Basement walls are generally constructed of concrete which is a somewhat pourous material
that will allow water to seep through. In order to prevent this, you need to coat the
outside of the walls with some sort of water protection. The mason will generally
coat the outside of the walls that will be below the surface of the ground with a mortar mix
Here are the basement walls after the mason has coated the walls
To insure that you will not have water in your basement, you need do more than just what the
mason does. The first thing to do would be to provide drainage around the footers. This can
accomplished by a combination of gravel and 4 inch perforated plastic pipe. The water coming
from beneath the ground or from heavy rains above ground will be carried away from the footers
and walls. The pipe can be directed away from the house into a french drain or into a sump pump
Here are the basement walls after a coat of foundation tar
The second thing to do is to coat the walls with a waterproof sealer. This will keep the water
that is in the ground above the pipe from getting into the basement walls. Do not treat this task
lightly. Spending a little time and money now can save you a lot of money and heartache later.