If you walk down the stairs to your basement and see there’s water seeping you, it’s best not to waste time. Bottom line: you have a problem and you need to fix it now.
First things first, you need to clean up the water, whether you’ve got several inches of standing water to deal with or a slow trickle from somewhere. You want to be sure you clean up the water and air out your basement as best you can and as soon as you can. Aside from (potentially) having some ruined belongings, you want to make sure you don’t have mold and mildew form from the moisture.
If you’ve never had basement flooding issues before, you might be wondering how flooding happens. The best answer is that it’s likely due to changes in your foundation. As your foundation shifts and the soil becomes saturated with moisture that excess water has to go somewhere and a lot of times it ends up in basements. As water gets in places it shouldn’t, weak spots form and cracks form. That gives way to water damage, mold, mildew, basement wall repairs and maybe even contacting a basement repair company.
So now that you know how basements flood, the next thing you’re likely wondering is how to keep your basement from flooding. If you need help keeping your basement dry, here are some tips to make it happen:
- Basement wall repair: If you find cracks in your basement walls, you need to make sure you repair them. No crack is too big to ignore (because water, insects, rodents and other things can get in.) and different cracks mean different things.
Horizontal cracks form from pressure building up on the opposite side of a basement wall and vertical cracks are caused by are caused by the natural expansion and contraction of concrete (like if your foundation is a concrete slab). This typically happens during freeze-thaw cycles in the winter and spring.
Be advised that treatments like caulking don’t work for basement wall repair. You need sealants such as epoxy or polyurethane that are flexible and can handle the pressure caused by shifting concrete. - Check your sump pump: Believe it or not, one of the most common causes of basement flooding and leaking is failure of the sump pump. Having a sump pump can be one of the most effective tools in a fight to prevent flooding, but it needs to be maintained and working properly to win that battle. One of the most common times you might find sump sump failure is during a big thunderstorm. Another reason you want to monitor your sump pump is because failure of a sump pump and any resulting flooding may not automatically be covered by insurance.
- Know what your insurance covers: A quick note about insurance: make sure you know what your homeowners insurance or renters insurance covers. In the unfortunate event that you do have basement flooding, you’ll want to know exactly what your insurance covers and what’s not covered. To be on the safe side, you may want to get some flood insurance just to have an extra layer of protection.
- Put in some window covers: It doesn’t matter what kind of foundation you have—concrete slabs, full basements and crawlspaces are the most common—you can further protect your basement by installing window covers on your basement windows. These windows attach to your home’s foundation and go right over the windows to ward off the elements.
- Inspect your septic system: Another important step in basement waterproofing is periodically check your home’s septic system. Why? Ignoring septic issues such as clogs and backups can lead to more serious issues down the line. So do yourself a favor and get your sewer inspected and your septic tank cleaned.
In some ways there’s nothing better than being a homeowner, there’s no doubt it takes a lot of work to keep a home up and running. When it comes to flooding or foundation repair, it’s best not to fool around. If you need basement wall repair, foundation repair or even basement waterproofing, contact a foundation repair company or a basement repair company immediately. When it comes to preventing basement flooding, you can never be too proactive.
