I've had a problem with water coming into my basement (walls are cinder block) that's slowing been getting worse since we bought the house 7 years ago. The outside is pretty good, the ground is graded away from the house and the downspouts are all attached and clean. I scraped and wire brushed the wall, got all the lose paint off and used some cleaner to remove the mold. I applied one coat of Behr waterproofing paint on Saturday and was going to apply the second coat tonight. It started raining on and off today and I can see 3-4 areas low on wall where there's water coming in. All the other places where I noticed it was leaking before I painted all appear to have been sealed. One of the leaking areas is right below/around a metal door to the chimney where the gas line comes in. I opened the door and it looks damp on the inside but I don't see any standing water. There is a rain shield over the top of the chimney. The other areas are 2"-3" off the floor. There are also no visible cracks in the bricks. Do I wait till it drys up and try to put on another coat or is there something else I should try?

Also, I have a double chimney and there are two small access doors in the basement. When I started prepping the wall one of the doors was all rusted out on the bottom and when I tried to open it up the whole thing came off. Can I get a replacement at say Home Depot and what's the best way to secure it in the opening?

Thanks,
-Jeff

KeepItSimpleStupid

I'd like to knoe what paint your using exactly. I like Dryloc.

I believe your not prepping the walls properly. You need to etch the walls with muratic acid or Dryloc etch before painting.

The "mold" your scraping off, id fuzzy is probably efforvescense and is removed by etching.

Chimney door

A brick supply place or online has chimney doors. They are available instainless steel. The door I had was secured with morter. Anchors or masonary screws may also work.

jstrike

The paint is Behr Basement and Masonry waterproof paint. It's comparable to UGL's Dryloc but its also mildew resistant. (and costs more) I've always like Behr paints so I gave it a shot.
Based on what I read on UGL's site, etching is only necessary to remove effervescence, mold can just be removed with a mild bleach solution but I had a lot of it so I chose to buy a cleaner instead. I'll probably pick up some Dryloc etch and clean the few small spots that are still leaking and see if that helps.

I looked this morning and inside the second chimney door (the one that rusted out) is a lot of water and the floor is really wet now so it looks like that's mostly where it's coming in. I have a feeling this is going to get expensive. Even if I replace the door I still have to deal with that water. Any ideas as to what I can do?

KeepItSimpleStupid

This second chimney door. The one with the water.

What vents into it. A waer heter? A high efficiency furnace?

jstrike

I believe it's just the hot water heater, the furnace vents out the side of the house and I'm pretty sure the fireplace on the first floor uses the other chimney.

KeepItSimpleStupid

If it is the hot water heater only, does this have a "liner". A liner is a small tube that goes to the chimney exit that increases the velocity of the draft, such that condensation does not form. i.e. the water heate should exit through this flexible pipe if there is no large appliances exiting here.

When hot water heater exhausts were combined with heater exhausts there wasn't a problem.