(With pix) Poured basement rod hole leak repair

I always thought that, after the forms were disassembled and removed from a poured basement, the rod holes were filled with some kind of sealant.  Apparently this is (not always / sometimes / rarely / never) the case.  For example, in my basement there's a coarse smear of something across the interior wall at each rod hole, and that's it.  So today I made a better-than-OE repair to a leak at one of these rod holes.  I got the process info from a basement repair guy who asked me "Are you handy?" (Yes) "Do you like saving money?" (Yes).  "Do you have a Menards nearby?" (Yes)

Step 1:  Locate the leak

Step 2:  Punch a screwdriver through the hole and scrape out as much as you can of whatever is in the hole.  In my case, the hole was empty for the 6" length of my screwdriver.

Step 3:  Insert a #7 cork into the hole, and push it in at least 4".

Step 4:  Fill the hole with non-leveling polyurethane caulk.

Step 5:  Enjoy knowing that rod hole will probably never leak again.

If your hole was nice and dry you may be ok. If it was damp at all that sealant will not bond to the concrete. An injection of hydrophobic polyurethane foam would be a better bet in my experience. 

I wish you luck but keep an eye on it.

Packing the hole with non shrink grout should bond to the concrete and provide a barrier comparable to the wall itself.

Does the wall have waterproofing on the outside?

So your spending your Saturday jamming caulk into holes in a basement. 

Good times my friend, good times.

I'm looking forward to showing my brother this. He had the same problem a couple of years ago. I suggested that we can fix this ourselves but his wife insisted that professionals had to handle it, they spent $12,000.

In reply to Wally :

And whatever seeps out when you remove the tip of the caulk from the hole, you just smear it across the outside.

In reply to OHSCrifle :

No idea.  It's a 40 year old house that I bought 7 years ago.  And the exterior side of this particular rod hole is about 6 feet below  my garage slab.

You're just making the water go find the next weakest spot.

914Driver said:

You're just making the water go find the next weakest spot.

Yes.  Perhaps the path of least resistance will be into the proper drainage of the lot.

In reply to AngryCorvair :

Optimism!!

 Ironite mixed into mortar. 

I thought hydraulic cement would have been the thing to use. 

That fix should work as long as the grading is taking excess water away from the wall generally. The hole should have been plugged and sealed from the outside face during construction. However, if the foundation was repaired since they backfilled the site and placed your garage foundation, then this hole could have been made from the inside to support the repairs. 

Good job!

If it starts to leak again then take a hammer drill and enlarge the diameter of the hole to get to "fresh" concrete for better bonding of the sealer. Your product choice was fine but there may be better out there. What I have seen used on my projects are products from BASF, SIKA, AZO-Grout, and Henkel(loctite's parent). But I don't think they sell anything in smaller containers. But you can research them if the problem reoccurs.  

It's been warm and rainy here the last couple days, so tons of water in the soil due to snow melt and rainfall.  Basement is dry.  Who's a big winner?

Wally said:

So your spending your Saturday jamming caulk into holes in a basement. 

Good times my friend, good times.

You forgot how he deep corks it first.

No mini time capsule? Wasted opportunity man.  

So many childish jokes... leaking rod holes!