Water in Basement When It Rains
#1
04-11-13, 07:08 AM
Join Date: Oct 2012
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Water in Basement When It Rains
I get water in my basement when it rains. Not everywhere, just in certain rooms. Just water on the surface of the basement floor, it does not rise or move into all areas of the basement nor does it cover the entire floor in any room.
1) The yard does not slope away from the house enough.
2) I don't know whether there is a drainage pipe underground or not.
3) One corner of one room in the basement seems to get particularly wet from top to bottom. That's where the water was this time. In that corner, there was a little hole chipped out of the wall at the floor level. Someone told me that was put there on purpose so the water can drain out of the wall instead of sitting in the wall.
I want to fix it right the first time so this doesn't happen anymore. I want no more issues with water in the basement. What should I look at or look into first, second, third in order of priority to troubleshoot the problem? What should I look for? When I find what the problem or problems are, what should I do?
1) The yard does not slope away from the house enough.
2) I don't know whether there is a drainage pipe underground or not.
3) One corner of one room in the basement seems to get particularly wet from top to bottom. That's where the water was this time. In that corner, there was a little hole chipped out of the wall at the floor level. Someone told me that was put there on purpose so the water can drain out of the wall instead of sitting in the wall.
I want to fix it right the first time so this doesn't happen anymore. I want no more issues with water in the basement. What should I look at or look into first, second, third in order of priority to troubleshoot the problem? What should I look for? When I find what the problem or problems are, what should I do?
#2
04-11-13, 07:55 AM
Group Moderator
First step is move the water away from the foundation in the first place with grading, gutters and downspout extensions. Since you know where the water is coming in, you can also dig those areas out on the outside of the house to address cracks and holes and such. Not a small job....
#3
04-11-13, 07:59 AM
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Tell me more about grading. Do you mean sloping the yard so water naturally moves away from the house?
#4
04-11-13, 08:00 AM
Group Moderator
Yes, grading the area around your house so it all slopes away from the structure. As I said, this is not a small job.
#5
04-11-13, 08:13 AM
Member
Before digging, how old is the house?
Mitch pretty much covered everything I would have offered.
Grading would be to have the ground at or near the house to slope away from the house.
Gutters are also a huge help. If you have leaking gutters or none in that area, all the water coming off the roof is falling to the ground, right at the house.
Mitch pretty much covered everything I would have offered.
Grading would be to have the ground at or near the house to slope away from the house.
Gutters are also a huge help. If you have leaking gutters or none in that area, all the water coming off the roof is falling to the ground, right at the house.
#7
04-11-13, 08:32 AM
Member
If I decide not to do this grading myself, what might it cost to have done?
#8
04-11-13, 08:59 AM
Group Moderator
I had a neighbor who had water getting in along one spot along the back of his house. Quite a bit of grading was required throughout the yard to change the flow of water off the hill behind his house and he told me the total cost was $6K.
As Mike said, your best bet is to get a few contractors on site to bid the job so you can compare.
As Mike said, your best bet is to get a few contractors on site to bid the job so you can compare.
