Water leaks into basements can create serious structural and aesthetic issues for walls and flooring, leading to serious wall and flooring damage and necessitating costly repairs. If left untreated, repeated leaks can even threaten the foundation of your house and necessitate expensive renovations.
At construction sites, builders install drainage pipes and moisture barriers to prevent basement leakage. However, these protections can fail due to clogged gutters or improper soil grading practices.
Cracks or Holes
Water seeping into your basement can be a serious source of concern that requires immediate action to address. Not only could it damage structural elements of your home, but ongoing leaks can lead to mold growth and an unpleasant musty odor – the key in combatting such leaks lies in pinpointing their source before taking specific measures to address them.
Hydrostatic pressure is one of the primary reasons that basements leak after heavy rainfall, since when your house foundation was constructed, builders dug into the soil surrounding your house to lay back down loose, soft ground that absorbs more moisture than its counterpart in hard-packed soil, creating an unequal distribution of moisture that forces water through cracks in walls and floors – including ones you weren’t even aware existed! This creates hydrostatic pressure.
Cove Joint
Cove joints are located where your basement floor meets its walls and can become leaky during heavy rainfall due to hydrostatic pressure from soil around your foundation, which forces water up through its foundation walls and into your cove joint.
Moisture seepage can damage your belongings and cause mold growth in areas with high moisture. In extreme cases, this excess moisture can also rot wooden materials like floor joists and beams that support your home, leading to further issues for homeowners.
Many waterproofing contractors suggest sealing this area to keep moisture out, but that won’t address the source of the issue: hydrostatic pressure. A better way forward would be installing an interior drain tile system to relieve this pressure and divert water away from cove joints.
Damaged Window Wells
Window wells are depressions in the ground around basement-level windows designed to keep dirt out while also draining rainwater away. But if they develop holes or cracks or become filled with leaves and twigs, water could seep through into the home’s foundation and seep into its basement.
Your window well should be cleaned out regularly using either a shovel or wet/dry vac to avoid rust and rot near windows, or possibly blocking up its drainage pipe beneath gravel or soil layers. Failure to do this could lead to corrosion around window sills and drains as well as potentially blocking drains buried below well soil layers – something rust and rot can easily do!
Clogged Gutters
Your home’s foundation – made of concrete – absorbs moisture like a sponge. Once saturated, however, it becomes heavy and puts pressure on its walls causing hydrostatic pressure which leads to water seeping into your basement from outside sources. This eventually results in leakage.
Clogged gutters are often the culprit of basement leaks after heavy rainfall, due to build-ups of leaves and debris which provide an ideal environment for rodents and other pests to set up residence, impeding the flow of rainwater away from the home.
Clogged gutters can cause the soil surrounding your home’s foundation to become oversaturated and add additional pressure on its walls, possibly worsening existing cracks and possibly widening them further. To ensure proper drainage of your home’s drainage system it is wise to regrade the yard and regularly clean your gutters.
Hydrostatic Pressure
Basements are situated underground, leaving them susceptible to hydrostatic pressure. This occurs when soil becomes saturated with moisture that expands due to saturation, which then puts pressure on walls of your basement causing cracks or water infiltration.
Your basement may also be leaking because its soil has not been graded appropriately around its foundation. Ideally, soil should slope away from your house while flat areas or slopes toward it will allow water to collect and seep into your basement.
Flooded gutters or window wells that fill with water can also lead to leaky basements during heavy rainfall, so make sure that both are regularly cleared of debris and regularly maintained in order to reduce this risk.