leaking basement

[iloverenovating]

My basement is leaking, the house is 20 years old and when we decided to finish off the basement after putting in the electricity and the room dividers we found we had two leaks. (There was a big rain fall) One was by the outside eavestrough so we thought we had problems with the direction of the trough so we redirected it. This did not correct the problem as the leak is still there, it forms a puddle, after very heavy rainfalls. As well we found another crack in the foundation on the other side of the basement under the window, it goes from the floor to the bottom of the window sill which is about 5 feet. The crack is visible. Do I have to dig down and work from the outside in or is there a product here in Canada that will seal it from the inside? Has anyone else had this problem I am sure you have can you please tell me how you dealt with it.
Thank you for your help

 

[Nestor_Kelebay]

All the advice I've ever heard agrees that it's always best (if possible) to repair cracks in foundations from the outside.

There are various hydraulic cements that you can supposedly pack into cracks to stop leaks in foundations, but the bottom line is that the best way to fix a leak in a foundation is to excavate and repair the leak from the outside.

You see, filling the crack on the inside won't stop water from getting into that crack, it'll only stop it from getting out.

And if you live in Canada, then you know that in the winter we have freezing temperatures, and water freezing inside a crack is going to want to expand and widen the crack. Water expands as it freezes with tremendous force, and is sufficient to cause iron water pipes to burst due to the internal pressure of the ice inside.

By doing the repair from the outside, you prevent the water from getting into the crack in the first place. Consequently, there's no force subsequently trying to widen that crack once it's supposedly "repaired".