Problems With Wet Basements
- When your basement is extremely humid, moisture can easily build up, leaving it wet and uncomfortable. Moisture from other areas of your home, such as the bathroom or kitchen, can make their way down to the basement and increase its humidity. You may also have a problem in your basement if your dryer is not vented directly outside or if the vent is blocked with lint and other debris. If your basement features a dirt floor, there may also be an issue with water vapor rising up from the soil to increase the basement's humidity. In addition, poorly sealed air ducts may allow exterior air into the home, increasing your basement's humidity.
- Your basement may become wet if there is an excess of surface water running down the foundation walls. You can usually determine if this is your problem if water enters the basement solely in the area of the exterior foundation wall. Surface water may enter your basement due to a blockage in your gutters or because your home does not have a sufficient number of downspouts. When setting up your downspouts, be sure that they drain at a minimum of 10 feet from your home as well. Surface water may also collect in your basement if the ground and paved areas surrounding your foundation do not slope away from your house for at least 10 feet.
- Water that enters your basement through sink or floor drains is often the result of a backup in your local sanitary sewer system. This type of problem typically occurs in areas where the sanitary and storm sewers are combined in one system because sewer water can back up and flow into people's homes during severe storms. However, when sanitary sewer water backs up in your basement, it is not just water that becomes a problem; fecal waste and other bodily fluids can contaminate the space and leave you with a serious mess to clean up.
- If you live in an older home, there may be a foundation drain at your basement's floor level beside the exterior wall that is connected to the local storm sewer system. As more houses are built in a neighborhood, the strain on the sewer system may become too much, and rainwater may build up so much that it begins to back up toward the surrounding homes. The ground beside your basement may become over-saturated with water, leading to an eventual leak in your basement. You may be able to determine that this is your wet basement's problem if soil and other gritty debris appear on your basement floor.
