Tie Rod Hole Leak Repair in Brampton
If you see small rusty spots in a neat grid on your poured concrete basement wall, and water seeping from them after rain, those are tie-rod holes. They're a common leak, and we seal them the same way we handle crack injection.
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What are tie-rod leaks? When a poured concrete wall is built, metal rods hold the two sides of the wooden or metal forms together. The rods stay in the wall after the forms come off. Over time they can rust, and water follows the rod through the wall. A leaking tie-rod hole is sealed by injecting or plugging it, usually from inside the basement.
Below: how to spot tie-rod leaks, why they start, how they're sealed, and when they point to a bigger problem.
How do you spot a tie-rod leak?
- A grid pattern. Tie rods sit in regular rows and columns across a poured wall, so the spots line up.
- Rust stains. A brown or orange streak running down from a small round spot.
- Water after rain. Damp spots or drips that appear after heavy rain or snow melt and dry out in between.
- Only on poured walls. Concrete block walls don't have tie rods.
Why do tie-rod holes start leaking?
The rod is steel, and steel rusts when it stays damp. As it rusts, the seal between the rod and the concrete breaks down, and water finds a path straight through the wall. It's slow, which is why tie-rod leaks often show up years after the house was built.
How is a tie-rod leak sealed?
- Find every leaking rod. We check the whole wall, not just the one that's dripping today.
- Prepare the spot. The surface around the rod is cleaned so the seal bonds.
- Seal it. A port goes in and polyurethane is injected to fill the path around the rod, or the hole is plugged.
- Finish it. The port is trimmed off and the surface tidied.
It's quick work, and it's often done in the same visit as a crack repair.
When is it a sign of something bigger?
One or two leaking rods are a spot repair. If rods are leaking across most of a wall, water is pressing against the whole wall from outside, often because of poor drainage. In that case, sealing each rod treats the symptom. Have the drainage looked at too.
What does it cost?
Tie-rod sealing is usually priced per hole, and it costs less when it's done alongside other crack repairs. Our price: $150 per hole, or $100 each for three or more, plus HST. See crack repair prices in foundation crack repair cost in Ontario.