Bought my First Rehab House in about 5 years

[BENJAMIN KELLY]

I bought a rehab house about a month ago.  Contractor starting performing the work replacing the HVAC units, tearing the plaster from three of the walls, electrical wiring being moved, and the laundry being moved back to the basement.  House when completed with have all new mechanicals, updated wiring, updated plumbing, new windows, new floor coverings, and new coat of paint.

One issue (if anyone has any ideas I open for the ideas): In the basement we are scheduled to do interior basement waterproofing including new sump drain.  A few days ago it rained really hard and my HVAC contractor installing the new furnace, noticed a 1/4-3/8" crack on the south foundation wall.  Water was more than trickling in.  We plan on removing the vegetation from the south wall which includes overgrown bushes, shrubs and a few misc trees.  How would you fix the issue for little or no money?  i.e.  Caulk the wall; cement the wall; or dig the outer foundation, seal it with a membrane, tar it, then fill back in the dirt?

It is only leaking on the south side of home.  Basement waterproofing on the entire foundation outside will eat into my potential profit three fold.  I think I can handle doing the DIY myself (renting mini excavator and doing the membrane myself), but the physical labor may be too much for one guy to handle.  What can you suggest might be a  more cost effective fix?

The project is scheduled to be done by the end of September 2014.

Project located in Cuyahoga Falls, OH.

Thanks for reading.

[John Whittle]

Grind the crack with an angle grinder concrete blade.  Apply hydraulic-lock cement.  Of course check gutters down spouts and you should probably grade the area with more top soil.  Fixes most of them.