That musty smell. Damp carpet in the corner.
Both signs of one of a homeowner's worst nightmares: water in the basement.
The culprit can be something so small that it's easily overlooked.
"Sometimes just the littlest crack or joint opening can cause problems," said Fred Mathiesen, pointing to a narrow crack in the concrete driveway of a house along Cheyenne Boulevard. "Once that soil becomes saturated, it's like a wet sponge, the water goes right through."
Mathiesen, owner of Concrete Raising Service in South Sioux City, has helped Siouxland residents battle water-related basement problems since 1985. His company specializes in raising driveways, sidewalks, patios, floors and other surfaces to improve drainage and keep water away from foundation walls. His company also stabilizes basement walls that have been bowed or buckled by outside water pressure.
People are also reading…
Many basement water situations are not the result of foundation or basement wall problems, Mathiesen said. Poor surface drainage is often the cause.
"Landscaping generally causes structural problems," he said. "Surface drainage is the main thing."
In many cases, driveways, sidewalks or patios settle and tilt back toward the house instead of away. The result: instead of running away from the house, water seeps into the ground along the basement walls. Cracks in concrete surfaces can allow water to get under them, wash out soil, leading to even more water running along basement walls. Once it has established a path of least resistance, water will continue to run near the basement and eventually find its way inside the home.
"Once water is down there, it has the potential to do damage," Mathiesen said.
That water may build pressure outside the basement and cause walls to buckle or bow.
"A bowed wall is a symptom of a problem, it doesn't mean there's leakage. And you could have leakage without a bowed wall. One doesn't necessarily go all the time with the other," Mathiesen said.
To prevent leakage problems, Mathiesen suggests making sure yards are graded properly so water runs from the house. Make sure downspouts have extensions to dump water far from the house. Check underground sprinkler systems for leaks. Seal cracks and joints in sidewalks, driveways and patios.
Once water is in the basement, Mathiesen offers a few options.
A common solution is mud-jacking, in which grout is pumped through holes drilled in concrete surfaces. The grout fills underground pockets left by running water and also raises the concrete surface to its proper height and slope.
Through mud-jacking, Mathiesen can tilt a sidewalk, driveway or patio so that water once again runs away from the house.
For bowed or buckling walls, Concrete Raising Service offers brace and anchoring systems that stabilize and, over time, straighten walls.
Most of the work can be done quickly and with little digging around the house. Once concrete has been raised, Mathiesen suggested that all joints be sealed to prevent water seepage.
Any house - not just those in low-lying areas - can have water in the basement. Again, Mathiesen said, it usually comes back to drainage next to the house.
"You can sit on top of a hill and if you don't have proper drainage, you can have water in your basement," Mathiesen said.
How to avoid a wet basement
One way to prevent water in the basement is to improve drainage around your home. The Iowa State University Extension offers the following suggestions:
- Grade yards so surface water drains away from the house. In the first 10 feet away from the house, the soil should drop a minimum of 6 inches. A minimum grade of 1 foot in 1,000 feet is often adequate after that.
- Install roof gutters and downspouts to carry water away from the house. Downspouts can empty into a subsurface drain or be discharged over a grassy area.
Water from downspouts that empty onto the lawn should be dumped far enough from the house so the water does not enter the basement. On well-drained lawns, a splash block is often sufficient. For houses with basement water problems, water should be dumped at least 5-10 feet from the house.
- Use surface inlets to carry water to a surface drain. The drain outlet can empty into street gutters or storm sewers. Check local building codes to see if this is permitted.
- Build small ditches or diversions to channel water away from your lot. Before beginning such a project, check with neighbors and local building codes.
