As the wet winter and snowy weather is just around the corner homeowners who live in a particularly wet area or snowy area of the country can look forward to dealing with either a flooded basement or a wet one – especially when snow melts. However if you live in an area which floods you might just want to keep up to date in how to make your basement water proof to avoid any future issues or the costs of having to repair your foundations or more. So apart from the weather what does really cause your basement to flood, we already know how wet weather wreaks havoc of all sorts on your property if not managed correctly. But more than often it is the quality of the construction which will also matter as well.
SCENARIO A
Consistent rain or wet weather can cause burst pipes, clogged gutters, leaky windows, damaged foundations, and the like. All these are a formula for disaster when taking into consideration your basement. The water works is that it will make its way into anything from a high point, and if it can’t it’ll just sit there waiting for nature to erode and then make its way across all ends of your home. Now it isn’t really your basements fault, water will flow downhill from any point. In this scenario it might just be useful to have a pump installed to get rid of the unwanted water when it does make its way inside and floods your basement.
SCENARIO B
Another thing to probably remember is that water will tend to exist underground in some form or the other. This is called a water table and if you dig up a well it will rise up, people who live in such areas usually do a regular inspection to ensure that the water levels are below the danger level. Another aspect of this natural phenomenon that as it will rain water levels will rise automatically, people who have houses in such areas will find that their basements tend to flood often.
What happens next?
Now coming to the closing point, how is this harmful – well first off it will damage your home structure and you can rest assured that constant flooding will have a damaging effect on walls which reinforce your basement into place! You will notice cracks all over and in some cases a gooey green growth is the issue isn’t resolved and taken care of in a timely manner. What’s more certain people will tend to use the extra basement space either as a laundry room or a storage place, some will also have their heating regulated via the furnace placed in the basement. A flooded basement means all these things are gone in a click of the finger.
You might want to take care if you live in an area which is prone to flooding – the first step is to usually ensure that your basement is well built and your contractor did a good job in mixing the concrete. Secondly before the weather comes you might want to make a checklist of items you need to take care off to ensure your basement doesn’t flood.