I have a Cap Cod style home with a masonry front stoop (brick with slate landing set in a bed of mortar). The basement perimeter follows the outline of the house, however the stoop and foyer are an appendage to the structure and don't extend down the basement. During rain, I notice water seepage in the corner of the basement where the foyer and stoop meet the basement foundation. At first I thought it was downspouts causing the problem, however I have provided underground drainage and drain at the street. I believe the culprit is the landing of the stoop where I have noticed spalling of the mortar bed and the slate is loose in areas. I plan on removing the slate and mortar bed and resetting the assembly.

My question, should I be considering some sort of water membrane or sealant between the mortar bed and brick stoop or will this cause problems with the bonding of materials? Is there a certain type of mortar I should be using? Is there a better solution short of demo of entire stoop and rebuild?

Sorry for the long winded post, but I thought was necessary to get the full picture. Thanks for you help and suggestions!

This question is not closed as far as I can see.

Kudos for piping the down spouts. Given the grading of your lawn I seriously doubt that the water you are getting is coming directly from the stoop unless there is a large gap between the stoop and the house. Your picture doesn't show the terrain to the left of your home but I would guess that it is considerably higher than your lot. I don't think there is any kind of membrane that you could use under the slate that you could use and if there were I don't think it would help. If piping the down spouts doesn't solve the water in the basement you probably will have to install a sump pump in that area. Mortar for resetting the slate would be just that, mortar.

I don't really see a gap between the stoop and the house, however do see a number of cracks on the stoop landing and the mortar bed. The terrain on the left of the house is relatively flat, however about 5 feet beyond the house foundation on the left I have a stone retaining wall (approx 24" high) and the ground slopes up a wooded hill. Surprisingly though, I do not have any water problems on that side of the house.

I attached an older photo before I tied the drains in. You can see that efflorescence is evident on the stoop (indication of water infiltration) however the stoop is a good 5 feet away from the problem I am having in the basement. The infiltration is happening at the location of the 2nd downspout.

The only thing I can think of is since the stoop and foyer foundation doesn't extend down to the main building foundation, that the water in seeping from the stoop under the unaccessible space of the foyer to the corner of the building foundation (path of least resistance). I have noticed a small 3" dia brick vent at the foyer (sort of an unaccessible crawlspace) which gives me an indication that there is a void between the stoop and my building foundation. Do you think that my observation makes sense?

My guess would be that if piping the down spouts does not solve the problem, you have underground water from the hill behind or to the left of you home. Water travels underground or through the ground in much the same way it does above ground. The foundation drain may be blocked due to the age of the house. The underground water may be hitting a restriction at the street because of the compaction of the soil underneath the street. It looks like all rain water should run off and away from the house rather rapidly. Just make sure that the gutters are clear and functioning (a continuing task due to the trees around you house) and you probably won't see any more water in the basement. However if you do, installing a sump pump will be the solution. Not a very difficult or expensive project.

The efflorescence on the brick are more an indication of the condition of the slate than water into the basement. If the water on the stoop was getting to the basement it wouldn't be on exterior of the brick.

... just checking the obvious. You've got three downspouts (two on front of stoop, one behind stoop). You did connect all three to your drain pipe... and you did not use perforated pipe? The first picture only shows one of them connected.

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Originally Posted by rtw_travel

...just checking the obvious. You've got three downspouts (two on front of stoop, one behind stoop). You did connect all three to your drain pipe... and you did not use perforated pipe? The first picture only shows one of them connected.

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Actually I have four downspouts and they are all connected to non-perforated piping.