The plumbing Code requires that any time a pipe passes through a masonary wall the pipe must be sleeved. The sleeve may be sealed to the masonary by any convenient means while the space between the exterior wall of the desired pipe and the interior wall of the sleeve is to be sealed with expansion foam. In new construction we commonly set the sleeve in the form and it is cast into the concrete wall however when we must cut through and install the sleeve and pipe later it is a common practice to use expansion foam to seal the sleeve to the wall as well as the interior of the sleeve.

Last year we got 15 inches of rain in less than a week here in Maryland (I'm next to D.C.). You may have seen the mess on t.v. Anyway, my basement flooded in my cute 50's house. It wasn't as severe as it could have been, but the wall to wall carpet was wet, and things were a mess. Fortunately, there was no major damage like so many others experienced. I found out tons within a short period because I had to. First I ruled out a sump pump. This is not going to fix a problem like this. Water must be diverted to another location. Second. Gutters and down spouts (clean ones) are very important to divert the water away from the house. They also must be wide enough to handle water from the house properly (mine were to narrow). If when you look at them while it's raining and they are flooding, they are either to narrow, clogged or both. Third (probably doesn't pertain to you). If there are large plants that go deep into the ground, this causes a path for the water to leak into the house. True you have had tons of rain lately. But, your gutters can't be helping the situation. I think you need to start by diverting the water away from the house and correcting your gutters. Good luck!! SG

Update - the power company finally sent someone out to look over the situation. To answer a few remarks, there is no water coming in through the roof or anywhere else, DH and I looked at those options when we first saw the water. Though some might think DIY means "hack job" my husband and I have been doing major building projects for about 20 years and we do know how to look for water damage and leaks. As to why the power company is doing this - we hired them to run the lines in the first place. Paid $700 for the work too. Since we are rural, the power company is usually the only one that will come out and do the jobs. The two electric companies in town are busy with residential/commercial projects and don't want to be bothered by something like this - unless they are doing the entire house. The lineman checked things over and rearranged the lines and wrapped a few of the connections. He said not to be all that concerned about water in the line as it wouldn't cause problems for a while. Since we are going into winter, I expect we'll not see any more water issues until it starts to rain in the spring. If we weren't having one of the wettest years on record, this problem may have never surfaced - I think that is what the power company is betting on. But it is an interesting thought that maybe the problem is water getting into the PVC pipe and then into a break in the line - though we couldn't put a real cap on (we can't disconnect the lines) I think we could fabricate a cover that would do the same thing. Thanks for all your help. Cathy

I like to use high quality polyurethane sealants for penetrations like that, with prep work (cleaning) being very important. Ideally the water proofing contractor would then spray the water proofing or damp proofing over my work for redundancy. Guessing the tear was made when putting in the utilities. Maybe the material got filled with dirt after the hole filled in with rains and silt. Normally, you could just put a patch of the same material over it, up to top of grade, but.. I think I see two major issues. There doesn't appear to be any waterproofing or damproofing behind the dimple sheet membrane. The dimple sheet membrane appears to be installed backwards, with silt fabric against foundation wall. I once caught a grading contractor installing it backwards, and I made him dig it back and put it the right way. From then on me and my carpentry crew referred to him as his excuse "well I've seen it done both ways".