Basement Bathroom Designs
Basement Waterproofing Tips | The Money Pit
In the 20 years I spent as a professional home inspector, the top three problems my home-buying clients were concerned about can best be summed up this way: water, water and water! Waterproofing your home is the surest way to make sure buyers stay interested.
The wrong way to basement waterproofing: Ask 10 people how to fix a wet basement and you’re likely to get answers that include use of jackhammers to break up basement floors, backhoes to dig out dirt from foundation walls, sump pumps that have to be wired and plumbed, and other such drastic and expensive measures.
Most people blame a wet basement on a high water table, the natural level of water in the soil under the building site. This is another myth, because homes are not built below water tables. Builders attempting such a feat would find themselves constructing a foundation in a muddy mess. Likewise, basements that flood after a storm are never caused by rising water tables. A water table moves slowly and seasonally. If basement leaks show up after a heavy rainfall or snowmelt, the cause of your problem is far easier to spot and to fix.
The waterproofing solution lies in improving these drainage conditions, which is easy, cheap and highly effective. Here’s where to begin…
Good gutters. Roof drainage is, by far, the number one cause of basement leakage. Since roof surfaces are as large as the house, they collect lots of water in heavy rainstorms. What happens to that collected water can mean the difference between a wet and a dry basement.
Properly designed gutters should have at least one downspout for every 600 to 800 square feet of roof surface. Gutters must be clean, because dirty gutters fill up and the water overflows directly to where you don’t want it: near the foundation. It’s also important to make sure the ends of the downspouts are extended to discharge at least four to six feet from the foundation. Spouts which discharge too close to the foundation are like big fire hoses blasting water into the basement.
If your yard and local building laws permit, one of the best ways to control roof drainage is to discharge downspouts into solid PVC plumbing pipes that run underground and release water to the street or to another low-lying area. When making this improvement, be sure to pitch the pipe slightly toward the discharge point to avoid backups. Also, don’t attempt this with the soft, flexible black pipe that landscapers like to use around flower beds, because it’s easily crushed and cannot be snaked clean like PVC plumbing pipe can.
Sloping soil. Next to gutter problems, the angle of the soil around the foundation perimeter can also cause wet basement woes. The soil should slope away from the house to keep rainfall from collecting against foundation walls.
The angle and type of soil are also important. The soil should slope downward six inches over the first four feet from the foundation wall. Thereafter, it can be graded more gradually but should never allow water to run back toward the house.
It is also important to avoid landscape treatments that hold soil close to the house. A brick, stone or timber landscape edging around flower beds adjacent to foundation walls may look attractive, but these edges can prevent water from draining away from the foundation and increase your risk of basement flooding.
Avoid panic-peddling waterproofing contractors. If you’ve ever thought about hiring a so-called waterproofing contractor to fix your wet basement, don’t. Basement waterproofing contractors can often be rip-off artists that attempt to scare homeowners into an expensive drainage system when they’re usually not needed.
Several years ago, one of my home inspection clients attempted to fix his leaky basement by calling in waterproofing contractors. Besides telling him his foundation would crumble without a waterproofing system, they offered quotes ranging from $7,500 to $20,000. These were outrageous expenses, even if the system did need to be installed , which it didn’t.
Instead, following an inspection, we were able to instruct him on how to correct his outside drainage and easily fix the wet basement problem for under $500–and he avoided getting the soaking of a lifetime from a waterproofing contractor!
About the Author
The Money Pit is a publisher of home improvement & basement waterproofing content. The Money Pit produces the largest home improvement radio program in America. For more information, please visit www.moneypit.com.
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