Advice on patch replacement for basement hole, around water main
Looking for advice and/or a sanity check.
A few years ago, we had our water main (and the rest of our 85-yr old galvanized plumbing) replaced. Contractor did a trenchless replacement, which resulted in a below-grade hole in our block foundation. The plumber filled the hole with an elastic waterproof sealant, but we've had a couple of minor leaks (1/4" wide, 5-10 ft rivulet) after a few heavy Pacific NW storms. The plumber claimed our block was just too porous to fully seal, though we've not had any problems with leaks over the past 15 years we've been in the house. Also, we pulled the old patch to replace / repair and the block seems reasonably solid as I've cleaned it with a wire brush.
Couple of core questions...
- (1) My plan was to replace with hydraulic cement (Drylok Fast Plug), based on similar posts/answers here. Is that the best option here?
- (2) Is a bonding agent recommended? If so, any recommendations?
- (3) I don't have access to the outside surface (it's 6-7 ft below grade). The hole depth is ~9"... 1" of soil and 8" of cinder block. Is it recommended to backfill the soil with some material to provide a surface against which to pack the hydraulic cement?
Two other indirect questions..
- (4) I'm not quite sure about the blue wire. It isn't connect to anything and (of course) isn't live, so I'm assuming it's a remnant of the trenchless process. The plumber just ran it straight along the bottom of the PVC, which seemed like another entry point for water. Going to do something different with it.
- (5) The transition from PVC pipe to PEX is sealed with what I believe is a silicone sealant. Is this standard? Seems like a sturdier connection would have made sense here.