How Improper Drainage Can Damage Your Foundation

If your home has a basement, the chances are good that any heavy rain makes you nervous. Once you’ve experienced a flooded basement or crawl spaces, it is something you never want to repeat. Often the immediate reaction is to have a waterproofing company come in and install drains and sump pumps. While this is a significant improvement in most homes, it doesn’t always correct the whole issue, however. Over time, water that enters your home from poor drainage systems can still cause foundation damage and wall cracks, especially if the internal system you have to carry it away isn’t working correctly. Read on to learn more.

How Drainage Issues Start

There are three main causes to water getting to your foundation, besides the simple act of it falling from the sky as rain, of course: The slope of your lot, your gutters, and the irrigation action of your landscaping. If your lot slopes towards your foundations from any direction, rain that falls uphill from you is going to be carried straight down towards your foundation. Ideally, the lot should be sloped away from the foundation on all sides when the home is built. Rain doesn’t just fall uphill, however; it also falls on your roof, and properly installed, and maintained gutters should carry it away from the foundation. Between the proper slope and good gutters, all rainwater should be diverted away from your foundation. Finally, rain isn’t the only water to consider – your landscape irrigation systems could also be sending water towards your foundation whenever they water your plants.

Foundation Issues From Poor Drainage

Water plus foundation equals problems. Specifically, water that has a chance to pool at the foundation can cause cracks, moldy smells, and sinking or heaving of the ground depending on your soil composition. 

Prevention and Repair

Depending on why the water is reaching your foundation, the fix could be cheap and easy or very difficult and expensive. Checking and cleaning your gutters is one easy solution, and sometimes that step is all you need to keep the water traveling away from your home. Changing the irrigation system or pattern could also be a relatively easy fix. Regrading your slope is more difficult and time-consuming, depending on the severity of the poor grading. A popular alternative is to install drains either inside or outside the foundation that connects to a sump pump to pump the water away. Finally, once you’ve corrected the source of the pooling water, the damage from chronic drainage issues is often repairable.

Contact All Aspects Waterproofing Today to Improve Your Indoor Air Quality!

When it comes to finding the best solution for your crawl space encapsulation and waterproofing needs, contact All Aspect Waterproofing, a Better Business Bureau A+ rated company with over 30 years of experience in the Washington, DC./Maryland/Virginia area. We have a great deal of experience in waterproofing, mold testing, and mold remediation, and we want to make you feel at home again. Contact us online or by calling 1-866-999-3110 or 301-766-4420.  To see what we’re up to, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Houzz.