Water in the basement is almost a normal issue God house owner, and it doesn’t cause an alarm. However, you need to fix it as soon as possible, before it causes damage to other property in your apartment or leads to a greater fault in your walls and foundation
Several factors, including the yard slope, Your HVAC system, weather, etc contribute to the presence of water in the basement. You need to know what exactly is causing the humidity in the basement for you to know what to fix.
If you’ve been in these shoes, read on to find possible factors that might contribute to humidity in your basement.
1. Your Yard Slopes Toward the House
Though a sloppy yard can provide a nice view and unique design which might distinguish your house, if it slopes towards your house, you’ll continually have basement humidity issues, which is a great disadvantage. This is because rainwater and runoff water from the yard will be directed toward your house, and trickle down towards your home. Also, the soil around your house gets saturated easily, making your foundation continually wet.
2. Gutter Downspouts Are Improperly Positioned
If your gutters’ downspouts aren’t positioned properly, it can cause a wet basement. It is installed to help you collect rainwater from your roof and transport it away from your house. However, if there is a leak in the downspout or it isn’t properly positioned away from your house, it can be a source of a humid basement.
3. Your Basement Is Installed Near Water Table
If your basement is installed close to a water table, you can have this humidity issue as it makes it susceptible to the road and fall of water level depending on the amount of rainfall or runoff water in the area. This can lead to leaks when water starts to exert pressure on the basement.
4. You Live in a Humid or Rainy Climate
Living in these kinds of environments makes you easily prone to having these issues concurrently. You can’t control this because it’s due to the weather. The air around your house will be naturally saturated, and increase the moisture content of your apartment. The air in addition to the wet soil will make the basement humid and wet to the touch.
5. Your Basement Might Have Structural Leaks
It might also be a result of leakage in a part of your apartment. Your walls or floors might have cracked and you didn’t know, making water from the surrounding soil to sleep into the apartment. You can check for cracks around the walls and on the floor, which might be coupled with orange or white marks. Basement waterproofing is the solution for prevention of wet and humid basements.
6. Your Pipes May Be Leaking
Sometimes, it might be your plumbing pipe that’s leaking. Try to trace out the exact location the leak is coming from, to see if it’s from your plumbs. If so, you can easily fix it or call a plumber to fix it on your behalf.
The first step to fixing a wet basement is to know and understand what’s wrong with it. With the tips above, check out your basement to see what might wrong.
