The Problem with Wet Basements

Wet basements are more prevalent than anyone would imagine. They are common across the continent from mid-west to the east coast. Water doesn’t care if your home is old or new. If it sees a way to pool itself in your basement after a big storm it will. 

There are all kinds of things you can do to make your basement waterproof.  Usually your house did not get wet by itself. The houses with the wettest basement usually have one thing in common. When the house was built the contractor failed to install troughs or gutters. This causes rain to sheet directly down off the eaves of the house and against the house where hydrostatic pressure builds up against the walls of your basement. Before you know it you have moist basement walls and pools of water on the floor.  

If a gutter and downspouts had been installed in such a house this kind of flooding could have been prevented altogether. For most effective results when it comes to preventing wet basements try installing your downspout at least eight feet away from the foundation of your house.  This way water can’t seep into your basement from below. 

Yet another thing to consider is that rain rarely falls straight down. It sometimes blows in sheets and right against the wall of your house where it pools by the foundation of your house.  Building your house so that it is sheltered from the wind by trees can help keep your basement waterproof too.

Structural Waterproofing