My basement has started leaking water when it rains hard. My sister has moved into the basement and I would like to have someone out to see about stopping the leak.
Is there any way to tell what is causing the leak without having to wait for a heavy rain?
Basements are not waterproof.
Water leaks are usually caused by poor gutter downspout placement, as well as poor grading of the soil toward the foundation.
Google is your friend. Lots of info about leaky basements.
In my case, I had no gutters and the basement always leaked. I needed to install gutters and have the downspouts at least 10 feet away from the foundation. Also, I spent $700 having my soil re-graded. Fine gravel was dumped around the foundation and sloped away. The 2 inches of topsoil was added and grass re-planted.
No plants closer than 10 feet to the foundation should be watered. You want all of that as dry as possible.
Metspitzer wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
Word of warning. If you have carpet or flooring of any kind in the basement that has become wet, you must get it professionally taken care of or you will end up with mould. Once you have mould in the house, it will spread everywhere and cost you huge dollars. Better to take the safe route before anything sets in. I'm not in the business but I had this happen in a property that I own.
Regards, Larry
That is most likely the problem now that you mention it. I had gutters installed a few years back. Around the same time as the basement started leaking.
Thanks
Only one room is finished. Lucky the leak is not in that area.
Thanks
Hose perimeter.
Greg
I'd say the water from the downspouts should go 7 ft min away from the house. 10ft would be better. And the grading should direct water away from the house. After inspecting everything, don't assume what is happening during a rain. You need to go out there in a heavy rain. As an example, I was having a problem and until I did that I didn't realize that one of those corrogated drain pipes I had on a downspout didn't go up far enough. With a heavy rain, water was pouring out the top of it right at the foundation.
Those type of things are easy, where to start and are often the problem.
My hose is not that big :)
you cant seal water out of a basement, its not a reverse bathtub.........
the only 100% solution is doing everthing mentioned earlier along with a interior french drain with sump and pump if necessary.
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