|
Now Offering SuperDry BasementsTM Nationwide • Home Theater Systems • Mold Remediation |
|
|
|
Chapter 1: Wet Basements 
"Ways Water Affects a Basement"
Chapter 2: Waterproofing 
"Inside Systems" versus "Outside Systems"
Chapter 3: Outside Waterproofing 
"Whats the Difference?" Chapter 4: Foundations 
"Cracked, Bowed, and Bulging Walls" Chapter 5: Wall Builds/Rebuilds 
"Do It Right The First Time" Chapter 6: Mold 
"Is Your Wet Basement Making You Sick?" Chapter 7: Remodeling 
"Want the Basement you Dream?" Chapter 8: Inspections 
"How Do I Get My Basement Looked at Fast?" Watch Our Movie: 
CLICK HERE |
(We Wrote The Book On Basement Waterproofing)
Chapter 1 "Ways Water Affects a Basement" The 3 Ways Water Can Affect A Basement And Why Most Companies Will NOT Honestly Explain Them! 1. Surface Water 
This is the way most homeowners, home inspectors, landscapers and builders understand water as it affects a basement. Surface water is just water traveling across the surface topography of the land. It is important to deal with if you have significant grade change and is covered in my book The Super Dry Basement in chapter 4 Channeling Water Away From Your House. As we all know, rainwater does not remain on the surface for long (when it does its called a puddle) ; it soaks into the earth where it becomes: 2. Capillary Water: 
Capillary water is water that has penetrated the earth and refers to the way it moves underground. Underground water travels through veins and through and into underground rivers and streams or into the surface water table. Have you ever been traveling down the highway in the winter and seen where the road engineers blasted through a hill or mountain? In the winter time you can see icicles forming on both side of the road, down the cut face. This is a result of a capillary veins in the earth getting bisected or cut in half when they made the road. Prior to the basement being dug, water used to flow from one side to the other. When a basement is dug for example capillary veins are cut in half and then a dam (basement walls) is built in the way of the normal movement of underground water. Since these veins are severed they now follow the path of least resistance and accumulate in the lowest point of the excavation. Capillary water is the MOST important to understand because correcting surface water runoff alone will not cure a basement water problem. In fact it is due to severing these veins that we must add drainage piping around the base of the wall at all. Lastly if you have the surface water and the capillary water under control this does NOT men the basement will remain dry. The reason is there is still one final way for water to affect a basement that is: 3. Water table / Hydrostatic Pressure 
The water table itself rises and falls like a yo-yo. There are two water tables, the deep water table which our ancestors used for water and the surface water table which rises after and falls after days of no precipitation. It is after prolonged periods of rain that the water table can become a factor. If the seasonal high of the water table rises higher than the level of your floor slab water is able to force its way into the basement where the floor meets the wall. Evidence of this type of water problem manifests itself as three or more pronged cracks across the basement floor. These cracks will usually cause some slight or sometimes major heaving upwards. This cracking of the floor is caused by the pressure of the water table pushing upwards and exerting pressure on the bottom of the floor slab. The only way to solve this problem is to install a drain pipe system under the basement floor in order to relieve the pressure. The best way to fix your home Depends on the type and nature of problems it is experiencing. There is NO magic Patented System which solves ALL problems. Most of what causes foundation problems could have been easily corrected prior to the house construction being finished. In the old days the farmers were much smarter and more PRACTICAL than today’s modern builders. 
In the old days farmers would look for high drained land. In the above diagram the farmers started building at grade level and then they dug a pond in the side yard and used the earth to grade up around the foundation. In this way they could eliminate all three water factors. |