Waterproofing 4" GRC pentrations.....

Status
Not open for further replies.
Fulthrotl

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
Location
HB, CA (19 Hrs. 22 Min. from Winged Horses)
Occupation
E
gotta rack coming into a building, and water is following the conduits into the
building, and dripping off at the first trapeze. six 4" conduits, in a 3 X 2 array,
about 5' below finished grade (lawn)

it's a bunch of water, enough that one solution that was proposed, was
to make a catch pan with a sump in it, and a pump to push the water to
a drain.... looking at maybe 20-30 gallons a day..... :-( more when it rains.

a contractor came and gave them a bit of $90k to dig it all up and
replace it, back to the vault. facility running on a generator for 4
days, etc.

i've fixed stuff like this before, but i'm wondering if anyone's got a better
way than what i've used, which works, but is kinda sucky to do.....

first, i bush the concrete out 3" deep, around the conduits, and put a form
up to the wall, then use hydraulic cement to seal it back up.....

then i go open up a 4' hole next to the building, and clean the pipes up,
and get everything nice and dirt free, then i have a hot mop guy come and
tar the whole thing, just like a shower pan, then i backfill with sand, and
call it a day.... i've done it half a dozen times over the years, and it always
works.

anybody use anything else to fix leaking penetrations below ground that
isn't as icky a process as what i described...?

thanks in advance.


randy
 
O

Okie Sparky

Member
Location
NW Oklahoma
Haliburton gel

Haliburton gel

My dad is a custom home builder w/over 40 years exp. When I was a kid 12 - 13, he built a house with a basement. The basement leaked. Hydraulic cement was used unsuccessfully several times. Then the basement contractor called this old man whose business name was the Old Cellar Man, I think. He used a product that he called Haliburton gel. He claimed it was used in the oilfield to seal off wells or something. I never heard of something like this being used for oil wells but whatever. But that was the last trip to that basement. He pumped it both from the inside and outside of the basement. I saw his ad not long ago somewhere.
 
C

charlietuna

Senior Member
I have witnessed underground tunnels with leak problems - major leak problems from construction penetrations and also settlement cracks. They called a waterproofing contractor in who pumped a red colored liquid jell at certain locations -- now it took the guy a few different operations but he did get it totally dry. Now the "WELL DRILLER'S" material is used to actually build a cement casement around their drill hole--it is a course quick set material and comes in two parts--but i would be hesitent in using it without first checking it use--it could prevent you from ever sealing it too????
 
O

Okie Sparky

Member
Location
NW Oklahoma
The "stuff" the old man pumped into and around the leaky basement was red colored liquid gel. Two part "stuff", that we (dad and I) were skeptical about. It set up fairly quickly, maybe 15 minutes or so. But it worked. He used a long probe, much like pest control guys use to treat a house foundation for termites , to inject the gel along the basement wall where the leak was. I'm wondering if a method like this would work for fulthrotl's leaky basement?
 
Fulthrotl

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
Location
HB, CA (19 Hrs. 22 Min. from Winged Horses)
Occupation
E
hardworkingstiff said:
Is all the water coming from the outside of the conduit or is some of it coming from inside the conduit and leaking out of the couplings?
Click to expand...

it's above a hard lid, and i'm doing the crawl today, so more will be revealed.
film at 11.

i'm gonna assume it's both... we all know there's water *in* the pipe, and
it's gonna come out wherever it can. that's not that big a deal, i can
waterproof that with a number of products, clear silicone on all the couplings
being a simple fix. long term corrosion of the conduits from inside out is
a consideration, tho. the emt will start rusting from the cut ends quite
quickly.

if it's normal weepage into the pipes that's one thing, but if the substructure
under the pad mount in the parking lot is flooded and it's draining thru the
conduits..... :)
 
Fulthrotl

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
Location
HB, CA (19 Hrs. 22 Min. from Winged Horses)
Occupation
E
Okie Sparky said:
The "stuff" the old man pumped into and around the leaky basement was red colored liquid gel. Two part "stuff", that we (dad and I) were skeptical about. It set up fairly quickly, maybe 15 minutes or so. But it worked. He used a long probe, much like pest control guys use to treat a house foundation for termites , to inject the gel along the basement wall where the leak was. I'm wondering if a method like this would work for fulthrotl's leaky basement?
Click to expand...

Old Cellar Man
www.nicholswaterproofing.wisebuyingmall.com
11601 N Kickapoo
Shawnee, OK 74804
(405) 275-0537

i'm giving him a call, to find out what product he uses... thanks a lot,:D:D

turns out he does nationwide service......
 
Last edited:
Fulthrotl

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
Location
HB, CA (19 Hrs. 22 Min. from Winged Horses)
Occupation
E
Fulthrotl said:
Old Cellar Man
www.nicholswaterproofing.wisebuyingmall.com
11601 N Kickapoo
Shawnee, OK 74804
(405) 275-0537

i'm giving him a call, to find out what product he uses... thanks a lot,:D:D

turns out he does nationwide service......
Click to expand...

spoke with the fellow himself.... bill nichols, of bill nichols waterproofing,
who's been doing this since 1972... he's 82 years old, and still running
the day to day of his business... his nephew, who is 65, will handle the
repairs.....:D
 
O

Okie Sparky

Member
Location
NW Oklahoma
Fulthrotl, Yes that's the man. I googled Old Cellar Man Oklahoma and came up with that address also. Then I remembered he was from Shawnee. Let me know how it goes.
 
Fulthrotl

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
Location
HB, CA (19 Hrs. 22 Min. from Winged Horses)
Occupation
E
Okie Sparky said:
And I thought he was old when I was a kid. I think he had a grandson with him on the job he did for dad.
Click to expand...

um, he *was* old when you were a kid..... :D

the product "halliburton gel" is actually bentonite, and the snip from the
halliburton web site is:

"in fresh water, bentonite swells to 10 times its dry volume."
it's an admixture that is used with drillers mud to seal well casings.

anyway, yes, he can fix it, and yes, he is nationwide, and there we are.
he isn't coming out here with his rig to fix it for less than $8k, however.

works for me. that's less than 10% of the cost the pros from dover wanted,
and what they proposed was digging up the entire duct bank and replacing it,
along with the service entrance conductors.... while running the facility on
a genset for this time..... all that is silly.

again, thanks for your help.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top