Is my basement leak from the foundation or a pipe?
Huge storms can cause troublesome basement leaks, making it difficult to tell if water is seeping through the foundation or coming from an actual pipe. This confusion leaves you unsure if there is a major concern and stops you from figuring out the exact problem to either fix it yourself or hire someone.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Waiting to see if the area stays wet after the rain stops
- 2Testing if the pipe is dry during non-rainy periods
- 3Drying the pipe and using toilet paper to check joints
- 4Opening the clean out cap to inspect for internal cracks
- 5Digging outside around the pipe
- 6getting the ground graded to divert water
- 7digging a trench to have water follow a different path
- 8hiring a professional to pull things apart and find it
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I’ve been dealing with a small (but troublesome) basement leak near where my deck happens to be.”source ↗
“What should I look for? Any insight is greatly appreciated, I’m hoping to diy this fix or at least figure out the problem before I hire anyone.”source ↗
“Hi is this something to be concerned about? There is a huge storm in Massachusetts currently. Im not sure if this just leaking from the foundation or the actual pipe please any advice would help!”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 4How to tell if crusty residue on a basement pipe is a sewage leak
- 3How to tell which plumbing rough-in pipe is which
- 6Water company says we have a leak but we can't find it
- 3Is this mold or a water leak, and do I need to call someone?
- 29Water dripping from electrical switches behind walls
- 2How to tell if a repaired pipe is still leaking