Leaking room downstairs

[PatJA]

Hello - Hope someone can give me advice. I have a tri-level house with a small room under the interior stairs on the bottom level. I am getting leaking from somewhere into this bottom room, along side wall and back wall. I think the outside staircase is also attached to at least one of these walls. The house is on a slab and I've dug up the earth to under the slab to see if I can in some way seal or something (YES, I am a woman and really don't have a clue what I'm doing). I waterproofed the walls in this room in the hope that might help but still leaking and the leak seems to be coming in at the corner of the bottom of the interior wall. I've thought about tarring along the slab but really don't know what to do. Can someone help? Thank you.

Pat

[majakdragon]

PatJA;
Welcome to the DIY Forums.

You have to find out where the water is starting from. What is DIRECTLY above the room?WHAT is directly adjecent to the walls that are leaking? Is there a bathroom or other room with water supply above or next to this room? Is there an outside faucet on either of the walls? Is there a roof overhang above this room?You don't want to seal the leak in, it will need to be found and fixed as sealing will allow the leak to continue and eventually cause rot and/or mold. Keep checking this post as other PRO's may have further ideas to help.
Post back to this post using the reply button with answers to these questions and any others you may have. The reply button will bring your question back to the top of the forum.
Good Luck on your project.

[PatJA]

Hi there,
Thanks for replying. Directly above this room is the flat part (top) of the outside staircase before coming in the front door. Adjacent are the walls of the staircase which is made from concrete and those stone slab things. It's raining here today so I went to have a look and there is definitely puddling into the earth along these walls. Do you think the grading was not done properly and maybe is not draining away the rain and the water is just sitting there and seeping through? (Just me thinking out loud!!) There are no pipes etc. anywhere near this room.

Thanks - your help is appreciated.

[majakdragon]

It does sound like the grading is allowing water to seep in. However it could also be a crack in the steps(where the top step meets the landing or where one step meets the other). This could be allowing water to flow down into the room through the wall. The water could be flowing between the outer surface of the wall and the wall its self. Check to see if there are any cracks in any of the steps. if you find any cracks you can use a mortar mix made for concrete and seal the cracks. You can also use this product if you find any cracks/seperations between the slab/porch and the wall(assuming you have a proch type area there).

To help with the grading you may have to install a drain system to help drain the water away from the house.
Good luck and post back