# how can I prevent water from getting in my basement



## 24giovanni (Jun 14, 2003)

I have a sump pump in my basement that does a great job of keeping most out of my basement. My problem I have is that it is used way too much. Does anyone know of a way of having so much water entering my basement to begin with? There must be something I can do without spending a bunch of money. Any suggestions/ideas are greatly appreciated.

TIA


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## kilowatt1 (Oct 27, 2001)

As a professional home inspector, I see this quite often. The two primary reasons for excessive moisture accumulation in a basement are:

1) No or too little slope of the ground away from the foundation walls and

2) Lack of or improper installation of gutters and downspouts.

The ground around the foundation should slope away from the foundation wall at least one inch per every five to six feet of run. This varies somewhat in different locations, but it is a good starting point.

If you do not have gutters, get some. If you do have gutters make sure that they are free from debris and that the downspouts are positioned in a way so that they divert water away from the foundation. Use splash blocks and downspout extensions so that the exit point of the downspout is at least 12 inches from the foundation.

Another thing to look out for is having too much vegetation (schrubbery,etc) too close to the foundation which tend to hold or trap water before it has a chance to drain off.

As I said, these are the most common problems. There could also be hidden structural problems, but in most instances getting the water to flow away from the foundation will solve the problem.

Hope this helps.

Kilowatt


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## 24giovanni (Jun 14, 2003)

Kilo, I believe the biggest issue is my backyard. About 20 to 30 ft from my house is a wooded area in which is roughly 5 ft higher. I believe since there is such a big dropoff in land that is where most of the water is coming from . Is there something I can do ofr that? I assume the best thing to do is extend all the downspouts as you suggested. I have a total of 4 on my house and they drain out at the bottom of my foundation. Do you recommend extending all 4 and at what length should I do this please?

Also, If I put extenders on the spouts, should I put them underground, say 6 in. to a foot or just keep them above ground? I would have to remove them when cutting lawn.

TIA


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## artofmath (Jun 28, 2006)

Fill the entire basement with water - then none can get in!


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## kilowatt1 (Oct 27, 2001)

Assuming that you do have adequate slope away from the foundation walls, then the wooded area should not be much of a problem. I would suggest that you start with the least expensive option first. That is to extend the downspouts out at least a foot or so. What I generally reccommend, if you have shrubbery next to your house, is to extend the downspout out at least past the edge of the shrubbery. You might want to perform this simple test on each of the downspouts. Place your garden hose in the gutter approximately three feet from each downspout. Take an old rag and use it to temporarily stop up the downspout where it attaches to the gutter. Now turn on the water about 1/2 to 3/4 fully on. Let the water run long enough to get one to two inches of water built up in the gutter then remove the rag. Watch the flow of the water as it exits the downspout. It should immediately create a stream which will allow you to determine which way it is naturally flowing.. If the water begins to pool up instead of running aff then either the slope of the downspout itself is not enough, the slope of the ground is not enough to carry off the water in an efficient manner or the ground itself is too soft and absorbing the water, all of which can be corrected without too much difficulty.

Can you tell in the basement where most of the water seems to be entering?


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## 24giovanni (Jun 14, 2003)

no I can't tell where most of the water is coming from inside my basement. Is there a way to find that out?

I will try what you suggested above. If I use extenders do you recommend using at least 10 to 15 ft. I noticed my next door friend uses one about that long. I was thinking on using 4 at that length, one for each spout. What do you think?


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## 24giovanni (Jun 14, 2003)

Here is how my land lays out my wooded area in my back yard is roughly 6 ft higher than my land that my house resides on then the front of my house is roughly 2 to 3 feet higher than the street. Hope this helps. Also, my driveway also is on a slight slope.


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## kilowatt1 (Oct 27, 2001)

Unfortunately, there is no easy way to determine the entry point unless you see stain marks on the interior wall surface somewhere. An old trick, which sounds crazy, is to take a roll of toilet tissue and unroll it on the floor along the perimeter of the wall then make a run on the floor in the center of the basement. If water is entering at a specific location the paper will be wet at that location. If the paper is wet or damp throughout the basement then most likely the moisture is coming up through the basement slab itself due to an improperly installed vapor barrier between the concrete and the ground or you have a severe condensation problem in the basement due to poor circulation. You may have answered your problem yourself with what you said about your neighbors extensions. Usually when you see extensions that long it is a good indication that there is poor drainage around the immediate foundation for some reason. My bet would be that the soil conditions are porous in nature and tend to absorb most of the water. I would ask your neighbor his reasoning for the long extensions. The exact length of extensions you will need will be somewhat trial and error. One one hand you need them long enough to do the job while on the other hand you don't want them to be an eye sore. If the extensions correct the problem, you can always look into installing a french drain if the extension are too unsightly.


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## kilowatt1 (Oct 27, 2001)

Also, if any of the downspouts are located on the rear of the house (toward the wooded area), make sure that the downspouts are directed toward the side of the house and not toward the wooded area. Since it appears that your house is built on a continous slope (from the wooded area to the street), it is possible that the water from the downspouts on the rear of the house is following the slope right back to the rear foundation wall instead of away from it.


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## blues_harp28 (Jan 9, 2005)

Hi what is the width of the rear of the house?
Any exterior signs on the wall of damp? Damaged brickwork..missing mortar?
If the house wall isn't too long..clearing back the earth and using roof slates 24x12 forced down between wall and earth..overlapping and cemented together can help.[assuming you can get roof slates where you are]
But kilowatt1's suggestion about rain water pipes would be the best first move.


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## Skivvywaver (Mar 18, 2001)

I hope you can get this solved without major money. I have installed quite a few french drains in my life and that runs into mad money. It will however, fix the problem if it is done correctly.


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