Prevent Basement Flooding Before It"s Too Late
There are many uses for a basement; you can use it to store your unneeded stuff, you can make it into a family room, you can let your adult child have his own space or you can use it as a laundry room.
The problem with basement flooding does not occur only in a serious downpour.
It starts way earlier when you can smell the mildew and mold, when you see black spots on the walls and the basement feels cold and damp.
That means your basement has a seepage that might turn into flooding.
All the items you store in your basement are now subject to flooding.
Not only the smell is sour and gets into everything you have, it become downright dangerous for you and your family.
One good way to check if the basement walls are moist is to tape a sheet of tinfoil to the wall.
After a few days, check the inside of the tinfoil.
If it has condensation on it, it means your inside walls are moist.
Before it turns into a flood in your basement there are a few things you should fix to prevent basement flooding.
Check for cracks in the foundation, chimney and fireplace.
If you find cracks those are the first thing you should deal with and plug them.
Build up the ground around your foundation so it slopes away from the house at about one inch per foot.
If the heating ducts are under the basement floor make sure they are insulated and watertight.
If you have appliances in the basement, make sure the ducts are leading outside and are insulated.
You don't need the moisture from the dryer to add to the moister in the basement.
Check your rain gutters and make sure they are pointing away from the house to prevent basement flooding.
Have at least three feet of concrete or plastic runoff lead that leads the water away from the basement for each of the rain gutters.
If the water is coming from under the house, install a sump pump to drain the water when it gets to a certain level.
That will ensure the water does not seep into the basement from below.
All those measure will help make your basement waterproof and will prevent basement flooding before it's too late.
The problem with basement flooding does not occur only in a serious downpour.
It starts way earlier when you can smell the mildew and mold, when you see black spots on the walls and the basement feels cold and damp.
That means your basement has a seepage that might turn into flooding.
All the items you store in your basement are now subject to flooding.
Not only the smell is sour and gets into everything you have, it become downright dangerous for you and your family.
One good way to check if the basement walls are moist is to tape a sheet of tinfoil to the wall.
After a few days, check the inside of the tinfoil.
If it has condensation on it, it means your inside walls are moist.
Before it turns into a flood in your basement there are a few things you should fix to prevent basement flooding.
Check for cracks in the foundation, chimney and fireplace.
If you find cracks those are the first thing you should deal with and plug them.
Build up the ground around your foundation so it slopes away from the house at about one inch per foot.
If the heating ducts are under the basement floor make sure they are insulated and watertight.
If you have appliances in the basement, make sure the ducts are leading outside and are insulated.
You don't need the moisture from the dryer to add to the moister in the basement.
Check your rain gutters and make sure they are pointing away from the house to prevent basement flooding.
Have at least three feet of concrete or plastic runoff lead that leads the water away from the basement for each of the rain gutters.
If the water is coming from under the house, install a sump pump to drain the water when it gets to a certain level.
That will ensure the water does not seep into the basement from below.
All those measure will help make your basement waterproof and will prevent basement flooding before it's too late.
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