Creating a Beautiful Outdoor Space

3 Mistakes Homeowners Make That Cause Issues With A Damp Basement

1 September 2018 by Delores Chavez

Most homeowners with a wet basement assume that there is a major flaw in their home's design if they start to see moisture. It is true that a basement should be properly waterproofed to stay dry, but there are also some basic mistakes a lot of homeowners make that contribute to issues with a wet basement. Check out this lineup of simple mistakes that can seem really harmless but could be making your basement a moist location.

Mistake 1: Planting flowers or plants too close to the home's foundation. 

If you have shrubs, flowers, or other plants rooted right up next to the edge of the foundation walls of your home, it can cause problems with water seeping into the basement. There are a few reasons why this is the case. For one, the plants naturally harbor water in their root systems and change the path water flows through the ground. If the plants are too close to the basement walls, it means these areas are often saturated, and water can eventually begin to slip through tiny pores in the concrete. Secondly, if you have plants that require watering, just doing so will have you essentially pouring gallons of water alongside the basement walls. 

Mistake 2: Not considering natural drainage paths during a DIY sprinkler system installation. 

You can pick up a DIY sprinkler kit at just about any home improvement store, but just because you can make sprinkler installation a DIY task, it doesn't mean you should. When a professional is hired to install a residential irrigation system, careful consideration goes into where the water lines and sprinkler heads are placed and how the water from the sprinkler heads will flow through the landscape around your home. If you tackle this on your own, it's easy to overlook the fact that water from a sprinkler head could flow directly toward your basement. 

Mistake 3: Not ensuring runoff from a paved driveway is properly routed. 

When you have a paved-surface driveway at your house, the pavement is installed in a slightly contoured way, so water naturally flows away to not erode the pavement. If the water flowing off of the paved driveway is not properly routed away from your home by digging small trenches, the water can gravitate toward your home and down to the basement of the house. This kind of problem is especially prevalent on properties that have a sloped driveway that slopes toward the house. 

For more information, contact a company like Safe-Way Waterproofing today.

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