Shop Repairs?

[Steve Canada]

1st post!

This is slightly off topic, sorry for that.

I am building my workshop in the garage this summer, but the last owner of the house, who built the garage, did not use a foam strip under the sill plates.

So in heavy rain, I am seeing water coming in under the sill plate. I need to seal this leak, but obviously, I can't take the plate up, what can I do seal it up before I build in my shop?

Advice?

[Chris Rosenberger]

Welcome Steve.

What kind of siding is on the garage?
The joint needs to be sealed on the outside with caulking & then a flashing added to extend the water flow to below the jont between the sill plate & foundation..

[Doyle Alley]

In addition to the question about what type of siding, you should also look at how the ground water is drained away. In my case, I dug a french drain around the perimeter of my detatched garage and filled it with stones. One side of the garage sits on the edge of a slope and the water runs through the rocks over to that side and then the slope carries it off to the ditch. Water can't seep through your mud sill if it gets carried away first.

[Steve Canada]

There's actually no siding. It's a pebble/morter mix spread on the walls. And then some parging near the base. I've attached a pic with the main problem area.

Thanks for the help guys.

[Jim Becker]

Maybe my eyes are playing tricks, but in that photo, it looks like the building sits in a slight depression where water can collect and seep in at the points you indicate. (perhaps it's just a shadow line...) Is that true?

[Joe Pelonio]

Rather than mess up that stucco you might have better luck with digging a trench and putting into it drainagepipe (perforated black plastic) to move the water away from the wall. You could also put metal flashing at an angle from the bottom of the stucco to the trench to direct any water hitting the wall in windy rain.

[Jim Becker]

Rather than mess up that stucco you might have better luck with digging a trench and putting into it drainagepipe (perforated black plastic) to move the water away from the wall. You could also put metal flashing at an angle from the bottom of the stucco to the trench to direct any water hitting the wall in windy rain.

I agree with that...grading and/or drainage is essential with any structure. When we moved to this property, our basement often became a lake. Once I provided proper drainage and fixed some grading, we only get water table action (no way to fix that!)...nearly nothing coming in from gutter and splatter.

[Dan Oelke]

I'll add to the chorus - get the grading / draining fixed so that water doesn't sit on the ground near the wall and you will probably be fine.

First - figure out how to change the lawn grade to get it to slope away from the building... a skid loader can do this far better than you can with a shovel. You wil end up redoing a lot of lawn though.

If that doesn't do it - then dig a trench, fill with gravel and the black perf pipe. Cover with more gravel and then top soil. The pipe does not have to drain to daylight - just lay it so that it slopes away from the building (probably means digging a progressivly deeper trench.) Get a big level or better - a transit out and make sure your pipe has slope to it. Get a string and pull it *tight* to make sure the pipe is straight. If you just run it 15-20 feet out and then have a bigger area of gravel it will probably drain just fine - or you could put in a drywell that you dump the pipe into.

Then again - if there is no basement there - maybe just putting some gravel down under the the surface will encourage enough of the water to drain down away from the wall where it can then slowly perculate away will work.

In any case you shouldn't have soil within several inches (8" is good) of the bottom of your sill plate.

[Doyle Alley]

I would also look into one of the special sealing paints made for waterproofing basements. I think one brand is something like "Drylock". Paint the outside with the sealing paint and fix the drainage and you should be good to go.