If you want to prevent basement maintenance costs, protect the value of your home and reduce health risks a wet basement poses for your family, you need to consider solving your wet basement problems as soon as possible.
A wet basement smells nasty and it also poses a great risk to the overall value of your property and reduces its cost. Also when you don’t pay attention to the problems of a wet basement, they will eventually grow bigger and then ruin your floors, walls, encourage the growth of mold and mildew and also damage the foundations of your home.
Here are five very effective ways you can keep water out of your basement and prevent flooding and future maintenance costs:
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Addition of gutter extensions
Check whether the downspouts are dumping water close to your home. If the distance is less than 5 feet then you should get plastic or metal gutter extensions so that you can get adequate distance between your home and your basement and keep it dry. Addition of gutter extensions solves the problem immediately but if you are looking for long term solutions to a wet basement then you should get drain pipes installed underground.
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Waterproofing the walls
Another effective solution to a wet basement problem is waterproofing the walls. You can use good quality interior sealants or waterproofing paints to seal the walls and the floors of the basement so that no more moisture seeps through them and the humidity level in the basement is kept under control.
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Plugging the gaps
If water dribbles through gaps or cracks in the basement then you can seal them using plug gaps. You can plug the openings using hydraulic cement or caulk. However this solution will work only when the problem is water leaking in the basement through cracks from wet soil or surface runoff. If the water seeps through joints where the walls and the floors meet or it is groundwater that is flooding your basement, the plugs won’t work here.
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Installing a French drain
This is a shallow drainage system that is responsible for drawing water away from the basement of your home outside. French drains will have a drainage ditch containing pipes and will be surrounded by gravel perforating the water so that it escapes slowing without gathering in one spot and creating puddles that leak in your basement.
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Building up the ground
Water might seep through to your basement if the grading around your house isn’t proper. You need to have the soil sloping at least 6inches away from your house. If that is not the case then build up the ground top soil to improve grading. You can also plant deep rooted plants or grass around the ground covering your house so that it protects against soil erosion.
Keep a check on your basement regularly so that you can tackle with the problems on time and save yourself huge maintenance costs hence the problems grow.
