10 Ways To Help Prevent
Water Damage In Your Basement
- Visit rooms in your home that you don’t frequent often like second floor bedrooms and closets and look at your ceilings by exterior chimneys.
- Visit your basement and inspect every corner for water damage.
- Check your sump pump to ensure that it is working and going on and off by itself. If you have to shake it to get it to work, that means it needs to be replaced.
Print off the CHECK LIST below
to do your own home inspection:
*Take a walk around your home. Start from the top of
the roof down to ground level
- Inspect your roof for missing shingles from top down. Ice could have damaged them this past winter and they must be replaced ASAP. Hopefully you have some of the shingles left over that might match existing coloring.
- Look for gutters that have fallen away from the overhang due to ice build up or just broken loose. Re-attach gutter to fascia or fascia board might need to be replaced.
- Clean out gutters. If gutters are full of debris or leaves, water will overflow right to the grade below and likely will end up in your basement through hydrostatic pressure.
- Look for trim boards that have expanded and have left gaps or pulled away from flashing. Replace boards or re-nail into place.
- Check for cracks or gaps around perimeter of windows, especially on exterior window sill. Gaps must be caulked again even if it was done in previous year.
- Inspect brick mortar that may have loosened or has fallen out. Brick will need to be tuck pointed with mortar. Also, inspect chimneys as they tend to collect moisture and freeze. The Brick ultimately will flake around the top.
- Inspect vinyl or aluminum siding for missing or bent panels and split caulked joints. Replace damaged siding and caulking.
- Ensure you have gutter extensions still attached to the end of the gutter downspout a minimum of 24 inches away from the home. If they are dented, you need to replace them. They must also be pitched away from your basement wall and in a direction that will not redirect the water back toward the basement wall.
- Look for water puddles around perimeter of the home behind landscaping or the ground sinking around perimeter of foundation. This happens from years of the ground compacting after the home was built or rain water that was never redirected away from the home. Adding fill dirt is a simple solution to raise grade around foundation.
- Concrete driveway or patio along house that might be pitched toward foundation wall. This will need to be raised to pitch away from the house or replaced depending on severity.
If disaster strikes, we are the team to call. CONSTRUCTEAM toll free 866-372-1272.