Newport Coast ledge residence
Lower-level garage took water from below on three consecutive king tides. No perimeter drainage; capillary rise at the slab edge; the sump was never connected to anything.
Chapter 1
The pathology
Three king tides, no rain, and water standing on the garage floor.
The owner first saw it at the floor drain: a sheet of clear water spreading across a garage that sits nine feet below the street. It was a dry week. It came back on the next king tide, and the one after.
Two contractors had treated it as plumbing. The drain was snaked, then the slab was coated. The coating blistered within a month, and a white salt line appeared fourteen inches up the north wall.
- First reported
- Dec 2024 king tide, standing water at the floor drain
- Recurrence
- three consecutive king-tide cycles
- Lower slab
- about 4 ft above MLLW
- Perimeter drainage
- none found
- Sump
- pit present; discharge line capped inside the wall
- Salt line
- 14 in up the north wall
Chapter 2
Diagnostic reconstruction
The question was whether the water came through the walls, up through the slab, or back through the drain. We measured before opening anything.
The table followed the tide by about two hours and cleared the slab on each king tide.
A wet band along the slab edge and both cold joints. Walls dry above the salt line.
A cold plume rising from the slab perimeter at high tide only.
Level held. The drain was not the path.
Scope of repair
- Perimeter drain at the footing, tied to a new sump with duplex pumps and a high-water alarm.
- Positive-side membrane on both below-grade walls where access allowed; crystalline treatment on the inside face where it did not.
- Pressure relief at the slab; cold joints routed and sealed.
- Discharge line re-run to an approved outlet.
Chapter 3
Restored state
The garage stayed dry through the December 2025 king tides. The logger is still in the pit, and the owner can read the water table from a phone.
Is your house doing this?
Tell us what the water did. One call, one team, from the diagnosis to the repair.