How to prevent water damage in your basement?

Water damage is the primary cause of foundation problems in homes. The damage extends far beyond the immediate aftermath of the storm, too. You might have to deal with a wet carpet, flooded basement, wet drywall, and will have to engage in full water damage restoration. When going into a building restoration, you’ll have to know the basics of water clean up. You’ll have to get into carpet cleaning, drying building, and you’ll probably have to call a water damage restoration company.

All of this can be a real hassle, but just because it can be a hassle doesn’t mean it has to be. In fact, you can get to a point where water damage restoration and building restoration can be quick and painless. You can go about the water clean up process with confidence. In this post, we’re going to take a look at how you can avoid this process altogether by preventing water damage in your home.

Ensure that you have good drainage.

Poor drainage in your home will set your foundation up for cracking and instability, leading to you having a flooded basement and will have to deal with a mildewy wet carpet. Considering how tedious and expensive carpet cleaning can be, you’re better off making sure that your drainage is up to snuff.

Step one is to routinely clean your gutters. When they’re stuffed with leaves, water will pour in sheets down the side of your house, challenging both the siding and the foundation. Also, you should make sure that your downspouts lead the water five to 10 feet away from your home.

You also want to make sure that your yard is sloped by at least six inches over a 10-foot span away from your foundation. What this slope does is it prevents water from getting right next to your house and so able to damage the foundation.

Keeping this water away from the foundation of your home will prevent wet drywall so that you won’t need to worry about drying building or having to spend tons of money on a water damage restoration company. We’ll be here if you need us, but we prefer that you don’t suffer home damage if it can be helped.

The contradiction here is that you can’t let the soil get too dry, as that will lead to expansion once a rain comes, which will lead to your foundation getting stressed. When you’re in the middle of a drought, it’s best to run a soaker hose about six inches away from the foundation and three inches under the soil to keep it from continuously expanding and then contracting.

The maintenance cost here is very low, as you can clean the gutters yourself if you want as opposed to hiring a professional to do it for you. The slope will just require new topsoil to be put over your lawn, so that won’t cost much either.

If you put off this important task, you could be looking at your foundation settling, which will cause cracks in your basement walls. The cost to fix this is $15,000 to $40,000, so it’s best that you do all that you can to avoid having to deal with this incredibly costly option.

Test your sump pump on the regular.

Sump pumps only spring to life during a storm, so it’s important that you not have to worry about whether yours will actually work when it needs to.

In order to test your sump pump, you want to slowly fill the pump pit with water. The float should then rise and turn on the sump pump once it hits a certain height. From there, you should make sure that the water level then recedes. You can test your backup pump the same way, but only after making sure that the main pump is disconnected first.

In terms of maintenance, testing your sump pump is obviously free. A water-powered backup sump pump can range from $150 to $350. Now in terms of how this can cost you if you don’t perform this level of maintenance, you could be looking at a completely ruined basement, with everything in it destroyed, including the carpet and drywall.

Check for water leaks and fix them.

Checking for water leaks and then fixing them is important because these persistent leaks will lead to mildew and mold, rot, and even carpenter ants and termites. This will lead to a slow demise of your walls and foundation. However, if you were to fix a leak right after it started, you’d likely see no long term damage at all.

Check for dark spots under pipes inside the sink cabinets, any stains that might be on clothing, toilets that rock at all, and of course any drips that might be happening. Once a year, you should inspect your roof and repair any missing, damaged, or loose shingles that you find.

The maintenance here is pretty small, especially when you consider the consequences for not doing this maintenance. You’ll be looking at a total cost of a couple hundred dollars to prevent damage that could cost you thousands and damage personal effects.

You’ve covered everything else that needs taking care of in your house. You’ve selected the perfect blinds for your living room and have coordinated every bit of furniture you have. You’ve taken the time to set your house up perfectly the way you want it.

If you’re ready and willing to pay for these things, you should know that it’s just as important (if not more so) to take care of preventative measures when it comes to water damage and restoration.

By being proactive and heading off the problem before it even becomes one, you’ll be taking the responsible approach toward homeowning. And if you do happen to suffer from water damage, please know that you are not alone. You can count on a company that has years of experience and a vested interest in the safety of your home. Get in touch with us today.