Do You Have UNWANTED Water In Your Basement?

Last week Your Online Handyman found himself up on the roof.  With all of the rain that we have been having I noticed that my gutters were overflowing and although rain water is supposed to be taken away from your house through gutters and down spouts, mine was over flowing and coming right over the top.

Realizing how damaging water can be especially in a basement where it often winds up I decided that I better do something to correct the situation.  When you consider that many of the systems in your house are located in your basement including the electrical and heating you become kind of uncomfortable when you add water to the equation.  Many basements also contain irreplaceable item such as pictures and important documents.

So there I was up on the roof and boy was I glad that I was!  Considering I clean the gutters twice a year, I was amazed at the amount of branches and sticks not to mention all of the droppings from the oak trees this time of year.

But, thankfully I got up there before any damage was done.  The last thing that I want is to have water in my basement.  Realizing that prevention can go along way I put together a list of things that you might want to take a look at if you are having a problem with water or even if you don’t have a problem right now but, want to make sure that you don’t have one in the future.

1. Improper grade in the landscape next to your house – One of the biggest reasons that people get water in their basement is because it is allowed to accumulate right at the foundation of the house and then because the slope of the landscape is not pitched away from the building leaving the water no place to go but down – right into your basement. 

2. Gutters and down spouts – Just like with my situation working gutters and down spouts are essential when avoiding water in your basement.  Their job is to collect water from the roof and then take it away from the house.  If they are clogged they are going to overflow like mine did.  Combine that with improper grading and you are certain to have a problem.

3. Foundation cracks – If once you have made sure that your landscape is the right grade and your gutters and down spouts are in working order you still have water coming in you are going to have to water proof the foundation walls.  There are many hydraulic compounds that actually expand as they dry that you can use to patch problem areas of the foundation.  Cracks can also be filled with polyurethane grouts.  Or if the problem is severe you can hire a professional to fix the foundation walls from the outside.

As with so many things if we just take a couple of minutes to prevent having a problem it is so much easier, less expensive and time consuming to fix the problem before there is one. Preventing water in your basement is no different; by taking a few simple preventative measures now you can save yourself hours of frustration and clean up later.