While we’ve had a dry spring and summer, but that wasn’t the case just a few years ago. Every year our region has the chance of flooding from phenomenons like quickly melting snow, heavy rains, or high rivers/lakes, so it’s important to prepare your home. In the event of water intrusion, the best thing to do is reinforce your basement. There are a couple ways to do that:
Gutters & Downspouts
Most homes will have gutters, but you want to make sure they are working in your favor. Blocked gutters will only guide the water over the side and close to your foundation, so you want to make sure they’re free of debris. After that, you want to check on how the downspouts are guiding the water away from your home; ideally, it should be guiding the water six to ten feet away from your home. Does it exit the gutter system and pool around your home instead of moving away? If so, you might need an extension to the downspout and also someone to come inspect your home’s grading.
Corrective Grading
A home’s grading is one of the best ways to protect your home from water intrusions. Essentially, it’s the act of shaping the ground around the property to slope away from the home so water will be guided away intead of towards it. Sometimes a home just needs a basic corrective grading job that brings in more soil to pack around the house and reshape the slope. Other times, it also includes working around a basement window, which can become a common place for water to get into the home. To prevent that, a windowsill should be built around the window and above ground level so water isn’t accidentally channeled into it.
Drain Tile
If water does get into the home, which can be inevitable in the event of flooding, then a drain tile will be the best defense. Typically, that water will enter through the basement, which is where experts install the drain tile. It helps divert the water away from the basement through a sump pump and the connected pipes that guide the water out. Most homes will already have a drain tile system installed, but it could be failing due to age or other natural wear and tear. It never hurts to have it inspected if you have been fighting against standing water in your basement during heavy rains.
All together, having these three systems in place presents the most effective way to protect your home from water damage. If you’ve been dealing with a wet basement, let the experts at Concrete & Foundation Solutions help find the fix.