protects the wall from moisture and provides drainage plane (other methods may also be used)
gravel fill next to wall to facilitate drainage
adding drainage layer next to the wall helps to relieve hydrostatic pressure
this method may be used when there are many small cracks, when it is difficult to identify the specific source of leakage, and when it is difficult to correct poor grading (such as a hill next to the house)
drainage tile
basement slab
foundation wall

Generated explanation

The illustration shows an exterior drainage layer installed against a cracked foundation wall, with a basement slab on the interior side. A cutaway exposes the dimples of a plastic membrane that protects the wall from moisture and provides a drainage plane. Gravel fill beside the wall facilitates drainage toward drainage tile at the base. The annotations explain that this approach relieves hydrostatic pressure and may be used for numerous small cracks, unidentified leakage sources, or grading problems that are difficult to correct.