Leaking Shed (with pics)

insinkerator

Hey Everyone,

So basically, we have this metal shed out the back that is leaking. It seems to be leaking at the back corners only. I tried everything I could do to find the source of the leak but the roof and walls and seams that I can find are all bone dry, complete with cobwebs and dust. However, whenever it rains, a puddle of water forms in the shed. Apologies for the non-rotated pics.

So this the shed.



On the doorside (which doesn't seem to leak), you can see some sort of concrete substance stuck between the base and the shed wall.



The other (leaking) side however, doesn't have this concrete stuff. Is it possible that this is how the water is getting in?



Here are some inside pics of the issue. The shed was originally used for dogs, and my father foamed all the massive gaps. I don't remember there being any leaks at the time, but we never would have looked either. My father had a go off it the other day again and went a bit crazy with expanding foam and mastic, which obviously did not solve the problem. Like I said though, I cannot find any source of leaking, just water on the floor.





That damp grey patch between tile and shed wall. Is that where the water could be getting in? If yes, what can I do about it? If no, any ideas where else the water could be coming from?

insinkerator

I've been told that the grey stuff between tiles and wall is cement fillet, and needs to be chiseled away and replaced. Thoughts?

Joey the lips

I reckon there is no leaks in the ceiling. I think the water is getting into the shed through the floor. Is there a puddle forming at the back of the shed or side.

MidlandsM

If you put a gutter on that roof, you'd have no water pouring down on the concrete @ the sides and getting in under the metal frame......

littleredspot

I'd say it's coming from the ground too, but by sealing it up completely like that you're likely to get a load of condenstion too. Builings are meant to breath.

bbam

Get someone outside with a hose and you inside with a lamp.
You should easily see where the water comes in.
Is there any chance it's condensation, that timer of shed would be very prone.

insinkerator

Joey the lips wrote: »

I reckon there is no leaks in the ceiling. I think the water is getting into the shed through the floor. Is there a puddle forming at the back of the shed or side.

Puddles form at the back of the shed, yeah. Mostly in one corner, to a lesser extent in another corner (which by the way would be the corner with the least concrete base around it, if that adds weight to the water coming in through the floor theory?)

MidlandsM wrote: »

If you put a gutter on that roof, you'd have no water pouring down on the concrete @ the sides and getting in under the metal frame......

Would the gutter fully solve the problem though? If the shed isn't waterproof, then surely water will find a way to get in? Is attaching a gutter a big job?

littleredspot wrote: »

I'd say it's coming from the ground too, but by sealing it up completely like that you're likely to get a load of condenstion too. Builings are meant to breath.

There are two grills cut into the roof, similar to the one above the door in the first pic, and there is also a window. Would that be enough, if the floor was to be sealed up?

bbam wrote: »

Get someone outside with a hose and you inside with a lamp.
You should easily see where the water comes in.
Is there any chance it's condensation, that timer of shed would be very prone.

I've tried getting water in through the roof with a hose and I couldn't . Definitely not condenstation, roof and walls are bone dry, water only appears when it rains, and it's only at the back of the shed, in proportions that would resemble localized flooding

Thanks for the replies!

littleredspot

Sorry I didn't see the grills. Def sounds like it's coming from the ground so.

insinkerator

So to stop it from getting in from the ground, I need some sort of guttering and to seal up the floor, I need to replace the cement fillet? Or is there an easier sounding solution? DIY isn't my forté

MidlandsM

a gutter will take away the deluge of water that is hitting the concrete .... and getting in then under your steel frame of the shed........

Joey the lips

Just pour a bit of cement around the outside and trowel it up against the shed just in a slight incline to keep the water away. Then put a bead of silicone between the shed and the cement so it seals it from rain running down the wall.

This is a possible way. But i would really need to see the shed up close to know if this works 100%

Paranoid Mandroid

Joey the lips wrote: »

Just pour a bit of cement around the outside and trowel it up against the shed just in a slight incline to keep the water away. Then put a bead of silicone between the shed and the cement so it seals it from rain running down the wall.

This is a possible way. But i would really need to see the shed up close to know if this works 100%

I know this thread is a month old but this might help someone. I had a similar issue as the op on a similar shed. I haven't managed to get rid of the damp floor fully but its way better. I did do what joey mentions here. I did this a year ago. The cement is starting to break up but I used tec 7 instead of silicon at the shed/concrete interface. Great stuff. I also put up gutters and drain into a water butt which I always forget to empty. Anyway the concrete floor at the back of the shed gets damp when rain is heavy but these jobs have made it a lot better. My garden is very damp at the back where the shed is so maybe the damp is from the ground, I don't know, the concrete floor is raised from ground level. I did buy some foam but I know if I start that, I'll make a serious mess.

How did you get on op?

massey265

It looks to me that the ground level out side is the same level as the shed floor? if it is it wont be easy to stop the water from coming in... The only way off having a 100% dry floor in to put in a new one with a plastic membrane underneth it on top off the floor thats there already.

jhipwell

if you have room either side of shed, dig a whole as deep and as close to the puddling area as you can, dig till you reach soft ground ok,
line this hole with teram recomended but not totally required, then fill this whole starting at the bottom with poures rubble and then fill to the top with shingle, basicly what you are constructing is a french drain.
i done this all over my garden, 1msq holes 1mdeep, because when it rains my garden floods, no drainage in grass at all. during construction diggers and all sorts compact the soil, dont allow water penatration at all.
any hope you get sorted anyway,