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December 14, 2005
It really does work
We had a stretch of really warm weather last week, which gave us the opportunity to see if the eavestroughing had made a difference to the water problem in the basement. Even with the leaks, most of which I fixed that afternoon, the basement hasn't got any wet spots at the edges of the foundation. Once we've got the grading around the house fixed (which we'll do in the spring), I think that the drainage issues will have been solved, at least for the most part.
There was enough water that I could clearly see where leaky spots were, but this made sealing them a bit of a challenge. I discovered that a prodigious application of gutter sealant worked, even on the big leaks . . . although some of them have rather obvious caulking globs. But, it's the same colour as the eavestroughing and it keeps the water in, at least until we can properly fix these in the spring.
There's one section of downspout that we'll need to take apart, as Dana & his brothers installed it so that the upper pieces fit over (instead of into) the lower pieces. There are a couple of slightly leaky connections that we'll need to caulk, but they're only accessible with the extension ladder and will thus have to wait until spring. And, the highest two sections of eavestroughing (across the back of the house & garage) will need more caulking at the seams.
But, all in all, it does its job, even if the house does look like it's ready to take off because of the extensions to the downspouts, two of which need another 5 to 6 feet in further length because they're draining into low spots that drain back towards the foundation.
Temporary caulking
Posted by plainstext at December 14, 2005 08:18 PM
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