Where is basement water coming from?

Question

On Satuday, my wife and I were in our finished basement and heard a drip from Laundry Room. A drip of water was coming down from one spot on the central air duct, rolling down one side of it from the top. Another duct lays on top of it and a floor beam is right there, so there is no way to see above or around it to find the source.

Roland J Down guy was at the house 4 hours yesterday. At first we were running the air and there was no drip. He ran tests and says central air working fine. He was just about to give up when water started leaking out in the cellar ceiling like before, a big gush at first and then slowing down to a drip and eventually practically stopping, like the water had built up somewhere and waited until that moment to release itself. It seems like it has to be related to the air somehow, because it only happens when its on, but he says there’s no signs of anything leaking and the condensation drain pipe is working right and not leaking. The only thing that can be done is to remove a piece of the air duct where the water is coming out and see what’s behind it and where the water is coming from.

We checked the refrigerator and the hose for the ice maker and it was dry and had no cracks. He opened up the duct work near the leak and it was dry inside. It was dry to the left and right of the drip, so it’s coming straight down from somewhere.

We also cut a hole in the sheet rock in the corner near the leak to see what was going on behind there. This shaft is sealed off by sheet rock and hasn't been viewed before, neither by me or the House Inspection team 10 months ago before we moved in. The condensation drain pipe from the furnace ends back there. There’s a hole in the cellar floor that goes down to the Earth a couple feet and the water is supposed to go there, but it looks like it got backed up recently and the water rose up and got inside the wall wet. There were some big heavy duty plastic bags thrown back there at some point and covering most of the hole where the water is supposed to go. The Roland Down guy said we should get them out of there, so I’m going to see if I have a stick long enough and fish them out. I only have a small hole in the sheet rock to work with.

Another thing he saw back there is a deep crack in the foundation. House inspection team wouldn’t have seen that when we were buying the place. He says it will be a problem someday. Hopefully we’ll have moved on by then but I'm nervous about it. It didn't look wet or anything. We live in a townhouse for my neighbor shares the same part of the foundation. I’m going to try to fish the plastic out myself tonight and then seal the wall back up. I guess if it rained this much and all we got was just that little dampness seeping through the corner things aren’t that bad. But the walls inside the little shaft looked like water had gotten a couple feet up the wall. It seems like there would have been a bigger mess if it had gotten that high. I’m going to need to get a dehumidifier or something to get the dampness out of there. There’s mold growing in the corner that I need to clean up.

The guy is going to report back to the company and they will give an estimate about how much it will cost for them to come in and mess with the duct work. We have 30 days to decide or else we’ll have to pay for another “consultation”. It was still only $99 for the consultation. He gave us our money’s work, I guess. I don’t know how much we can afford. It seems like it all has to be related somehow. The heavy rains and turning the air on. I’m not sure. I can’t think of anything that could explain it.

Does anyone have any other ideas about the water's source? Like I said, after having the air on for 30-40 minutes, a gush of water trinkled down the side of the duct and then quickly slowed, first to a rapid drip, then a slower drip, then next to nothing.

Thanks in advance and sorry about the long winded tale.

Answer 1

you most likely have a crack in the wall or celing of the basement.

it could have been caused by water freezing in a small crack which causes it to expand and get bigger so the water in the ground is leaking into the basement.

Answer 2

Finding water leaks can be very tricky because water can travel quite aways before it begins to drip. For example: at one of my properties the flashing around a vent pipe on the roof had started to leak. The place the  leak appeared was on the basement steps. The water had run down a rafter and across a ceiling joist and then down the stud  into the basement steps. The leak was only evident when it rained. It took me a while to find the problem and then only with the help of an older more experienced landlord. We had to wait until the water appeared and then follow the leak to the source.

Now, I'm not saying that it is your roof that is leaking, but what I am saying is that where the water appears in your home can be quite a ways away from where the source is.

I would go into the attic when it is raining and look for damp spots, and I would also run all the faucets in the house and check for leaks in any drain pipes that you can see. Look over all the exposed water lines and look for dampness. Check around the base of toilets for leaks also.

Also it could be condensation in the metal duct work. I have seen this happen only once and it was very humid at the time. This is rare because usually the condensation appears on the air conditioning coils where it is supposed to.

If your HVAC system has a humidifier check the water line going into it to make sure it is not leakeing.

Also, observe that crack in the foundation to make sure it is not leaking. The foundation crack is most likely lower than the duct work where the water is appearing.

Hope this helps.