Problem Signs
If you have musty smells, walls that feel damp, or if your basement floods with heavy rain, we can help. Not sure what’s causing your home’s wet basement? Let one of our experts take a look.
Ohio Basement Authority
Basement Flooding
There are few things that can cause more damage to a home than a full-scale basement flood, especially if you have a finished basement.
Ohio Basement Authority
Basement Wall Leaks
A leak in your basement wall can seem insignificant at first. As the damage worsens or the rains start pouring in, you may find yourself contending with a serious problem.
Ohio Basement Authority
Floor Cracks
One of the more perplexing issues that homeowners face with their wet basement is the challenge of stopping water from rising up through their basement floor.
Ohio Basement Authority
Leaky Windows
One of the most common ways that water floods into a below-grade space is through your basement windows
Causes
Walking down to your basement and discovering moisture, dampness, water, and mold can be scary for homeowners. These are serious issues that call for effective and long-lasting solutions. Ohio Basement Authority has you covered!
Excavated soil that is replaced around a completed foundation isn’t as dense and tightly packed as undisturbed soil farther away. As a result, water collects in the soil immediately surrounding the house, putting pressure on foundation walls and causing cracks.
A sizeable hole was dug in the ground when your home was built. The foundation was then poured, which left a gap between the foundation walls and the existing earth. This gap was filled with soil that was removed and “fluffed up.” This soil is looser, more aerated than the surrounding soil, which may have been compressing for hundreds of years. Thus, the looser soil tends to absorb more water than the compacted soil. More water against the walls leads to hydrostatic pressure. (Source: Bob Vila)
The type of soil around your home is another factor affecting your house. Ohio is rich with clay soil, which expands and shrinks in volume dramatically with moisture changes. Clay soil absorbs and holds onto water more so than sandy soil.
As soil around your foundation becomes soaked with moisture, it expands and puts pressure on your foundation. Hydrostatic pressure is the constant force of water pressure on the foundation walls. When this force becomes more than the walls can handle, the walls will begin to crack and bow inwards.
This affects the structural integrity of the walls. Water also will then work its way through any opening available, including cracks and openings around pipes or windows.
Water sitting behind foundation walls will find and fill invisible openings in the surface of the porous concrete it touches. This contributes to capillary action, creating a series of tiny veins that will seep on the other side. (Source: JES Foundation Repair)
Sump pumps are essential in keeping water out of basements. Think of a basement waterproofing system as the body’s circulatory system; a properly functioning sump pump is the heart of the system. Older, failing sump pumps will only allow water to continue to collect in the basement.
The most common sump pump systems are installed in metal basins in the floor with lids that rest on top of the basin and have openings for the discharge pipes. Some may not have lids at all. These are ineffective systems that will only cause more problems. The metal basins can easily rust and corrode, and partial or nonexistent lids allow water to evaporate back into the basement. This results in unpleasant odors and moisture issues that defeat the purpose of the sump pump in the first place. Objects and debris also can easily fall into the system and damage the pump if the sump pit is not completely covered.
Clogged or above-ground exterior drainage pipes could allow water to puddle next to the home and find its way inside any crack or gap in porous block foundation walls. Above-ground downspout conductor lines are unsightly tripping and safety hazards. Burying these lines under the ground and directing them far away from your home is the best way to keep water from downspout conductor lines out of the house.
You also need to think about the condition of this buried drainage system. These pipes fail to do their job if they crack or collapse, and you could end up with puddles of water in your basement. Older clay pipes commonly split, break, or crack.
Some traditional downspout conductor lines buried underground have no outlet for drainage. Since they are sitting in the ground, they could become clogged with dirt and other debris. This could lead to a back-up or overflow of water that will cause additional headaches.
Solutions
Your home is a significant investment, and it is important to ensure its health and safety today and for the future. The longer you neglect these issues, the more costly future repairs will be. A wet, nasty basement also affects the value of and ability to sell a home.
Ohio Basement Authority
Below Floor Drain
The BasementGutter™ System is an award-winning, patented below-floor drain that rests in a bed of drainage stone on top of the foundation footing.
Ohio Basement Authority
Egress Windows
Building codes require finished basements to have an emergency egress window, or a window installed with a well that includes steps large enough to exit through.
Ohio Basement Authority
SafeDri™ Sump Pump
With hundreds of sump pumps available, we stand by the quality and reliability of SafeDri™ Sump Pumps.
Ohio Basement Authority
Crack Repairs
When water starts to leak through your basement walls or floors, it can quickly lead to a very serious flood in your home
FAQs
Water intrusion and damage can be detrimental to your home for a variety of reasons. Along with ruining any stored belongings, leaking water can lead to mold growth and unpleasant odors, and even result in flooding conditions.
These issues also result in unhealthy conditions that affect the rest of your home. Because of the stack effect, air circulates through your home from top to bottom, like a chimney. So, whatever is in your basement and/or crawl space (mold, moisture, odors) is in the rest of your house.
While building code calls for vented crawl spaces for air drying purposes, this is harmful to the home. Hot and humid air enters the crawl space during the summer, which contributes to high levels of moisture and humidity in the crawl space and home. This can lead to sagging, soft, buckling floors above, and result in problems to hardwood floors. Similarly, cold air is vented during the winter, making the above floors feel chilly and overtaxing your furnace. (Additional resource: Liabilities of Vented Crawl Spaces, Their Impacts on Indoor Air Quality in Southeastern U.S. Homes and One Intervention Strategy)
Leaking water also affects your home’s structural integrity. If you have block foundation walls, water can easily saturate and seep through the porous material and find its way inside through any crack or gap. If water has nowhere to go, it starts building up inside the walls. Coupled with hydrostatic pressure, this results in an unsafe mess for your foundation walls and basement floor.
Your home is a significant investment, and it is important to ensure its health and safety today and for the future. The longer you neglect these issues, the more costly future repairs will be. A wet, nasty basement also affects the value of and ability to sell a home.
Angie’s List estimates the return on investment from basement waterproofing to be around 30 percent. But the health and structural benefits, not to mention peace of mind, are priceless.
Various factors impact your home’s appraisal value, but structural integrity and any water problems are important areas you need to be aware of. When selling your house, it is important to disclose any past or current damage. Ohio homeowners must complete the Residential Property Disclosure Form, and some items on the checklist are structural problems, settling, moisture and water problems, and flooding. (
Source: Nolo)
Contact us! We will be happy to schedule an appointment for you with one of our highly trained inspectors. Inspections are free and no obligation to you, and our specialist will complete a thorough evaluation of your home. We also are proud to work with realtors, commercial property owners, and other various affiliates.
If you are concerned with repair needs and insurance coverage, be sure to check with your insurance carrier, as all policies are different.
Here are some helpful tips for selecting a reputable contractor, courtesy of Today’s Homeowner. We are proud to meet and exceed expectations on these points:
- No Contract Labor: Make sure the people performing the repairs work for the company.
- Financial Commitment: Does the contractor own or rent his equipment?
- Supervisors on Site: Is the company large enough to provide full-time supervision, or will the crew be dropped off at your home to do the work?
- References: Make sure references are not hand-picked.
- Warranties: Warranties are only as good as the company that offers them. A reputable company that has been in business for at least 25 years should be your best bet.
- Insurance: Ask for current insurance certificates.
Our patented, top-quality solutions are tested and proven to work to keep water out of your home for a safer living environment.
Cheaper, quick fixes like paints and wall coatings are only temporary bandages that will not address or tackle the root of the problem. Yes, you can apply a special sealant to your walls and floor, but it will pop and flake indicating a lingering moisture problem. Water also follows the path of least resistance. If it cannot enter through one location, it will find another way in.
So, don’t waste your time and money on fast fixes. You need our quality permanent solutions. We use reliable, custom equipment and state-of-the-art technology to install these various systems.
While we can’t control the weather or the soil outside your home, we can control what’s inside your house. That’s why the best waterproofing system involves interior drainage.
Our waterproofing system has three parts. To fix the issue with leaking or standing water, we need to catch the water, get the water to a sump pump, and send the water away from the home.
When we waterproof a basement, we drill “weep holes” into the bottom courses of the block walls (which does not affect their structural integrity) to relieve the pressure and water that may be build up inside. This water is intercepted by the BasementGutter™ system, which then directs the water to one of our trustworthy sump pump systems. The sump pump then pumps the water out of and away from the home through discharge lines. These lines can be directed to drain far away from the house, as well as out to the street.
Every home is unique, and each project calls for different solutions. We can customize solutions specific to your repair needs. Your inspector will take into consideration your repair goals, the severity of damage or problem areas, square footage, and your budget. It’s not just a “one size fits all” fix. So, what works for your neighbor down the street may not necessarily be what your home needs.
Contacting us for an expert opinion is your best bet. We will not try to throw Band-Aids on the problems, push you to buy “everything but the kitchen sink,” or offer sub-standard quick fixes.
Here are some telltale signs of basement problems that are not mended by a do it yourself fix. You should instead seek reliable advice if you notice:
- Any kind of water seepage on basement walls and/or floor
- Bulging foundation walls
- Failing or inefficient sump pump system
- Lack of efficient interior and exterior drainage
Along with top-notch solutions installed by a reliable team when you choose to work with us, what you are really paying for is peace of mind and a safer home.
Not only will this benefit you during the time you live in the house, but it will have a lasting impact for the future resale of the house. You are investing in the health and wellness of the structure.
When having your home inspected for real estate transactions, even partial fixes or temporary bandages could raise a red flag along with water or structural damage. You’ll have to spend more time and money trying to address the issues, so why not make an educated decision and sound investment with us and our trustworthy repair solutions?
