Water in the Basement

So, you have found your clients their dream home in
Brookside, but as you enter the basement you smell that tell tail smell of
moisture. Do we have a foundation problem?
The family closed on their new Johnson County home and have just
finished unpacking when we get a nice, much needed rain storm. They walk down
to the basement and there is an inch of water on the floor. Do we have a
foundation problem? You are showing that very cute Prairie Village home to your
clients and you find that the whole basement has steel beams running up the
walls. Do we have a foundation problem?

For the most part I would say NO.  At least 90% of basement water problems are
caused by improper grading (dirt around the house) and improper drainage of the
guttering system and adjacent soils.

The most common problems with our drainage system is:
blocked and clogged guttering systems, downspouts that are draining too close
to the structure, soils and dirt around the house that are too flat or even
reversed grading that has settled or eroded allowing water to be trapped next
to the house, flower beds and concrete drives, walks and patios that have
settled towards the house rather than away.

All of these conditions can cause water to penetrate into
the structure, either in great torrents of splashing water or in water seepage.
If corrections are not made, many, many costly problems can occur. Mold, decay
and structural problems are all in the future of the house that has improper
drainage.

If the soils next to our house get too much water
saturation, they can expand and produce approx 800 pounds of force per square
foot. Wow, that is a lot of pressure constantly pounding on our concrete and
block foundation walls. Over time, this wet soil can actually crack, break,
push over or cause sinking of our foundation walls and footings. Now that can
be costly.

So what can we do to fix our potential problem?  For the most part it is very simple: clean
your gutters, add extensions onto the downspouts, replace eroded soils around
the house with more dirt and repair or replace those flower beds and boxes next
to the walls. Sounds simple, well it is! For the most part, it’s only when
these simple fixes have been ignored that we have costly repairs.

Your home inspection should identify some of these drainage
problems and hopefully instruct your clients in proper drainage maintenance.