What is basement seepage

If you notice water in your basement after it rains, you're not alone. Many homes have basement water problems. The first step to solving your basement water problems for good is to understand why water leaks into the basement.

The most common causes of basement leaks is pressure created by water in the soil surrounding the foundation.

There are two different forms of pressure that can cause issues:. When it comes to fixing your leaky basement, there are a few steps to take to prevent leaks and keep your basement dry :. An interior drain tile connected to a sump pump is a proven solution for keeping the basement dry. The next time it rains, you won't have to worry about a wet basement!

To ensure professional installation and superior service we carefully created an international network of over trusted basement contractors. This phenomenon is known as the Clay Bowl Effect. The water that accumulates in this soil comes from surface water runoff, direct rainfall, and groundwater. But because of the Clay Bowl Effect and this increase in pressure, water can seep into your basement once cracks or small holes form in your foundation.

As mentioned above, hydrostatic pressure increases between wet soil and your foundation walls. The cove joint, which is where the walls and floor of your foundation meet, should have a high ability to withstand hydrostatic pressure. Additionally, some homeowners may have been told to have the cove joint sealed to keep water out of their basements.

Seepage coming thru the cove joint requires Drain Tile to fix the issue. When your foundation was built, the contractors may have installed a drain pipe on the outside of the wall. This pipe was probably laid in a pile of gravel to prevent dirt and debris from getting inside it. Your contractors may have even placed filter fabric around the pipe as an additional protection. As water continues to accumulate in the soil, however, the soil becomes too saturated and turns into mud.

That muddy water can then bring dirt, debris, and other particles into the drain pipe. A footing was built before contractors could even start building or pouring your foundation. The footing, which is larger than the foundation, spreads the weight of your foundation across a large area. Additionally, the footing prevents the foundation from coming into direct contact with the earth beneath it. If the footing was made from poured concrete, the structure should be fairly watertight-especially if the contractors reinforced the footer with steel beams or poles.

Some contractors, however, forgo a solid footer and instead spread gravel across a space to act as the footing. The gravel can more easily sink into the soil, causing the foundation to shift which could cause structural cracks to form, leading to more possible seepage issues. The soil should be pitched away from your home and have a slope of about a quarter inch per foot to properly prevent seepage. Rain water can easily collect inside the window well from the open space above.

Then, that water can leak through the window sills and surrounding wall if these structures are damaged or cracked. If you experience water seepage , contact Safeguard Waterproofing immediately. Make an appointment with one of our team members for further assistance with basement seepage. Learn more about leaking basement repair. Open Accessibility Menu. Foundation Repair.

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Why Ram Jack? Case Studies. Window wells allow light and air to enter the basement through the window but can accumulate water during a heavy rain if the drain is either clogged or missing. When the window well fills with water, from either a clogged or missing drain or separated window well liner, the water can seep in around a poorly installed window or even create enough pressure to push the window in. Those are the causes of basement leaks but what are the sources and how do you fix them permanently?

There are several sources of basement leaks, most of which are minute openings in basement walls or floor. They are there to provide a clean, solid base. The same hydrostatic pressure that forces water into the basement also presses upward on the basement floor and can cause it to crack.

These cracks will allow water to seep into the basement when the water table rises. The foundation wall is either poured or built with masonry on top of the footings. In either case, there is a minute opening where the wall meets the footing. The same is true of where the poured concrete floor meets the wall. This opening, called the cove joint , allows water to be forced into the basement by hydrostatic pressure. To repair both floor cracks and cove seepage, the secret is to alleviate the hydrostatic pressure by giving ground water somewhere else to go.

This is accomplished by installing interior drain tile , a system of perforated pipe installed under the basement floor.

It takes in ground water through its perforations and carries it to a sump basin where the sump pump discharges it from the basement. When installed properly, interior drain tile requires no maintenance. Poured Concrete Wall Cracks — The most common source of a basement leak is a non-structural crack in a poured concrete basement wall. These cracks can be caused by either the lateral pressure described earlier or by minor settling or dropping of the foundation.

The best way to repair a wall crack permanently is to inject it from the interior with expanding polyurethane. The polyurethane fills and seals the crack out to the soil and stays flexible when cured to prevent minor foundation movement from re-opening the crack. If the crack is inaccessible from the interior it can be repaired outside by filling a hole at the site of the crack with sodium bentonite clay.