Knowing Your Home.

Do you have water in your basement?

 

   

 

Are you wondering where it is coming from and why it is coming into your home? One of the big reasons people get water in their basement is poor exterior water management.

This can be for multiple reasons. The design of the home and or landscape is not sloped properly, the location of the home, and the type of soil you have around your home.

Let’s take a look at the design of the home.  Does your house have a large amount of roof?  This house does!

 

  

 

While the footprint is not terrible large, the roof is expansive. That roof line catches a lot of rain and with no gutters on the house that large amount of rainwater falls over the edge of the home and falls right next to your foundation. Now you might be thinking what’s the big deal. …  Well, the big deal is called Hydrostatic Pressure.

 

When you dig up the ground, move it out of the way put in your beautiful sturdy home foundation, you disrupt the solidness of the ground. This is roughly a 10-foot radius around your foundation. Once the foundation is in and the house is built. They back fill that 10-foot area with dirt/Soil. They compact it and slope it out from the house and make it look as if it was never moved to start with.

 

          

 

Meanwhile the reality is that the soil will never go back to how compact it was prior to the disruption. Water likes to take the path of least resistance; there for saturating the soil around your home’s foundation before moving out to the more compact soil. At first this may not seem like an important fact; however, it is a very important fact. This may cause issues right away and it may only happen as your home ages. The mighty effects of the hydrostatic pressure increase as time goes.

 

Let’s discuss the effects of Hydrostatic pressure. The definition of Hydrostatic pressure is pressure exerted by a fluid (in this case rainwater) at rest. When the water starts to accumulate around your foundation it will exert pressure on the walls and floor. This pressure can cause some issues including but not limited to, damp musty odor, wet blocks, cracks in the foundation walls, or water entering the basement.

There are a few simple ways to lessen the amount of hydrostatic pressure forming around your home’s foundation. First let's talk gathering the water before it gets to the ground with Rain Gutters. Installing Gutters will allow you to catch the water falling on your roof and allow you to decide where you want it to go. You have the choice! Not mother nature. (How cool is that!)  With proper installation of gutter and downspouts you can divert the water to go to the location of your choice. Or at least get it out away from your 10-foot radius of less compacted soil. This homeowner has 10-foot downspout extensions. they do not want to mess with that area of loose soil around the foundation. 

 

 

 

 

Next is the option of French Drains and Drain tile. A French Drain and Drain Tile help prevent water accumulation in low spots or problem areas. Both systems allow you to keep the water collected from the roof but also allow you to collect water from underground as well and move it away from your foundation.

 

       

 

To recap everything, we just discussed the impacts of hydrostatic pressure may become more noticeable over the years, cracks, cracks getting larger, water in the basement. Remember that identifying the specific cause of water in the basement is important to finding the correct solution. If you are experiencing these issues, consider consulting a professional to help assess the situation.  Reach out to Gutter Shutter of St Cloud today for help.