How To Dry A Wet Basement
Tuesday, October 04, 2011
Some wet basements are easy to cure simply by clearing gutters and by diverting gutter water away from the foundation. But if the problem comes from other sources—water flowing toward the house on the surface, seeping in from underground, or backing up through storm drains or septic or sewer systems—you must take more aggressive action.
Here are eight strategies to keep water out of your basement.
Add gutter extensions.
If downspouts are dumping water less than 5 feet away from your house, you can guide water farther out by adding plastic or metal gutter extensions. But extensions aren’t the neatest or most effective long-term solution, especially if you’re likely to trip over them or run over them with a lawn mower. A permanent, underground drain pipe is invisible and capable of moving large quantities of gutter runoff much farther from your house.
Plug cracks in the basement floor.
If you see water dribbling into the basement through cracks or gaps around plumbing pipes, you can plug the openings yourself with hydraulic cement or polyurethane caulk for less than $20. Plugs work when the problem is simply a hole that water oozes through, either from surface runoff or from wet soil. But if the water is coming up through the floor, or at the joint where floor and walls meet, the problem is groundwater, and plugs won’t do the trick.
Restore the slope of your land.
If the gutters are working and you’ve plugged obvious holes, but water still dribbles into your basement or crawl space from high on foundation walls, then surface water isn’t draining away from the house as it should. Your house should sit on a “crown” of soil that slopes away from the structure at least 6 inches over the first 10 feet in all directions. However, if you have wood siding, remember, you need to keep a minimum of 6 inches ‘distance’ between the siding and the soil to lessen the chance of a termite invasion! . In that case, create a berm (a mound of dirt) or a swale (a wide, shallow ditch), landscape feature that redirects water long before it reaches your house.
Repair footing drains.
If water is leaking into your basement low on the walls or at the seams where walls meet the floor, your problem is hydrostatic pressure pushing water up from the ground. First, check whether you have footing drains, (commonly called a French drainage system). These underground pipes were installed when the house was built to carry water away from the foundation. If the drains are clogged, open the cleanout and flush the pipes with a garden hose. If that doesn’t work, a plumber with an augur can usually do the job unless the pipes have been crushed at some point in time. In which case, you’ll need to completely replace the damaged part of the system.
Install an interior French Drainage System.
If you can’t keep subsurface water out, you’ll have to channel out, from the inside. To create an interior drain system, saw a channel around the perimeter of the floor, chip out the concrete, and lay perforated pipe in the hole. The pipe drains either out to a low spot in the landscape far away from the structure, or, to a collection tank at the basement’s low spot, where a sump pump ‘lifts’ it out the house.
- Scott Askew
Posted in: Intown Living