Growing up in the west end of Toronto, our three-storey attached Victorian row house had beautiful stained glass windows, spacious rooms and a third floor bedroom large enough to house four children. The basement, however, housed the mountain of coal dumped through the basement window, quarterly, which fed our furnace – that was it!

In the early 1950s, people just accepted the fact that basements were dark, dank, wet and only about 6 feet high. Today it’s a different story – basements are very much an extension of our living space. No longer is it acceptable, healthy or necessary to endure a wet, damp basement.

Cause and Effect – Happiness is a Dry Basement

Inadequate drainage – that’s the origin of many wet basements. Clogged eaves troughs or downspouts that overflow during rainstorms can cause water to accumulate around the foundation.

The eaves troughs and downspouts may be draining into an underground rain leader that’s become clogged with silt or destroyed by tree roots. The problems may come from ground level – if the earth around the house is graded so water runs towards the foundation, rather than away from it – or originate below ground because of cracks in the foundation, lack of or deterioration of the weeping tile, window wells that let in too much water or substandard backfill.

Poured concrete and concrete block, the two most common foundation materials, tend to attract and absorb moisture. That in itself is not a big problem because foundations are designed to carry, and dissipate, a certain amount of water. It’s when foundations have to cope with amounts larger than they were meant to handle that problems develop.

If you have a concrete block foundation that is holding more water than it should, the blocks at the base of the wall affected will feel damp to the touch, and any surface finish will likely be discolored or peeling away.

A block concrete foundation can hold a huge amount of water. To relieve the pressure, drill a hole, 1/2" in diameter in the center of one of the damp blocks at floor level near a floor drain. You can expect as much as six or seven gallons of water pouring out of the hole. Spigots can also be installed in walls that constantly leak or you can attempt an internal gutter system directing any water to your basement’s floor drain.

Be advised that all of these approaches can still leave too much water in the inside cavity of your basement. They should only be considered stopgap measures until you have the time or finances to get more extensive work done.

Symptoms

There are a number of symptoms that point to water problems. The most obvious is water entering through cracks in the foundation walls and slab floor. This can be detected from a wide variety of symptoms: puddles of water sitting on the floor, water stains on wall finishes, wall paper lifting off the walls, crumbling concrete or masonry surfaces, “spalling” (lifting of the faces) on brick foundations or “efflorescence” – the powdery white residue left on wall surfaces when moisture evaporates. Excessive water can also buckle the sub floor and push up floor tiles and carpeting, or cause decay in wooden headers, joists and sill plates.

Sometimes the symptoms are not easily visible to the naked eye, but are obvious to your other senses. Your fingers may find moisture on banisters, windows or sills. Your nose may pick up musty odours or the air may feel damp on your skin.

Preventative Maintenance is Always Your First Defense

Make sure your eaves troughs are cleaned at least twice a year and your downspouts extend at least 2" to 3" away from the foundation and are running freely.

Ensure those eaves trough joints are properly sealed and that the elbow joints screwed on, rather than just pushed into place.

Do the elbows sit at least 1" off the ground to allow water runoff by gravity? Are there splash blocks (concrete trays) underneath the downspouts, to disperse water away from the foundation?

Are the downspouts lifted off the ground, so they won’t freeze in winter? Downspouts that drain directly into the weeping tile at the foot of the foundation (common practice in the past) should be avoided because, if the diameter of the weeping tile is insufficient to handle all the water from your roof, you could get flooding. The below grade portion of the downspout could also become disconnected, making it necessary to dig up the downspout to make repairs.

Grading

If the earth slopes toward the foundation, surface water will collect against the house after every rainfall, and also when the snow melts in the spring. Deep-rooted plants and shrubs tend to hold moisture in soil, so it’s best not to plant them right up against your foundation – shallower-rooted ground covers are a better option.

Overall, finding water in your basement is not a catastrophe; in fact, it’s very common. Concrete is concrete, and with weather conditions, your foundation moves, causing it to crack. A crack repair costs approximately $1000.

Should you discover your basement is leaking where the floor meets the wall and several wet spots are visible, you’re looking at more extensive work; your weeping tile is choked and may require repair or replacement.

Who do you call?

Whatever your wet basement issue, call on a basement waterproofing /foundation repair specialist: someone who has been in the business for some time and can prove it. If you’ve chosen a contractor who doesn’t supply important underground line checks from ON1CALL, then you’ve chosen the wrong contractor – IT’S THE LAW. In the busy season, it may delay your job start; a small price to pay to protect you and your family.

Ask friends and colleagues for possible recommendations and remember the lowest price is not always the best. Compare apples to apples and don’t be fooled by imitators; everybody is a basement waterproofer in the spring!

This article was provided by GJMacRae Foundation Repair. Established in 1975, G J MacRae Foundation Repair is a full service foundation repair company – family-owned and operated. Our services includes crack repair, window wells, weeping tile systems, and sump pumps. We’re your structural specialists – including crawl space repair and basement walkouts. Our crowning jewel is our owner-invented Viberpak Underpinning System which will increase your 6-foot basement to an 8-foot basement height, making that basement apartment, home theatre or sports palace a reality! John MacRae, owner, is the resource person for Kathy Bevin’s September 1994 Canadian Workshop Magazine article, High and Dry “A guide to diagnosing and curing your wet basement woes.” Quotes included are written by Kathy Bevin and taken from her above noted article. Visit our website at www.wetbasements.com to view our underpinning video.