Walkout Basement Entrance Re-Do

[TCJatko]

That's not at all what I pictured.

I would remove the dirt that wraps around the door wall. Looks like you could use retaining walls on each end with good drainage behind them.

This solution should solve your problems.

 

[jrdepew]

View attachment 346627Ok here is what i would do in your place. Sorry about the picture quality but i think you'll get my point. Can't figure out how to make the picture bigger :confused3: Can you guys see it?

Builder, I can see it, although when I first looked at it all I saw was an empty white box!

A couple questions:

In order to keep the PT sill off the concrete, is the sill seal all I need? Or should I wrap the bottom and sides of the PT sill with vycor, leaving the top open so the sill can breath?

When attaching the PT framing to the concrete walls, should I use the same method? Sill seal between wood and concrete, with the framing wrapped in vycor? Should I flash this in the same way, with the slot cut to accept the lead flashing?

I have vycor left over from the deck project, and it is cheap enough that I don't mind adding it where it can be of help.

Thanks!
Joe

 

[jrdepew]

This solution should solve your problems.

I agree, this would keep a majority of the water away from the problem area to begin with, along with a few other ideas posted by others on here. I will definitely be regrading the banks and pulling them back away from the door area. Since this is a walkout basement, the foundation should go down in the ground ~4' all the way to the edge of the walls, and then along the walls running perpendicular for a short distance correct? I wish I could confirm that! Pulling the banks back far will get rid of any insulation that they are providing that section.

 

[jrdepew]

Excellent discussion and advice so far in this thread. However, there is another possibility for water access that hasn't yet been mentioned. It's hard to see details in the one picture that shows it, but it appears that the roof covering the space between the house and garage was improperly attached to the house. It looks as though the roof structure was simply attached *through* the existing siding, so the top edge of the flashing at that joint is on the *outside* of the siding. There are gaps at every joint in the siding, and it's impossible to see how (or even if) those gaps were sealed. If water were able to get through between the siding and the flashing, run down the wall to the ceiling, which is right about the top of the T-111, it could enter the *top* of the wall, run down and collect at the bottom where the mold is forming. You should make sure the joint between the top edge of the flashing and the siding is well sealed (the top edge of the flashing should really be *under* the siding, but to fix that would mean taking the entire roof over the walkway down and rebuilding it properly). I would also take down at least a small strip of the ceiling so water could escape by running down the outside of the wall instead of finding an easier route *inside* the wall. Hopefully the main structure of the house has not been compromised and there's no rot there. Probably should check just to make sure. Personally, I would remove all of the ceiling material. It conceals a large void, inhibiting ventilation, but also creating an unseen path for fire between the garage and the house. Even if it was noticed, it takes a few minutes to tear down enough of the ceiling to get water throughout the the entire void, and that could be a couple of minutes too many. If you want to keep it, I would advise cutting a scuttle hole near the center, fairly easy for humans to open (but not for raccoons, etc.), easy to get a ladder through, and big enough for a large firefighter in full gear including breathing apparatus to turn around in. It comes in handy if you ever want to run wires, etc., through there, too.

Sorry to run on so long, hope it's been some help. (Disclaimer: I have never been employed in the construction trades. In fact, with 20+ years in the fire service, I've done a lot more un-construction (or would it be de-construction, or maybe just destruction?) than construction.)

I can get better pictures of this, but I believe that it is connected directly to the house, and not with a layer of siding sandwiched in between. I do not notice any water running down the T111 directly from the roof.

When I installed my coal boiler, I went through and looked at all the plumbing lines, and found a leak directly above the area in question. In the first picture I posted, you can see a small section of pipe insulation and tape in the top left corner. There was a joint here that was slowly leaking and dropping directly into the cavity where the mold now is!!! I fixed that leak, and also inspected the top of the framing, and rim joist area for any rot. Luckily, there is no rot, and there was no water sitting on the structural members of the house.

Another project that had me looking in this area, is that I mounted an antenna in the rafters of the garage (reception is great up here on the hill). I then ran the cable through the garage, through the breezway roof, and into the house. I had dropped sections of the soffit and had to drill holes in the house and garage framing to run the cable through. The electric for the garage is also ran through holes in this area.

In other words, I have been working in the area you mentioned a few times, and have noticed no rot or moisture issues. That being said, thanks for bringing it up and I will be sure to look that area over very closely when this project begins.

Joe

 

[jrdepew]

The grade of the grass banks on either side of the doors needs to change, and the grade needs to be pulled back from along the walls too. There should be a stone lined ditch about 1.5' or more running alongside the walls sloped away from the wall allowing water to get away from the wall and away from heading to the doors area. The siding should not come to grade as it does now. The lowest portion of the siding could be trimmed with a piece of Kleer or other solid PVC material, impervious to water. T111 is not impervious to water or mold or outdoor elements. Same with the door trim, (called brickmoulding)- use PVC or nothing.
I would excavate out the grade from the side walls, seal it, after thoroughly cleaning the concrete with a Muriatic acid solution, then coat it with a bituthane sealer and use landscape fabric to line what will be your perimeter ditch, then stone to keep the water from contacting the house walls.
Water must be directed away from the entire area; both walls and doors must be isolated from water runoff and constant moisture.
Slope the remaining grade to have enough pitch to carry any remaining water away from the target area.
It seems you have a overhang of some sort above the doors? I can't tell from the pics too well, but if it's there it too must allow the water to be taken away from the doors with gutters, flashing, whatever it takes to keep the area underneath dry.

Thanks for the information on grading/materials/etc. What is your suggestion on a material to replace the T111? I will definitely be going with pvc trim around the door, as well as a section of PVC as the lowest portion of the siding.

Can you give me more detail on coating the concrete with bituthane sealer? Would this get covered by something in the end? I am not entirely clear where this sealer would be placed.

Thanks,
Joe

 

[dave1949]

I agree, this would keep a majority of the water away from the problem area to begin with, along with a few other ideas posted by others on here. I will definitely be regrading the banks and pulling them back away from the door area. Since this is a walkout basement, the foundation should go down in the ground ~4' all the way to the edge of the walls, and then along the walls running perpendicular for a short distance correct? I wish I could confirm that! Pulling the banks back far will get rid of any insulation that they are providing that section.

The wall that used to be for the garage door, should have a frost wall foundation going down 4', you are correct. To be really well done, that frost wall should wrap around the corners for 8' or so with the basement wall poured on top of that. That's difficult concrete forming for residential builders, so my guess is it wasn't done that way.

Since your walk-out basement is heated, I wouldn't worry too much about frost depth. For extra protection, when you remove some of the soil at the corners, you can utilize the "shallow frost protected foundation" techniques using closed cell foam boards used for foundation insulation. Foam boards can provide a good frost barrier at shallow (18"-24") depths.

Here are some reference articles for shallow frost-protected foundations:
https://www.google.com/search?q=sha...NKsnEsAT4yICwBQ&ved=0CCsQsAQ&biw=1440&bih=798

Design Guide for Frost-Protected Shallow Foundations

All things considered, I would worry more about getting good drainage on those corners than anything else. If the water in front of the door disappears quickly as you described, I'll bet there is a foundation drain running along that wall, and the stone goes all the way down to that drain next to the wall. If so, do you know where that drain exits? If it is there and working well, maybe you could tie some additional corner drainage into that.

 

[aczlan]

Ok here is what i would do in your place. Sorry about the picture quality but i think you'll get my point. Can't figure out how to make the picture bigger :confused3: Can you guys see it?

Something like this?


Aaron Z

 

[Danno1]

A couple questions:

In order to keep the PT sill off the concrete, is the sill seal all I need?

That should be fine.

Or should I wrap the bottom and sides of the PT sill with vycor, leaving the top open so the sill can breath?


Joe

I would not do this. You are creating a bath tub to hold water around the wood.


.

 

[BuilderML]

Builder, I can see it, although when I first looked at it all I saw was an empty white box!

A couple questions:

In order to keep the PT sill off the concrete, is the sill seal all I need? Or should I wrap the bottom and sides of the PT sill with vycor, leaving the top open so the sill can breath?

When attaching the PT framing to the concrete walls, should I use the same method? Sill seal between wood and concrete, with the framing wrapped in vycor? Should I flash this in the same way, with the slot cut to accept the lead flashing?

I have vycor left over from the deck project, and it is cheap enough that I don't mind adding it where it can be of help.

Thanks!
Joe[/QUOTE]

1)If you have the Vycor just use that and don't worry about the sill seal. Lay the vycor down even with the inside edge of your sill plate, frame your wall do the sheathing and fold the vycor up onto your sheathing basicly creating an L-shape with the vycor. You can do the same with your stud running up along the foundation wall.
2) You don't need to to flash your sides the same as you do the bottom as water will not sit there. You might want to run a piece of Azek 1x4 or whatever size you like along the edge of your foundation wall so your siding(T-111) will not come into contact with that as well. Then apply a nice bead of sealant inbetween your Azek and foundation wall.

Your door you can get with composite jambs along with the exterior casing.
Want to know anything else just ask i'll help if i can.

 

[BuilderML]

Something like this?
View attachment 346724

Aaron Z

Thanks for the help Aaron :thumbsup: