How Did Water Get Into My Basement?
When you see a puddle of water on your basement floor, it isn’t always easy to tell where the water is coming from. Although it may appear to be entering through the floor, the actual source of the leak may come from several different sources.
Water will take the path of least resistance, which often means that water won’t come directly through the floor.
Common Causes of Water in Long Island Basements
The five most common sources of basement water intrusion are the joint between the foundation footing and the wall, windows, tiny spaces around the steel form ties from when the foundation walls were poured; other cold poured joints in the walls, and foundation cracks, even newly sealed ones.
In all of these cases, water is generally entering the home as run-off that has seeped into the ground and found its way into the basement. However, on some parts of Long Island, wet basements can be the result of a high or perched water table. This also doesn’t necessarily mean that the water will come directly up through the floor, however, because the water may find that the easiest way in may still be the footing joint or the walls.
Water and the Path of Least Resistance
Water takes the path of least resistance. This also means that if it gets in once, it is likely to enter again through the same spot. All it will take is the right weather conditions, like a storm or a heavy snow thaw, and suddenly you’ve got a flooded basement. In other cases, a home may have been suffering from a leaky basement for decades.
As every basement waterproofing specialist has come to realize, there is virtually no such thing as a completely dry basement. Basements are naturally damp, even if there is no standing water. In basement waterproofing, the goal is to allow people to live healthy lives without the worry that they may come home one day to a flooded basement and damaged possessions. So now that you know how water gets into your basement, you must be wondering how do you waterproof a basement and how much does it cost to waterproof a basement?
