Basement Waterproofing

Moisture can get in your Philadelphia basement in a variety of ways. Leaks are probably the most obvious way, though even these can vary in how they form. Water from outside your home might start to press up against your basement walls, leaking through if the pressure becomes dense enough. These leaks can eventually expand wider and cause your basement to flood if you simply ignore them for too long. Leaks can also spring from other sources as well. If your plumbing breaks, for instance, then the water and sewage from those pipes can build up behind your walls and eventually leak into your basement as well. You might even notice a musty smell that only seems to linger around your basement because of this.

Any cracks you see around your basement will also allow moisture to seep through. This does not just include any cracks along your walls but from your floor, too. Groundwater can well up and begin to flood your basement at any given time, too, so you should not underestimate even the smaller cracks found along your basement floor. This constant flooding can also bring about other issues such as mold and mildew growth and pest infestations.

For any homeowner living in Atlantic City, a sump pump is a crucial must-have. With year round rain entering your crawl space, a sump pump is the only way to ensure you don’t go crazy mopping up water every few weeks. If you don’t have a sump pump already or are looking to replace the one you have, you need to understand what your crawl space needs before you buy. In a rainy city like Atlantic City, it’s not enough to have just any kind of sump pump. Sump pumps that get overworked break down very easily, and if your pump is going to turn itself on every time it rains, you need something with power. Something like the AquaStop Compact Crawl Space Sump Pump, which has an optional backup battery in case the pump stops working. It also notifies you when there is a leak in your crawl space, a useful function since many homeowners don’t regularly check the condition of their crawl space.

Let’s say your basement is extremely humid, but it doesn’t experience any kind of flooding. Does humidity harm your basement as much as water does? After all, if the only thing wrong with your basement is stuffy, damp air, how much harm can it do? The truth is, humidity is not only harmful for your basement, it’s also indicative of problems that will eventually cause harm. Part of the reason it’s such a significant problem in the first place is because most of its consequences aren’t felt until the damage is severe. Where there is excessive humidity, there is mold. Mold growth in your basement harms both you and your home’s structure. Because of the stack effect, the air in your basement rises in your home, including any existing fungal spores. Long-term exposure to mold triggers allergies and causes permanent harm to the respiratory system. Humidity also encourages pests to make a nest out of your basement, further increasing the risk of illness.

If your basement is leaking, it can sometimes be pretty easy to spot where it’s coming from. The window, the pipes, and the washing machine are all common sources of basement leaks. If you walk into your basement and see water coming from the floor, however, that might be a bit more confusing. If the pipes and vents are fine, the window is dry, and the machines are working as normal, there should be no water, right? Well, due to Southern NJ’s clay soil, the answer is no. Clay soils are able to retain water really well for long periods of time; it’s actually one of its many defining features. When a lot of water accumulates in the soil surrounding your foundation, it can often pool right alongside your foundation and put a lot of pressure on the wall. This is known as hydrostatic pressure. This refers to the weight of the water that pushes up against the foundation wall until it begins to bow inward. Long-term pressure on the foundation eventually causes cracks along most of the wall, but the most significant damage can be found at the wall-floor joint.

Having a beautiful, healthy tree growing on your property makes your yard look interesting and visually pleasing. However, there’s a good chance that your tree is ruining your foundation and causing those pesky leaks in your basement or crawl space. Many homeowners misunderstand how a tree is able to do so much damage and believe that the tree roots themselves are the issue when it’s actually the soil. Like most problems pertaining to foundation damage, expansive soils are the culprits, not the tree roots. The characteristics of clay soils make it so trees encourage shrink-swell capacities and soil displacement.

A good way to determine whether your basement or crawl space has high humidity levels is to check if the concrete has efflorescence stains. Efflorescence is a white, powdery substance on the surface of concrete. If you touch it or scrape it, it feels grainy and some of it flakes off. At times, homeowners will confuse efflorescence for mold, but this is incorrect. Efflorescence is salt, which you can feel the texture of if you scrape it off the concrete.

Efflorescence appears on your concrete either due to primary efflorescence or secondary efflorescence. Primary efflorescence usually occurs 48 to 72 hours after the concrete is poured and it’s a result of an excess amount of water in the cement mixture. As the cement cures, the water evaporates and rises to the surface of the concrete but brings along with it all the salts and minerals from the cement. Even professionals get a bad mixture from time to time, but an experienced contractor is less likely to make cement that produces efflorescence.