Which system is best?

[alison]

We live in an old house (brick) that has water seepage in the basement, but no real flooding. It smells musty and the paint on the walls is flaking and has a sort of powder growing on it (not black mold!)

Which system is best to waterproof? Waterproofing from the outside (with or without french drains?) or from the inside with inside drains and a sump pump? We don't really get flooding, so I'm not sure that the sump pump option is necessary...

[TJ1962]

The Interior vs Exterior debate continues;

To say water in the block causes no future problems is misleading. To say it will fall over is also misleading.

Masonry foundation walls are like sponges. They absorb moisture and water. It is the minerals and alkali that attack the silica in concrete masonry.

Allow the walls to breath and it is minimized. The worst thing to do is paint the walls with a non-breathable paint. As these vapors are trying to escape they are trapped which is why you see paint peeling and mold-discoloration forming.

Your foundation sounds to be a red clay brick foundation. Which ever system you choose the contractor must take care as these foundations usually do not have much of a footer if one at all. As for not needing a sump.....you will eliminate alot of water trapped under the foundation floor as well as pumping out the water collected by which ever waterproofing system you choose

I could go on and on, for more information search in Questions and Section of this site or visit askthebuilder.com under interior vs exterior.