Wet basements, their causes and solutions

As a state licensed home inspector, as well as a mold inspector and thermographer, I constantly get calls from people who have "flooded" basements.

Let's get a couple of definitions clear:

- Flooded basement: This is what happens when the ground around the house is a flood plain. Basements flood because there is a high water table and this water enters the basement, either over the foundation wall or, as is common in Chicago, from backing up floor drains. A flooded basement means that you have standing water (a from a couple of inches to a couple of feet) in the basement.

- Seepage: Water or moisture seepage is much more common. Seepage occurs when there are cracks in the foundation wall, between the foundation wall and the basement slab or a porous foundation wall condition (older rubble stone or brick foundation walls).

OK. What can be done?

1. Probably the most overlooked solution is to extend the house's downspouts away from the house. Current national standards call for downspouts to drain at least 6 to 10' away from the house. If the water is taken away from the house, it will have a harder time going back into the basement. Use metal downspout extenders and screw the lengths of downspout togeter. The cheap plastic downspout extenders do not provide for a proper seal.
2. Buy, and use, a good quality de-humidifier for the basement and run it from April through October (in the Chicago area, the wet season in your area may be different). Basements, regardless of how nicely finished they are, will ALWAYS be a damp area. If you keep this naturally high humidity controlled, most "damp basement" problems will take care of themselves. There is also the added benefit that the cool, dry air in the basement can be circulated throughout the entire house (by using the furnace's fan) and help to keep down the need to run the air conditioner. This will save you money as well.
3. Look for any signs of foundation cracks. Almost all poured concrete foundations, no matter how well the house was built, will form one or two cracks as the house settles. Usually these cracks are vertical (within 30 degrees of straight up and down) and are not of structural significance. But settling cracks are usually through and through cracks and will allow water to drip (i.e. seep) through. These cracks can usually be permanently fixed by use of urethane injection.
4. Sump pump. Most houses, now days, are equipped with a sump pump. The house is surrpounded

by drain tiles (which today are plastic, not clay tiles as were originally used) that collect water and direct it to a sump (a deep pit) in the basment floor. The sump pump then takes this water away to an area away from the house. One key point with sump pumps, they should not drain into the local sewer system and, in many localities, this is also against the law. Have the sump drain the water to a low spot in the back yard.

5. Finally, don't install the basement flooring directly on the slab floor. This slab will ALWAYS be moist, either from water seepage through the slab or from condensation. Many carpet companies advertise that the carpet pad will stop this moisture, but this is not true. The carpet pad is just a big sponge, which will soak up the moisture and hold it against the carpet and form mold. Build up the floor, using a product such as Dry-Cor or some similar raised sub-floor product. This will keep the moisture away from the carpet and allow air to circulate and dry any seepage that may form.

Also, remember that a home inspector not only inspects homes as part of a sale, we also do maintenance inspections and can help you to solve some of your house's problems, like basementg flooding and seepage. Home inspectors are not trying to sell you anything, like a contractor would be. Another point is that all the national home inspector professional associations prohibit their members from doing any work on the houses they inspect.

Hope this helps;

Will Decker

Decker Home Services

www.DeckerHomeServices.com