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Health & Fitness

Why Does My Basement Get Wet?

There are a few solutions to keep the water from coming in.


Each March I am asked this question quite a few times .

The ground thaws while snow melts and spring rains come. At the same time the thaw is happening all the plant life is dormant and not drinking water. The water accumulates under and around your home. This is called a high water table or perched water.

The thing to understand here is that the high water table is part of the earth and cannot be graded away. Think of the water being flat like a table top. Because it rains over a wide area water table typically covers a wide area.

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Water is erosive. Left unchecked it can carve a path through the earth to your foundation. Once that occurs, it clears the way for more water to get to the foundation more quickly in the future. That erosion paves the way for water intrusion into the basement and the costly repairs and cleanup costs associated with a flooded basement.

Now that you understand that you are powerless against the water table rising, the next fact to consider is that your foundation is no longer sealed. This part is very black and white, either the wall is sealed or it's not. We know that you have water coming in, so obviously, the wall is not sealed. The tar-like substance that was placed on the outside of the walls during construction has degraded.

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How do I stop the water from coming in?

To prevent water from entering the foundation is to re-seal the foundation.

Re-sealing the foundation requires:

  1. Excavation. You must dig down to the footer so work can be done on the foundation.
  2. Preparation. The foundation must be cleared of old parging.
  3. New drain tile. A new foundation drain should be installed.
  4. Re-parging. Now the foundation gets a stucco coat.
  5. New Sealer. Tar or another type of seal coat is applied.
  6. Backfill. The trench must now be filled and compacted.

To re-seal the foundation from the outside is a big project requiring a lot of time and money.

Basement Waterproofing controls the water and is done from the inside.

Basement Waterproofing will create a healthier environment in your home by eliminating dampness. When we say basement waterproofing we are talking about French Drains inside the basement.  An interior French drain is not technically basement waterproofing because the water is being controlled once it enters the foundation instead of being prevented from entering it. The interior French Drain is a widely accepted technique in mitigating basement water and is generally referred to as a basement waterproofing solution. Interior French drain systems are recognized by B.O.C.A (Building Officials and Code Administrators) as being effective in controlling basement water.

The French Drain System was designed by Henry Flagg French in 1856 and has been in use ever since.  Today’s French Drains are improved greatly from those of a hundred and fifty years ago. The French Drain System has been around and installed for basement waterproofing for 150 years for the main reason that it is the best way to control sub-surface water penetrating basements that we know of. In other words: IT WORKS!

Forget the hydraulic cement and forget the grading of your property. Neither of these ideas are remedies for a high water table.

A-1 Basement Solutions provides free basement health inspections to New Jersey homeowners. Contact A-1 Basement Solutions at 908-322-1313, or info@A-1Basements.com for a free in-home inspection and detailed quote. Subscribe to our blog and get our FREE E-BOOK “Basements 101” 

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