Not only does a wet basement feel and smell nasty, it poses a great risk to your family’s health, not to mention your home’s value. If left unchecked, a damp basement with high moisture levels can ruin floors, walls, structural components, and encourage mold, rot, and poor indoor air quality. Thanks to a wet spring and cooler than average summer in the Kawarthas, the earth around your house is already saturated. And with predictions for a heavy snowfall this upcoming winter, the spring thaw could result in disastrous wet basement problems. Now is the time to fix your issues before they turn into much bigger problems in the spring!
Fortunately, there are a number of wet basement cures. Depending on your situation, removing moisture from your basement could be an easy fix or you may need to call in the services of a professional. Either way, it’s important to act fast and get to the bottom of what’s causing your wet basement problems before any more damage is caused to your home.
5 ways to keep water out of your basement:
Clean your eavestrough and unclog downspouts.
Even though your water issues are in the lowest part of your house, the eavestrough may be to blame. Your eavestrough could be overflowing when it rains due to downspouts being clogged up by leaves and other debris. Without a properly functioning eavestrough and downspout, water will pool up right next to your foundation and eventually find it’s way in to your basement.
Leave a dehumidifier on at all times.
If you live in an older home with a stone foundation or have minor dampness that appears along the inside of your foundation, use a dehumidifier to lower humidity levels. This will keep the air dry enough to stop mold from growing. But if you have visible puddles in your basement or reoccurring damp spots, a dehumidifier is only a small part of the fix for a much larger problem.
Reshape the landscape around your foundation.
If your eavestrough and downspouts are properly carrying rain away from your home but water still finds its way into your basement or crawl space, the next logical step is to check the grading of your landscape. Your house should sit on layers of sand and soil that clearly slope down and away from your foundation walls. If you notice the ground is sloping towards your house, water will eventually pool up right beside your foundation and lead to a wet basement or flood. It doesn’t matter how water tight a foundation might be; if water is there long enough it will get in!
Install an interior drain system & sump pump.
Interior drain systems consist of perforated pipe that is installed in the ground around the perimeter of your basement floor. The pipes drain to a collection tank located at the lowest spot of the basement floor. Next, a sump pump system removes all the water out of the house. This is a highly effective way to fix your wet basement issues from the inside of your home. Doyle Plumbing sells and installs industry-leading sump pumps, including battery backup systems that kick in during power outages.
Waterproof the exterior walls.
If your basement is finished and experiencing water issues, you should consider permanently waterproofing your foundation’s exterior. This requires excavating around the perimeter of your house, but it’s likely the best solution if you have a foundation with a number of cracks and gaps. This full-scale exterior waterproofing solution involves excavating to the full depth of your foundation’s walls and installing a membrane or waterproof coating. Drainage panels are also installed that provide an easy path for water to flow towards an exterior drainage system at the bottom of your foundation. The exterior drain collects the water and pushes it away from your property to a storm drain, either by gravity or with the help of sump pump.